UNCLE SHLOMO'S MP3 PLAY LIST
Jelly Roll Blues (Traditional, adapted & arranged by S. Pestcoe)
Sufferin' Succotash featuring: Shlomo Pestcoe, vocals, National "tri-cone" resophonic guitar; Peter Stuart Kohman, vocals, Gibson "snakehead" "A" mandolin; Peter "Trip" Henderson, harmonica; Bob "Dr. Frets" Jones, bass
My version of a "hokum" favorite from 1920s and '30s done in the style of the various African American string bands of the period. I originally learned the tune from a field recording of James "Butch" Cage, an African American fiddler from southwestern Louisiana.
Klezmer Penguin Wedding
Samantha "Sam" Lee, Cody Lee & Efrain Torres III, GNN (Gillygaloo News Network) reporters.
Brudmarsch Fran Rattvik (Traditional Swedish bride's march, adapted & arranged by M. Gorin & S. Pestcoe): Michael Gorin & Shlomo Pestcoe, fiddles.
Freylachs Fun Der Chuppe ("Joyus Tunes from the Wedding Canopy," traditional Jewish klezmer freylach, adapted & arranged by Gillygaloo): Michael Gorin, fiddle; Shlomo Pestcoe, English concertina, mandolin; Bob Jones, guitar, bowed bass.
This entertaining little skit about two penguins getting married is from Little Green Thing, the 2003 debut album of Gillygaloo, my band that performs "grownup-friendly acoustic roots music for kids." We begin with on-the-spot team coverage of the wedding of Charlie Chinstrap and Rachael Rockhopper, two very popular residents of the Penguin House in NYC's Central Park Zoo.
Our fine feathered friends waddle down the aisle to a bridal march from the Dalarna province of Sweden, a region famed for its rich heritage of fiddle music. Back in the day, weddings in the Swedish countryside were marked by village processions led by fiddlers playing various types of ceremonial tunes, such as the brudmarsch (bridal march) and skanklat (gift-bearing tune).
The celebration continues with some Jewish klezmer music, Freylachs Fun Der Chuppe (Joyous Tunes from the Wedding Canopy), originally recorded by Harry Kandel's Orchestra in 1917. The tune's title refers to the conclusion of a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony (which is performed under a canopy called a chuppe). It's marked by the chassan (bridegroom) stomping down to break a wine glass. The startling noise reminds us that even in moments of our greatest joy we must never forget that there's pain, suffering and oppression in the world. With that, everyone cheers the couple, shouting "Mazel Tov!" ("Good luck!", "Congratulations!"), and the klezmorim (traditional musicians) strike up a lively freylach to lead the wedding party off to the reception.
Leandre B./ Cuil Aodh
Prelude (M. Gorin): Michael Gorin, fiddle; Shlomo Pestcoe, English concertina; Bob Jones, guitar and bass
Leandre B. (S. Pestcoe): Michael Gorin, fiddle; Shlomo Pestcoe, tenor banjo; Bob Jones, guitar and bass; Ray Grappone, dumbec drum
Cuil Aodh (Traditional, adapted & arranged by Gillygaloo): Michael Gorin, fiddle; Shlomo Pestcoe, button accordion; Bob Jones, guitar and bass; Ray Grappone, tambourine
Leandre B. is a double jig I composed to celebrate the birth of my niece.
Cuil Aodh (pronounced "Cool Ah") is a popular Irish session tune named for a village in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) region of County Cork. Gillygaloo "folk processed" this double jig and recast it as an Italian tarantella. Back in his "salad days," Gillygaloo's lead fiddler Michael Gorin had backpacked through the Italian country side. Wherever he went, he heard tarantelle played on the organetto (diatonic button accordion) and the tamburello (a large tambourine). The bounce of Cuil Aodh reminded Michael of those great tunes, so he thought it would be fun to play it Italian style. As we listened down to this cut after recording it, a big smile crossed Michael's face. He raised up his arms and commenced to dance a tarantella... right there in the control room!
O'odham Fiddle Medley: Ali Oidak Polka/Hohokum Polka (Traditional, adapted & arranged by Gillygaloo)
Gillygaloo featuring:
Suzi and Sebastian Shelton, spoken introduction; Michael Gorin and Shlomo Pestcoe, fiddles; Bob Jones, guitar; Ray Grappone, snare and bass drums
Here we have two tunes from the fiddle tradition of Southern Arizona's Tohono O'odham ("Desert People," formerly known as the Papago Indians). This tradition stretches back to the earliest days of Spanish colonization, when Catholic missionaries introduced European string instruments to the Tohono O'odham for use in church services. In the mid-19th century, Tohono O'odham fiddlers picked up the latest "pop" dance music forms to come over from Europe-- the waltz, polka, mazurka, etc.-- and adapted them to fit their musical culture.
We learned these polkas from the playing of The Gu-Achi Fiddlers (named for their village in Southern Arizona), which featured the talents of two great fiddlers, Elliot Johnson and Lester Vavages, who have since passed on. True to their style, we play this medley on two fiddles, guitar, snare drum and bass drum.
Check out the original version of Ali Oidak Polka on Canyon Records' webpage for The Gu-Achi Fiddlers' album, Old-Time O'odham Fiddle Music (1988). Canyon Records is a small label devoted to presenting Native American music in all its many forms.
Sweet Lei Ilima (adapted & arranged by Shlomo Pestcoe)
Shlomo Pestcoe, vocals and tenor ukulele
My arrangement of this old Hawaiian song fuses together a version that I found in an old ukulele tutor by Ernest Ka'ai (circa 1916, Honolulu, Hawaii) with one from the first 78 rpm recording by Kalama's Quartet in 1927, MEDLEY OF HULAS. The song is a tribute to sweet-smelling lei necklaces made from the ilima and lehua flowers as well as the joys of riding in an automobile and on a bicycle as they glide down the road like an aku (a bonito or "skip jack" fish) swimming in the sea.
Chere Mom (Hey, Mom, Where You At?) (Traditional, adapted & arranged by Sufferin' Succotash)
Sufferin' Succotash featuring: Shlomo Pestcoe, single-row button accordion; Peter "Trip" Henderson, harmonica; Peter Stuart Kohman, National resophonic "tri-cone" guitar; Bob Jones, bass
There's a sad story behind this peppy tune. The Cajun fiddle and
accordion duo of
Leo Soileau & Mayuse Lafleur originally recorded it on October 18th, 1928. Nine days later, Mayeuse was dead, an innocent bystander gunned down in a shootout in a speakeasy. The kicker is that Mayeuse, who was abandoned by his mother when he was but a baby, was planning to use the few bucks he made from the recording to look for his mom.
Sufferin' Succotash's instrumental version of this song was inspired by the playing of the Black Creole fiddle and accordion duo,The Carriere Brothers.
Klezmer Penguin Wedding, Leandre B./Cuil Aodh, Ali Oidak Polka/Hohokum Polka and Sweet Lei Ilima are off of Gillygaloo's debut album Little Green Thing, which was recorded at Hip Bone Records
in Brooklyn, NY. Little Green Thing is a virtual folk festival in a jewel box, chockfull of "grownup-friendly acoustic roots music for kids" that really rocks!
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