Seattle Concertina Gathering
September 24, 2006
[Click on photo to enlarge]
After a several days of planning and the exchange of numerous emails, we held a gathering of concertina players in Seattle at the home of Kevin and Laura. We had a total of 14 players present over the course of the day, with a maximum of 12 at one time. Depicted above are: (back row from left) Daniel, Dave and Steve, (staggering across the next row) Kevin, Cathy, Chris, Burt and Chuck, (front row) Forrest, Denise and Laura. Much of the music played was Irish, but the range of material covered a broad span.
Jim
and Jeff weren't available for the group shot so I've featured them in
individual ones here. Jim (depicted at left with Kathy in the background)
brought his concertina but switched off to other instruments and was
entertaining with strings when I captured his image. I'm not certain how
many instruments Jim plays but he was good on everything I heard him pick up.
Jeff (at the right) brought his new Wakker though I'd enticed him to try my
Tedrow when this photo was snapped. I really liked the sound of his new
instrument and he gave me an opportunity to try it. The trouble was that
once I started playing it, each tune lead to another and so I was reluctant to
return it. Jeff favored us with a number of tunes on it later and
displayed a very stylish approach that drew a crowd and was admired by all.
Laura and Kevin provided a great meal for this event. I don't know how long Laura spent in the kitchen composing the culinary masterpiece but I thought it would have been worth the trip just for her food. I'd brought a few snack items to the gathering but after trying the results of Laura's kitchen efforts I don't think anyone had any notion of settling for "snack food" when the real thing was available. If I'd brought a suitable container I would have been stealing a "to go" collection from her kitchen.
Kevin
(left) started off by demonstrating a unique Chinese instrument called a Sheng, but you
wouldn't know it was rare since he had two at hand. He spoke a bit about
its background as a pre-curser to the concertina. On that topic, he even had a copy of blueprints from the first patent by Charles Wheatstone.
Kevin demonstrated several tunes on his Duet and I think many of us were very impressed
that anyone could keep track of all the buttons (72 is it Kevin?), let alone
sing along too as he did on some material. In addition to the Duet, Kevin
plays Anglo as well as flute and perhaps other instruments I don't know of.
I tend to feel like an under-achiever when I'm around folks that play multiple
instruments and several at this gathering gave me reason to feel that I've been
remiss in not embracing more forms of musical expression.
On
the right is Forrest and Laura. Forrest was quite talented with his Anglo
playing, but didn't seem to slow down when he switched to button accordion and I
believe I recall him playing a bit of strings too. Laura plays a number of
instruments including fiddle (standard and Chinese) and banjo and so provided a nice contrasting sound
to the concertinas. While
her Chinese fiddle didn't make an appearance for this gathering she kept us entertained and
happy between her musical abilities and her kitchen craft. I'm not certain
how she found time to cook, greet guests and play music too, but I'm glad she
did. I'm not certain which direction the exchange was going in this shot
but I assure you the music was good.
Daniel, Forrest and Burt appear in the photo on the left. Daniel (on the left) showed considerable talent in playing his English while singing a variety of tunes. Because the group was splintered at times I didn't get a chance to hear everything he played, but he had quite a repertoire and I regret missing the parts that I did.
Burt (on the right in the same shot) showed up with two concertinas, one made by Colin Dipper and a second he'd made himself. I didn't get a chance to hear the latter played but it looked great and I wish now I'd pressed him to play a bit on it. I'd met Burt in Olympia several weeks ago at a summer session event and was pleased to have a chance to see him again.
The group in the photo at right includes Steve, Laura, Denise and Chris. Steve is a relatively new player but showed considerable skill with his instrument. Denise played a mix of Irish and other tunes in a flowing relaxed style that made the instrument look easy. Aside from gliding through several tunes with us, Chris brought both Anglo and English instruments and provided me with an education on the latter as well as a welcome opportunity to play his Wheatstone. I guess my brain is more Anglo wired than I thought, I kept wanting to reverse bellows direction to change the tones on the buttons.
I'm
not quite certain how I missed getting second shot of Chuck, but he is depicted
in the group photo at the top. I think he was taking a stealth approach so
that I couldn't single him out here and he was one of the folks that had to
leave early. I'm pretty sure I heard him playing "Give Me Your Hand" among other
tunes early in the afternoon but I was out on the back deck with a "splinter
group" at the time and didn't get in to snap a photo when the opportunity
presented itself. Dave (photo left) and his wife Kathy (depicted above) rounded out
the group. He brought his unique "Drop D" layout Tedrow and demonstrated
its sound on several tunes. Kathy played tunes on her McCann Duet and
both of them produced great music. I think the only one not depicted
in a photo somewhere on this page is me, but then someone had to work the camera and I
show up elsewhere on my site so it balances out.
Folks came all directions for this, and from an area spanning perhaps 200 miles or more. We had quite a mix of concertinas present; I think there were three Dippers, a Carroll, multiple Wheatstones, multiple Jeffries, Tedrows, Edgleys and Bastari/Stagis. We started at 2 PM and when I left shortly before 11 PM there were still five or six people playing together and Kevin later reported it continued until after 1 AM. The weather cooperated with a beautiful sunny day and the temperature was quite mild. I can't speak for the rest but I had a great time and was grateful that Kevin and Laura had extended the hospitality of their home to the group.