what does "new" mean?

[billkilpatrick]

in the mp3 samples on site there's a trio of songs by mike black played in the genre of "new england." my first thought was that it meant new england in the united states ... uhhh ... but i got it in the end.

the tunes sound wonderful and old-timey to me.

as with "newgrass" and maybe a few more, i don't know ... what's "new" about them? ... faster, maybe? ... amplified?

just curious - bill

[John Flynn]

I think "New England" does mean New England in the United States and Canada. Newgrass is progressive bluegrass, that departs from the Bill Monroe tradition by adding country, rock and jazz influences.

[billkilpatrick]

i wrote to mike black at the address provided on the "three bean salad" site a while back but nothing so far. they seem to be based in kansas - very far from hartf'd. i doubt the reference is for new england in the eastern united states and maritime (presumably) provinces in canada but if there is a distinctly "new england" sound or style of play for the mandolin, i'd like to hear about it.

[John Flynn]

Where a musician lives, or even where he's from, does not limit the style of play. I play Appalachian music and Irish music and I haven't been to either place. As you can see from the linked Wilkapedia article, about 2/3 of the way down the page, New England has one of the oldest American old-time music traditions.

[billkilpatrick]

no wilkapedia link appeared but very interesting ... what subject heading did you look under in wilkapedia?

i'm totally in agreement about elastic regional affiliations. i'm an agnostic american, living in italy, singing medieval pilgrim songs in latin while playing a mandolin from mid-missouri ... authenticity suffers a bit.

[John Flynn]

Sorry, here's the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_folk_music

[morgan]

Bill, since you're not getting answers from the greater mando minds I'll take a flyer at your question as a New Englander. I'd guess that what they meant by a "New England sound" is a contradance sound, which means that its at an uptempo dance beat. Contradance is sort of like square-dancing but is done with long lines or big circles and is very popular in New England. Because the primary purpose is to keep the dancers happy and moving, a consequence of the style can be that maintenance of the the rhythmic drive may take precedence over subtler variations, especially when played with keyboard backup - there is a distinctive style of contradance rhythm keyboard playing that is similar to the style I've heard on some albums of Canadian Maritime fiddle music. It is a fine old-timey sound - the dancers don't really care about bluegrass-type instrumental pyrotechnics; you usually string some tunes together and basically beat the melodies to death, without solos or breaks. Some of the local contradance players are really fine players. I've been told that the primary contradance source books around here are the New England Fiddlers Companion, which is a collection of old-time music, and the Portland Collection, which is mostly newer tunes that sound old-timey. There are also a series of Waltz Books. (disclaimer: I've attended only about 5 or 6 contradances, all in the last 3 or 4 years, but I have played, and enjoyed playing with, contradance players. I hope I'm not offending any contradance aficionados in trying to help Bill out here)

[billkilpatrick]

this sounds really interesting guys ... i have a disc sent me by an "early" music fan in california with a mid-19th cent., spanish-american sound to it, similar to what i imagine you're talking about. they call this music "fandango" but it's basically a two-step ... watch out for the spurs ... repertoire.

and oddly enough, i never would have thought it possible, but i heard a group in the piazza yesterday evening performing "popular" italian music - a waltz and quadrille type rhythm of the "finiculi - finicula" variety - and loved it. i didn't have my mandolin with me but i was amazed how easily i slotted mando licks into it while humming along.

i sympathize with you in your efforts not offend the contradance aficionados. i asked the singer if they ever do anything with a tarantella rhythm and she scowled, eyes flashing ... the whole bit ... and said "no-no-no ... mai! ... non in tuscana!"

whew ...

thanks - bill (once upon a time ... from just outside the beautiful, thriving metropolis of bridgeport)