Perhaps you’ve heard, we at the Ithaca OT Jam have been working at editing down over 500 tunes from 3 person’s field recordings of the weekly jam sessions, made over the last 5 years. The objective was putting together a CD with the Best of the Ithaca Jam – Selected Field Recordings for friends and new folks to the jam. There were so many fun tunes, we decided to make it an mp3 CD so we could fit more on it… Some are new tunes, others are familiar names, but different versions!
This was conceived as a relatively low budget affair, but it’s pretty decent sound, and 111 tunes! I think you may know that we play in a 5 week cycle a different key / tuning each week. So, this is an mp3 CD with 5 folders, each for a different week. That’s more than 5 audio CDs worth of music! I’ve attached a copy of the liner notes with a list of tunes, etc. CD-Liner Notes
They are available for $6 postpaid. Let me know if you’d like a copy; I’d be pleased to send you one.
Jim Stanko
email: jimandmarnie(at)stanko(dot)net
Or leave a message for me (rick) using the Contact Form
Here is a sampling of the tunes, give a listen
Seventeen Days in Georgia
Paddy Have a Drink of Good Ol’ Cider
No Corn on Tygart
Mississippi Sawyer
Last-of-Sizemore
Jeff Davis
Hy Patillion
Goodbye Miss Liza
Free State of Winston
Fishin Time
Elzwics Farewell
Cornbread and Sweet Peas
Bush in the Shucks
Boys My Moneys All Gone
Big Scioty
Betty Likens
Banging on the Hood
Wheel Hoss
Snake River Reel
I’m always bemused when someone suggests that there is a way a tune is ‘supposed’ to be. I once did a workshop on ‘Soldier’s Joy’ and gave the students a CD with 19 distinct versions of the tune – it could easily have been 100. Life goes on despite our intentional or unintentional wanderings. As Tommy J said, we all play it just a little bit different.
Will you have some copies of the Ithaca jam tune CD at Black Creek?
Matt
Thanks for the informative comment and for the reminder. I’ll have some copies at Black Creek and I’m sure Jim S. will have some as well.
Nice project and great recordings! One thing I would point out however, is that with Bill Monroe’s tune “Wheel Hoss”, while the melody on your recording is not quite the way he and most everyone else have played it, there is also supposed to be an extra tag on the end of the B part which, I think, is part of the essence of the tune and should be there, unless of course, you’re playing the tune for a dance.
Thanks for your comment on Wheel Hoss. Yes, we’re aware that we have ‘evolved’ the tune. It’s also true that many old time tunes have been leveraged by bluegrass musicians and have been ‘arranged’ to suit their tastes. So, this is one of a few ‘reverse evolved’ tunes that we play where we’ve returned the compliment. It’s all part of the folk process… Jim
Thanks for your taking the time to listen to some of the selections. I think I’ve heard the Monroe version once, maybe. I’ll have to give it another listen. Our jam has done dances, and I’m sure that our version would make a good dance tune. I want to assure you I meant no harm in altering the tune, it’s just that, the way something
has been done in the past…even in the present, is just a starting point for me. Call me loony that way. Again, thanks for listening and taking the time to make a comment.
Mick