We have this peculiar "groovy-swing" tempo, particularly with reels, when we play as a small group. Even when we start a tune set square and fast, it will often morph into this almost lazy off-beat West Coast kind of thing. But this tends to change when fiddlers are in the room. I don't know if the groove thing is a flute thing, or if bowing lends itself to that more traditional 4/4 drive.
This past Saturday we hit fiddler critical mass: 11-some musicians, three of them playing fiddle. Wonderful tune sets with that galloping straight ahead tempo.
Whenever our friends from town come over, I look forward to hearing this tune
And speaking of fiddler critical mass, here's the tune played at the end of a set.
This much talent on one stage is like all of the G8 leaders deciding to pile into one plane.
1 comment:
I got that swing thing playing with fiddlers, especially Steph Custer and Dave Marshall, both of whom loved the kind of tempo we play with. Scottish or Canadian style fiddlers play it a little more square, and I get that drive when Annie is with us, cos she's a fingerboard demon.
Regardless, cool that we can play it whatever we need to to have a good time.
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