Monthly Archives: July 2015

July News 2015

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Greetings from Ste-Béatrix, QC from the home of Claude Méthé and Dana Whittle. I’m here for the week to help Claude and Dana with a project to publish sheet music to the songs and tunes from Claude’s album L’amant confessor. Dana and Claude and Denise Lévac are busy recording a new album — the first to be recorded in the new in-house studio, with Dana and Nicolas Babineau seated in the studio engineering booth. André Marchand and Normand Miron will be coming on Saturday for a barbecue and some tunes. The weather is glorious and so is the company and companionship. Ça fait du bien d’être au Québec!

It’s been a great month for friendship and music! The first week of July, André, Normand, and I were on staff at Festival of American Fiddle Tunes along with a huge roster of wonderful fiddlers from all over North America as well as Denmark. Our band lab was big, exuberant, and totally rocked the rafters with a medley of tunes (Isidore Soucy’s Reel de Ste-Blandine and Adélard Thomassin’s Reel du bonhomme) played in Montagnards Laurentiens big-band style (including a horn section, snare, piano, and step-dancing!) and a lovely Acadian reel à bouche.

Last week-end I had the joy of teaching at Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy’s Northern Roots Camp, a three-day multi-generational gathering of singers, dancers, and musicians in Dummerston, VT. Shannon Heaton was also on staff and it was equal parts glorious music and hilarity sharing her company. I’ll get those tunes posted soon, folks!

Come August, I’ll have two more camp teaching gigs: August 2-8, I’ll be teaching at Swannanoa Gathering for Fiddle Week It’s my first time at Swannanoa and the first time back in North Carolina since my wastrel days of youth…then August 27-29, Le Bruit court dans la Ville will be part of the staff at Souches à l’Oreilles in St-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, QC. From there, Le Bruit will be touring in Maine (Fort Kent, Orono, Lewiston), Vermont (Montpelier, Randolph), Massachussetts (Turner’s Falls) and possibly New Hampshire.

It’s amazing to be playing and teaching this much…hope you are playing up a storm wherever you are, and that our paths cross soon!

All the best,
Lisa

Quebec Tune of the Month for July 2015: Reel du bonhomme

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Here is sheet music for a composition from button accordionist Adélard Thomassin of Sillery, Québec, who passed away June 4, 2015 at the age of 88. Mr. Thomassin took up the accordion at an early age and was playing in his own band by the age of 17. He played with many of Quebec City’s best-known traditional music groups, including Gerard Trudel’s orchestra (38 years with them!), L’ordre du Bon Temps, and Le Groupe sans Âge. In addition to playing extensively on radio, television, and festival stages, Adélard also accompanied several folk dance troupes such as La Parenté and Les Danseurs folkloriques du Madawaska. I had the pleasure of playing with Mr. Thomassin as an accompanist for the folk dance troupe La Parenté in 1980 and 1981. He was an extremely nice, gregarious man who got along with everyone, and a lovely player with a spritely touch and a vivid musical imagination which led him to compose many tunes, including Le Reel du bonhomie. The Quebec Band Lab band at did a bang-up version of this tune at the 2015 Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, completely with a descant brass section, snare, and step-dancing. Adélard would have been tickled!

Reel du bonhomme (sheet music, pdf file)[wpdm_file id=452]