Author Archives: admin

Next PDX Quebec Jam Session: Tuesday, August 4, 2015, in southeast Portland

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Share a tune, learn a tune, sing a song, dance a step at the PDX Quebec Jam Session. This free, house-party-happens  first Tuesdays 7-10pm every month at various homes in the Portland area. Contact me to get on the e-mail invite list and get directions to this shindig.

Want a head start? Check out the Resource menu for tunes, recipes, and a full description of the PDX Quebec Jam session. It’s a great place to learn and share tunes from La Belle Province and to meet folks who enjoy this kind of music.

Quebec tune of the month for July 2012: Casse Reel from Lotbinière

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Here is one of my favorite cross-A Quebec dance tunes from Aimé Gagnon (1922-1997) of St-Louis-de-Lotbinière. Aimé Gagnon’s grandfather, father, and many uncles were fiddlers. As a youngster, he and his brothers would sometimes retreat to the living room and take turns playing on the one household fiddle. Aimé played many house parties and dances with the Trio Gagnon-Lemay (featuring his wife Lisette Lemay on piano and brother-in-law Marcel on accordion). En avant la musique!

Casse Reel from Lotbinière (mp3) [wpdm_file id=1]

Casse Reel from Lotbinière (sheet music) [wpdm_file id=31]

Old-Time tune of the month for July 2012: Iberia Breakdown (C)

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“Iberia Breakdown” is a great rouser of a Missouri tune from African-American fiddler William A. (Bill) Driver (1881-1986). He lived much of his life in Iberia, Missouri, where his steady, lively fiddle music provided the perfect music for the local dance tradition, in which dancers step danced throughout the figures. For more information about Mr. Driver and access to a recording of him playing “Iberia Breakdown,” visit http://www.millercountymuseum.org/archives/081208.html

Iberia Breakdown (dance speed) [wpdm_file id=4]
Iberia Breakdown (sheet music)[wpdm_file id=29]