 Stringdancer CD May 2001 |
Stringdancer CD Review
This review originally appeared in the FolkFire Newsletter in September of 2001.
by A. Daniel Klarmann
Stringdancer has been performing to enthusiastic audiences at dances in assorted cities and dance camps across America for about six years. It's not unusual to see dancers kowtow to the band after certain hot numbers.
Finally, Stringdancer has committed some of their unique medleys and enchanting arrangements to media: the "Stringdancer" CD is here. Two fiddles, a guitar, and occasional other instruments weave a tapestry of tunes selected from a wide range of origins. Haunting waltzes composed anywhere from the Balkans to our own St. Louis are sprinkled between the old-timey and other folk dance tunes.
Nearly all the tunes and medleys are delightfully contagious and /or irresistibly toe tapping. I love the short and wicked walk-down as Stringdancer slides from the airy English "Morpeth Rant" to the earthy French Canadian "Growling Old Man, Grumbling Old Woman" in one medley. This little transition has the power to make dancers hoot and howl. I've been among them. The album has some favorite folk dance tunes, sinful and/or sad waltzes and other tunes which are just fun listening.
The paired violin melodies interact playfully, sometimes crossing, and sometimes galloping or swooning in close harmonies. The guitar adds chords, rhythms and a base line that ties it all together. The music is impeccable. There are few spots on the album where my perfectionist ear senses something trivial missing in the mix, but I can't quite tell what.
Stringdancer, the band, is composed of two contra dancers and a caller who met at an outdoor dance weekend near Saint Louis, and started playing music together in 1995. Pam Carson and Martha Edwards expertly tease melodies, harmonies and other sounds from their violins, and David Kirchner coaxes chords and rhythms from the guitar. They downplay the classical training that enriches their repertoire and lets them so successfully break the rules about assembling their medleys. It certainly is no hidrance to their free expression of this hot music.
Other musicians contribute to several tracks with an Irish drum, castanets, and the blazing harmonica of Sandy Weltman. Sandy's studio, the Sandbox, is where they recorded and mixed this album.
The album "Stringdancer" is available at their performances, assorted shops in St. Louis and Massachusetts, and online at http://www.westendweb.com/stringdancer/cd.htm.