Please note that the contents of each section are not intended to be exhaustive lissts of everything available, just what I have bought or listened to myself. For a huge reference section, visit www.hurdygurdy.com! Books There aren't many books about the hurdy gurdy! Here are some of those I have tracked down... Hurdy Gurdy Method by Doreen Muskett (Muskett Music 1993 - ISBN 0 946993 07 6). A tutor, with valuable advice. Aimed mainly at players of C/G instruments, but much is equally useful to players of D gurdies. There is supposed to be an accompanying cassette - I haven't seen or heard it. Recommended! Cahir de Repertoire - The Hurdy-Gurdy playing of Central France by Jean-Francois "Maxou" Heintzen (AMTA 1995 - email them at amta@nat.fr for details). An advanced tutor, aimed at players of D instruments who have managed (and mastered!) the 'coup de quatre'. Based in the traditional French style of playing, this also looks at the more modern methods of playing things, especially wih regard to the trompetting. Has an accompanying cassette which is not only very useful, but has a very sexy French lady announcing each exercise! Recommended, but much too difficult for me at the moment!!! Cahir de Repertoire - Patrick Bouffard joue Jenzat (AMTA - email them at amta@nat.fr for details). A tune book. Contains the tunes from his two cassettes Repertoire Berry 1 and 2, written down by Frederic Paris. As those of you into gurdies will know, Mr Bouffard isn't a bad player ;-). Get the book and the cassettes and play along with him! The tunes are written simply, listen to the cassettes to get the fiddly bits... Great. Encyclopaedia Blowzabellica - The Blowzabella Tune and Dance Book (Dragonfly Music 1987). Another tune book. If you've liked the English version of traditional dance music for any time then you can't help but of heard of Blowzabella. They have had some of the best English gurdy players amoungst their number over the years - and these are the tunes they played (pre 1987 of course!). A good source of tunes and there is some gurdy advice from Nigel Eaton at the back (although what Jon Swayne was on when he wrote some of his bagpipe bit, heaven only knows..). Some of the Cliff Stapleton tunes are absolutely excellent. The Massif Central Tune Books - Volumes 1 and 2 by Mel Stevens (Dragonfly Music 1987). Yet another tune book. Mel Stevens was (is?) a member of Rosbif, an English band playing those French dance tunes we all love. These books are both useful compilations of those tunes and more. I reckon that if you learned some of these, some of the ones in the Blowzabella book and some of Patrick Bouffard's Jenzat book, then you'd have a pretty good repertoire. Dansons La Morvandelle by Mike Gilpin (Dragonfly Music 1997). It's that man again! Mike's tune book covers traditional dance tunes from the Morvan area of France. Unfortunately for those of us with D gurdies, it's all in C and G, so some work is required to transpose them. I must convince him to release an alternative D version! Nice tunes though! Recorded Music - British English Hurdy Gurdy Music - The Duellists (Panic ATC PATCCD20397DU - CD). Nigel Eaton and Chris Stapleton on gurdies, Chris Walshaw on pipes. One of my favourites. Lovely playing, crisp trompetting, interesting tunes. Lively and modern. When I can play well, I want to play like this... Blowzabella (Various). Virtually any Blowzabella recording is a good listen, 'Wall of Sound' is my fave. Some of the arrangements are a little 'old fashioned' compared to the Duellists CD (there's a bit of everything including the kitchen sink in some of them) but hey! they're older recordings. Still highly recommended, ans what got me interested in traditional music to start with. The studio albums have held up better than the live recordings (such as the B to A of Blowzabella tape). Has anyone got Phinga Frenzy (or whatever it's called)? I'd love to hear it... Panic at the Cafe - Nigel Eaton and Andy Cutting (Panic ATC Cassette - but it's now available on CD I think). Ah! Andy Cutting is my favourite squeezebox player (along with Tony Hall), and this shows him in fine form along with our Mr Eaton. A dodgy bit of studio tomfoolery on side two spoils the party a little, but otherwise excellent. If you want to hear more of the wonderful Andy Cutting, there is a link (in my links section) to his web site. Whirling Pope Joan - Nigel Eaton and Julie Murphy (Panic ATC PATCCD20294 - CD). A little more Nigel Eaton to round out our British section. I found it quite hard to get hold of this CD, but was glad when I did. To the untrained ear (that's mine in case you were wondering) it sounds as if Nigel can change the drones on the instrument he is playing here, I guess Chris Eaton has made him a 'special'. Also there's a lot of electronic type gadgetry going on. I really really like this recording - I suspect some purists would have a heart attack! There are other recordings that I also like - Nigel Eaton's Music of the Hurdy Gurdy cassette and a very odd cassette by The Drones (stand up Mr Stapleton) are often found on my tape player. One thing that has struck me when compiling this little list is how few recordings of British gurdy players there are. Let me know if there are more people I ought to be listening to... Recorded Music - French Well, there's a wealth of stuff here. Let's just pick a top five - in no particular order The Art of The Hurdy Gurdy Vols 1 and 2 - Michele Fromenteau (Arion AAARN 60355/60373 CDs). The other side of the repertoire. Ms Fromenteau plays a whole bunch of that classically type stuff, and very nice it is too. If you tend to listen to a lot of dance music, buy one of these - it will give you a whole different perspective on the instrument. Vielleux du Bourbonnais and Vielles et Cornemuses by Vielleux du Bourbonnais (Hexagone 193 752 and Audivis Ethnic B6830 CDs). The traditional repertoire as played by Mr. Bouffard and his chums. These are two pretty seminal recordings I guess, and are probably in everybody's collection already. But they are still great! La Vielle en France - Les Maitres se la vielle a roue (Audivis Ethnic B6862 CD). The very very traditional repertoire as played by people a lot older than Mr. Bouffard and his chums! I am not sure that I listen to this CD as much as many others, but there is always something new when I do! It's basically some very old (and sometimes very dodgy) recordings of old french vielleurs. It is pretty fascinating to hear how darned heavy the trompetting is - it was the style at the time - compared to how it is used today. Interesting stuff. Tapage (AMTA MG75100 CD). There are quite a few CDs produced by AMTA which are worth listening to, I suggest you get their catalogue. This one by Tapage features the gurdy playing of Stephane Durand and is a nice mixture of the modern and traditional, with a touch of the exotic. One thing I have found intersting is the different directions the hurdy gurdy is going. Listening to this recording, then Whirling Pope Joan , then maybe The Duellists shows how wide the range of modern 'traditional' gurdy music spreads. Roots 'n' Roll - Patrick Bouffard (Accousteak/Boucherie BP9273 CD). Patrick Bouffard has made many recordings - most of which are excellent. Some are traditional (for example 'Music Pour Vielle A Roue En Auvergne Et Bourbonnais') and some more modern (the jazz tinged 'Revenant de Paris' for example). 'Roots 'n' Roll' is a compilation of some of his appearances on other people's records and in a group setting. Whilst not in any way essential listening, this is a CD that I find myself playing more than I thought I would when I first bought it. I suppose it's the variety. But in my top five French recordings, it really stands for anything by Mr. B. Others Hmm, there are many, many other recordings that are worth listening to. I won't detail them all, but try Giles Chabenat (France) , Robert Mandel (Hungary) or the very wonderful La Ciapa Rosa (Italy). Have I found any hurdy gurdy recordings that I don't like? Yep. I have bought a couple of CDs by Valentin Clastrier. Now I have a wide musical taste (including Captain Beefheart, Brain Eno, Velvet Underground, Can, Gong, Sex Pistols, Ella Fitzgerald, folk, classical etc etc etc) and can listen to almost anything - but not these. I am not saying that they're bad, I'm saying make sure you listen to them before you buy them - I didn't! I also bought a CD by Ad Vielle Que Pourra (who are widely touted as being excellent) but found it too 'polite' for my taste. I had great hopes of a mixture of French Canadian reels and hurdy gurdies, but it didn't work for me. Again, it's all down to personal taste! I shall try to update this listing at regular intervals - if there is anything that I really should be listening to, please let me know. |