Contents: Bible Lands Review, Southern Jam, Jamming Commandments, Israel Folk Community, Banjer Dan, Seeger Family Night. Di Prima, Israel Folk Community

T'was a dark and stormy Jerusalem Saturday night outside of the Bible Lands Museum. Inside, we met for wine, cheese, crackers and the wonderful cheery musical evening of "Music from the Hills and the Green Isles," majestically per- formed by the dynamic musical duo of Diane Kaplan (on vocals and guitar) and Ada Moriel (on vocals, flute, drum and pennywhistles). They were joined by Abe Doron of "Riverdance" fame playing the bodhran (Irish drum) percussion, Bracha Ben Avraham on the Irish bouzouki,and song, and Sunita Staneslow on the Celtic harp.

The auditorium in the museum filled to capacity with an expectant audience and the air was charged with excitement. We were not to be disappointed: the hall soon filled with a wonderful blend of Celtic sound played and vocalized by these very talented performers. Abe provided colorful beat and depth while Diane and Ada sang clearly as soloists, and often together in perfect harmonies with charm and lilt. Bracha's bouzouki and vocal talents added to the Celtic tone while Sunita's harp trickled and wove intricate notes of Celtic gaiety!

So glad you could all appear in one place and provide a very pleasant evening of good cheer and music... please come again.

--Dena Maltinsky

Friday, November 16th, 11am-ish, Joe Alon picnic grounds in the Lahav

Forest, sun breaking through the sheepish clouds, just to say "Hello, good to see you folk getting out your instruments and tuning up, I do like a hearty sing-along! Save a sandwich for me."

So there we were, Laurie with her guitar and dulcimer, Yitz (from Ashdod) with his banjo and wife Chana backing up and little Jamie Bregman showing us how to light a really good fire and giving us a couple of tunes on her recorder. Hal Wrobel appeared with his huge Irish repertoire, then Cyrelle and Judi Ganchrow, giving us a veritable dulcimer band. Dena Maltinsky kept up a stream of great songs we all kinda knew (Rise Up Singing is an essential on these occasions).

I got a chance to strut my stuff and try out a couple of new songs I wrote recently, and Margo even led the singing once or twice, as well as suggesting lots more. Then, just as we were beginning to flag, up turned Sean and Marianna, to add lots of harmonious grist to the mill. When I looked at my watch I was astonished to see it was almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and I was due to lead services in shul in a little while. To coin a phrase, how time flies when you're having a great time - and we didn't think about the "matsav" even once.

So "Jam in the Park" was really superior confiture, or perhaps a cordon bleu fruit salad.

--Amiel Schotz

I. Thou shall never forsake the beat.

II. Thou shalt arrange thyselves in a small circle that thou mayest hear and see the other musicians. Thou shalt listen with thine ears to the songs and attempt to play in accord with the group; also, open thine eyes betimes to look about thee lest there be some visual sign someone is endeavouring to send thee. Thou shalt play softly when someone lifteth his voice in song, when playing harmony and when thou knowest not what thou art doing.

III. Thou shalt play in tune. Tune thine instrument well, and tune it often with thine electric tuner, lest the sounds emanating from thine

instrument be unclean.

IV. Thou shalt commence and cease playing each tune together as one, so that the noise ye make be a joyful noise, and not a heinous tinkling that goeth in fits and starts, for that is unclean and is an abomination. When- soever a musician sticketh forth his foot as though he were afflicted with a cramp in the fatted calf, thou must complete the rest of that verse, and then cease.

V. Thou shalt stick out thine own foot or else lift up thy voice crying "This is it!" or "Last time" if thou hast been the one to begin the song, and it has been played sufficient times over. If the one who began a tune endeth it not by one of these signs, then the tune will just go on and on until the listeners say, "Hark, it all soundeth the same."

VI. Thou shalt concentrate and thou shalt not confound the music by mixing up the A part and the B part. Most songs, but not all proceedeth according to the ancient law "AABB." But if thou sinneth in this regard, or make any mistake that is unclean, thou may atone not by ceasing to play, but by reentering the tune in the proper place and playing on.

VII. Thou shalt be ever mindful of the key the banjo or dulcimer is tuned in, and play many tunes in that key, for the banjo/dulcimer are but lowly instruments that must needs be retuned each time there is a key change.

VIII. Thou shalt not speed up or slow down accidentally when playing a tune, it is an abomination (see Commandment I).

IX. Thou shalt not, by thine own self commence noodling off on a tune the other musicians do not know unless asked or unless thou art teaching that tune, for it is an abomination, and the other musicians will not hold thee guiltless and shall take thee off their computer lists, yea, even unto the 3^rd and 4^th generations.

X. Thou shalt have fun and play well.

Cribbed (and slightly edited by jg) from Dulcimer Notes (fall issue, 2001) who cribbed it from the Sweet Music List. Ed Foley posted it and it may have come from Oklahoma, or from Neal Walters' book Practical Theory Stuff' or maybe it was spontaneously combusted.

--Judi Ganchrow

Banjer Dan is coming to Israel for Jacob's Ladder and a series of home concerts.

If you are interested in hosting a home concert during the period of May 5th to May 13th, please contact Carol at carolm@shum.huji.ac.il or 053-85 00 98.

Dates already taken are: May 1st, 3-4: Jacob's Ladder, May 9th: Jerusalem Folk Club, May 10-11th: Sde Boker

Dan is also interested and ready to do some workshops. They are aimed at 3-finger pickers on 5-string banjo.

As he says, " for the Pete Seeger pickers and the frailers who want to learn 3-finger style and bluegrass, I have A LOT to offer! Generally, I survey the room to assess everybody's skill level and interests, and then spontaneously address those issues. One person might need help simply holding the right hand comfortably, while another might have esoteric questions about music theory. I try to organize my responses in increasing levels of difficulty, and to present beginner concepts in a manner from which advanced players might learn some- thing, and to present advanced concepts in a way that doesn't go too far above the beginners' heads."

He is also ready to do children's events: "Basically, I gather the children in a semi-circle around me, show and tell them about the banjo, and play songs. I know quite a few standard American children's songs, like "Old MacDonald," "Bingo," "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain," etc. Also, I recently wrote a children's song called "Dance, Dance, Dance" that's turning out to be a big hit! I like to close the show with that one and leave 'em on a high note. "

Sharing a deep belief in social justice and political activism, they provided personal exof integrity and commitment to righting the world's wrongs. Their music touched so many all over the world.

With the Seegers' repertoire ranging so wide and deep, it was not surprising that the five participating performers chose totally different songs that were meaningful to each of them.

Eli Rockowitz shared his recollections of Pete Seeger between songs (and in the audience, Sarah Einstein, who taught at Little Red School House where Seeger came to prepare a show with the kids and they wouldn't let him leave), Laurie Ornstein introduced some Peggy Seeger songs (from whom she had a letter) of love and pointed social commentary (including a satiric women's lib).

Shay Tochner recalled his stay in London where he often frequented Peggy's & Ewan MacColl's Singer's Club and played some of his favorites. He also accompanied my set generously and beautifully.

While I was looking over the vast material (to choose a meaningful and representational set), it seemed to me that these songs belonged to a more optimistic time and were perhaps a bit naive in their belief in the power of song to improve the condition of mankind. But at the club that the evening I was totally swept away in the conviction that this material held the best of a generation of folk-singers who were committed to making the world a better place to live: so anti- poverty, anti-war, pro-love, and a celebration of the ability of man to create for the common good.

Larry Gamliel led a rousing and moving sing-along which including stirring renditions of Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, Turn, Turn, Turn and We Shall Overcome to end an evening that no one wanted to end.

Thanks to the organizers and the singers and to the folk club comers, this charged and moving evening was far beyond anyone's expectations.

Shall we soon have The Seegers - Part Two??? We've only barely scratched the

surface.

--Cyrelle Forman-Sofer

Diane Di Prima - the only female "beat" poet in New York during the fifties.

Early artist/feminist and much admired for her art as well as her hip-ness, and still writing today. I received her auto- biography for my birthday this year. (Recollections of my life as a woman: the New York Years, a memoir by Diane DI Prima, published by Viking, 2001). Having started folk singing at the end of the beat era, and having heard DI Prima read in the Greenwich Village coffee houses, my best friend Marcia Jean sent it along, thinking I would enjoy walking those streets again -- the streets we often walked together in the West and East Village of the the sixties. (In fact we each lived not too far from DI Prima in the East Village.) She was so right.

I began reading it very slowly, savouring my recollections of the New York avant-garde creative atmosphere peopled by so many artists, poets, liberals, leftists, anarchists and various other singular characters. And I came across the following passage the night after the Seeger evening at the Jerusalem Folk Club. It seemed so amazing to have arrived at this passage at exactly this time. It expresses much of my own feelings about folk music that resurfaced during that evening and I would like to share it with you. Here is most of the passage (edited by me):

"One of the highlights of those times was the folk concerts in Washington Square. They probably occurred in all seasons, but I remember them in the early fall: the high bright air, slightly crisp, the swirl of leaves, and the music. There were always many of us, we sang along, sang the choruses, and shut up to listen to the pros when the songs got difficult or sophisticated.

We were mostly young, a few of the more aware college kids, side-by-side with the "bohemians," and a scattering of older liberals among us, looked ancient to our eyes, with their softly greying hair. They were the ones who sang the Spanish Civil War songs loud and clear. Remembered all the words.

The music spoke of a vast human tapestry in which war, death, hunger, love and betrayal figured large. And into which our own post- adolescent drama fit easily: we saw our lives drawn against a larger background and knew for once they would not overwhelm us.

It was a music of human frontiers: the actual frontiers of the West, the lion still rules the barranca, and the frontiers of behavior, human spirit and an underworld of woman spirit. O hold your tongue, my sovereign liege stood beside Wild women don't worry sung by Ida Cox.

The songs were peopled with outlaws, whores, gamblers, murderers, political rebels, deserting wives, as well as with semi-outlaws: union leaders, lovers who loved outside their class. The songs were about risk, which we were just learning to love, and love for its own sake. Risk that was to become the spice of our lives.

There was even risk in the singing: city ordinances against music in the parks, on the streets, police raids that would suddenly turn into riots. As well as the many risks of heightened emotion: love, or the grief for our own friends and allies, lost or gone under in our helter-skelter lifestyles. We sang loud and long together in the bright autumn air.

These folk songs were a huge part of our education. Of our coming to know the world. They gave to city- bound creatures like myself their first taste of the West, of what those spaces might be like, the flavor of life and death under those skies. There were songs of the mines, of factories and farms and of the sea. Songs of immigration, indentured labor, court intrigue and betrayal. The underground railroad, in all its incar- nations. Songs of riding the rails. There was many a song of a hanging or a jailbreak.

We drank in the flavor, the images, and thought we knew, we understood these worlds. That the music had made us one with all human life."

--cfs

The Israel Folk Community is a free, discreet forum to reflect, review, promote and share feelings and experiences that would be of interest to the Israel Folk Community.

Performers, critics, impresarios, musical instrument artisans, and most important - the audience, fans of acoustic music, whether it be Irish, Blues, Singer/ Songwriter, World Music or if you simply appreciate it all, this forum is for you.

Reviews of recorded music and live performances, announcements of upcoming gigs, URL's related to music, any other type of announcement that would be of interest to the community.

This is not the forum for political messages. I realize that living in Israel is a political statement all on its own and all of us want what we believe is best for the country. How to achieve what is best for the country should be discussed anywhere but here.

There are times when someone might give a negative review of one of the local performers. Please keep the disapproving comments to the performance and not the performer.

This forum is at the moment not moderated and I would like to keep it that way. This means that anyone can join and post whatever messages they want. Please help me keep it this way.

On the homepage, there is a list of bookmarks that is of intereto the community. At this point, anyone can add bookmarks to the list. Performers, don't be shy, it is of interest to all of us to be able to find your sites and know how to buy your CD's.

There is a great polling feature on the home page. If you have some issue that you would like to bring to a poll, such as the location of Jacob's Ladder, ask me and I will set up an on-line poll.

Another feature that is available is the photo section. Feel free to post of different folk events so that we can relive the moment or see what we missed.

--Larry Rosenfeld

Happy Birthday to: Malcolm Admon, Naomi Deutsch, Bracha Fuchs, Yehudit Vinegrad, Menachem Vinegrad, Sherry Whetstone

Happy Anniversary to: Menachem & Yehudit Vinegrad, Malcolm & Judy Admon, Mike & Jill Rogoff

NOT TRAD ADS - fee is NIS 10 (NIS 5 for members).

**SHELLEY ELLEN - guitarlessons, also available for performances (03) 674-5356. **Jill Rogoff's THE CELTIC CRADLE and ACROSS THE NARROW SEAS (ALC 129) are available on cassette and CD. Tel/Fax (02) 679-0410.

** Voice and/or flute lessons. Call Marcie Schreier: (053) 834-174.

**SUZALEH'S SILK ART - Glassed and framed, modestly sized and modestly priced, door signs, mazal tovs, etc. Handmade by Sue Tourkin- Komet (02) 676-3346.

DISCLAIMER: FolkNotes is the official publication of the Israel FolkStuff Society. Views are those of the writers, not necessarily those of IFS.

FolkNotes and all of the articles, photographs and material contained therein

are, unless otherwise noted, copyrighted by IFS 2002.

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FolkNotes Staff: Sherry Whetstone, Larry Gamliel, Carol Fuchs, Cecile Panzer