KC FiddleCat's Page

I've decided to move this site to a better spot on the internet. Let me know if you'd like to know where it's going. Send an e-mail to kcfiddlecat@yahoo.com.

The best of fiddlers are the focus of this page. It feature some of the finest music available from a wide range of favorite performers playing what is commonly called fiddle music. These folks aren't just fiddling around. Give this music a listen and see if you don't agree. Information about how to listen to RealPlayer music is here through this link!)

Check back now and then to see who else I've added. I have the best intentions to add Liz Carroll, and Eileen Ivers soon. But there are so many terrific possibilities, that I can't fit them all in at once in my "Geospace"! If you don't have the newest Real Player Plug-in, you can download it through this link:
 

Icon for the Real
Audio Player

  1. It may be the height of arrogance to actually name a travelling touring ensemble of four people The Celtic Fiddle Festival, but what can I say but "Wow" about the resulting sound. Here's the Celtic Fiddle Festival, featuring Kevin Burke, Johnny Cunningham, Christian LeMaitre, and John McGann (guitar) in their 1993 live recording.
     
  2. Reels: Dionne Reel and Mouth of the Tobique
  3. Lonnie Johnson may have been better known as a guitarist in his musical career as a blues musician. But, the violin was his first instrument. This recording is an example of his playing blues violin, recorded in 1928. Though eclipsed by the guitar, the violin is clearly capable of the full expression of the blues sound and character.
     
  4. Violin, Sing the Blues for Me
  5. Tommy Jarrell left a legacy of recordings and "students" aspiring to preserve a little of his music. These recordings continue to inspire and attract new admirers of the "North Carolina" traditional style. His playing is distinguished by its subtle dynamics and complex bowing patterns. These particular recordings are unaccompanied, and may sound almost instructional at first hearing. But they are incredible. (The words of Cotton-eyed Joe may be offensive to modern sensitivities. But they were a part of the times which developed the tunes, and are best left as is.)
    Cat with waving tail
  6. Cluck Old Hen
  7. Flatwoods
  8. Cotton Eyed Joe
  9. Some of the best fiddle music comes from Irish and Scottish based performers. This large and very popular group includes Martin Hayes, an amazingly elegant player from Ireland, John Martin (the fiddler with the Tannahill Weavers) playing in bold Scottish style in a rare solo recording, and the incomparable Kevin Burke, from his new 1999 unaccompanied solo recording.
     
  10. Paddy Fahey's Jig/Sean Ryan's Jig
  11. Dr. McInnes' Fancy/Lexy Macaskill
  12. Itzikel, A Yiddish Dance
  13. Here's the REAL KC FIDDLE CAT, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, the classic jazz fiddler player, still performing in clubs around Kansas City, despite his advanced years.
     
  14. Billie's Bounce, by Charlie Parker (4:25)
  15. Texarkana, by Frank Smith. Cool! (3:50)
  16. Cajun music sometimes borrows from other traditions, but retains a character all its own. Fiddles dominate in these featured tunes, though the Cajun accordian often dominates the Cajun sound. Do you think fiddlers should sing? Here it works just fine.
    Cat bowing stringed instrument
  17. J'ai Vu Le Loup, Le Renard et La Belette, old Cajun traditional tune played by the classic Cajun band The Balfa Brothers. Gone but not forgotten.
  18. Michael Doucet plays the Cajun traditional waltz, "Chez Seychelles".
  19. Another tune played by Michael Doucet with his band "Beausoleil": Kolinda, a two-step.
  20. Sometimes called Appalachian or old-timey fiddle style, the popular bluegrass fiddlers use many of the tunes from this style of fiddle playing, maybe because bluegrass fiddle is just one type of old-timey or Appalachian music! There's a lot more to be added to this section, as time and my CD collection allows. (Most of my old-time collection is on vinyl.)
     
  21. "Midnight on the Water", played by the successful folk team, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.
  22. "Seneca Square Dance", again Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.
  23. A tune written by Pete Sutherland, played by the group Metamora, with Pete Sutherland on fiddle, Malcolm Dalglish on hammered dulcimer, Grey Larson on flute. It's called "Old Man Winter".

You can see many fine fiddlers in performance during one of the Missouri Valley Folklife Society's concerts in Kansas City. Check the Missouri Valley Folklife Society's information pages for the latest schedule.

Many thanks to anyone stopping by to visit my fiddle page. To send me an e-mail directly, use this link: KC FiddleCat. Also, many thanks to the FiddleNet and the Violin Web Ring for letting me participate.



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This Violin Web Ring site owned by KC FiddleCat.
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Decomposing violin
Last Update: 1/03/00