| SACKETT'S HARBOR is an audio trip to a time when the
Saturday night dance was the highlight of every little
town in Western New York State; to a time when the
fiddler kept the music going all evening; to a time that
seems both more innocent and more vigorous than today.
Music historian Jim Kimball has spent years interviewing
traditional performers and studying early tune-books,
local manuscripts, newspaper accounts, dance cards, and
diaries. With five other performers, he recreates the
typical sounds of rural ensembles that played a broad
range of regional dance tunes. The instruments, all built
in the nineteenth century and played in upstate New York,
are as remarkable as the arrangements. Sackett's Harbor
has an authenticity of sound that cannot be found
elsewhere. This music style is the direct antecedent of
modern string-band and bluegrass music. Sackett's Harbor
is the title of a favorite tune that accompanies a
regional contra-dance, which, in turn, takes its name
from the War of 1812 battle site on Lake Ontario. The
companion tune book, a hefty 54 pages, contains all of
the tunes, an extensive bibliography, the background of
each tune, and comparison versions. CONTENTS / REVIEWS
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SONGS AND TUNES FROM WOLF RUN. Mark Hamilton is one of the last of the
old-time performers in Western New York. He is what
folklorists call a "tradition-bearer". He still
knows the dance calls, songs, stories, and fiddle tunes
that he learned from his grandparents, parents, friends,
and neighbors in New York State's Southern Tier. When you
hear Mark's playing and singing you are transported to a
country kitchen or to a Grange Hall dance. Even in very
fragile health, he treated the thousands of folks
gathered for the 1999 annual Fiddlers' Festival at the
Genesee Country Museum, [near Rochester, New York] to
comic songs, lively tunes, and traditional dance calls.
His stature as a traditional musician has been recognized
nationally and locally. We are proud to share a
significant part of Mark's repertory with an even larger
audience. The companion book 74 pages has all the
tunes and songs, extensively annotated; the introductory
essay by Jim Kimball; and 14 pages of photographs and
music covers make it a valuable resource for research in
American popular and folk music. CONTENTS
/ REVIEWS
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