by Howard Marshall 
            The version of Cotton Eyed Joe considered the older fiddle tune is sometimes associated with Appalachian and Southern fiddling due to its appearance in 1926 on a recording by Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. The celebrated north Georgia string band recorded a series of seven 78 rpm records (fourteen sides) collectively known as “A Corn Licker Still in Georgia.”[1]  The Skillet Lickers recorded from 1925 to 1931 and over a million copies were sold, with the records marketed as “Entertaining Novelty Records.” The recordings were essentially …

 
by Anthony Barnett
 SP
What do you think of the effect of pickups on jazz violin’s acceptance and whether it is a positive, negative or neutral trend?
Any opinions on the
    1. current crop of pickups?
    2. acoustic vs. solid body instruments?
    3. appearance of 5 string models?
AB
I am not a practicing violinist myself so I am unable to answer from a musician’s point of view. But I do have some observations from a listener’s point of view, partly as a result of my own listening but also as a result of exchanges, …

by Carl Rahkonen
The first time someone hears Scandinavian fiddling they may be struck by its unique sound, which can be as beautiful and austere as the Scandinavian landscape.  Together with incredible rhythmic complexity, this music can sound as exotic as any music on the earth.  It is a sound that can be particularly addicting!
The sound of Scandinavian fiddling can be traced to the influence of older instruments in the culture, representing a “parallel” tradition:  In Norway it’s the hardingfele and in Sweden the nyckelharpa.   Many North American Scandinavian fiddlers also …

By Tim Woodbridge
1939 found Don Messer in something of a quandary.  Despite the successes chronicled in Part 2 and continuing, it must have seemed that he was constantly required to justify himself to distant CBC executives. In 1936 the network had reduced the proportion of musical programming from 70% to 50%.  In 1938, following a change in administration, the network required all performers to re-audition.  What was probably the final straw came when Messer’s request to be included in the lineup of programs from a proposed CBC studio in Halifax …

by Cookie Segelstein
 
One of the forms in klezmer music that uses the character of MISHEBEYRAKH (the mode covered in the previous article) is the doina . Here is an explanation of Doina from the introduction by Joshua Horowitz of Kale Bazetsns and Doinas, by Cookie Segelstein and Joshua Horowitz*:
Doina is the Romanian term used to denote families of both vocal and instrumental pieces with a recitative character. There exist countless thousands of doinas throughout all the states of Romania, some of which show specific regional characteristics, while others are shared …

“Boil the Cabbage Down” first position fingering pattern (2^nd finger close to 3^rd finger, typical beginner’s pattern). Tonic note is an open string (e.g., A, in Boil the Cabbage). This position is typically taught to beginners without regard to staying in a single key across the instrument. So, you get a major scale if you start on the G string 0123 and then go to the D string 0123 (G scale). You get the D scale by starting on the D string 0123 and going to the A string 0123 and the A scale is A:0123 E:0123. However, if you wanted to play a second octave of any of these scales, you would use a different finger pattern. This chart represents the beginner finger pattern, then, rather than proper notes for a particular scale.

by Howard Marshall
In a section on couple dances in my forthcoming book on the history of fiddling in Missouri, the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance and tune became a focus of interest. The following essay is offered to readers for discussion. Readers are encouraged to contact me by email at MarshallH@Missouri.Edu with corrections and ideas for improvement. 
Relatively few people have seen dancers perform a schottische or varsouvienne, even if they remain favorites at old-time country dances. Today, no couple step dance is better known than the Cotton-Eyed Joe – a dance that …

by Anthony Barnett
SP: Any comments on the divide between the stylistic approaches of the Grappelli and Stuff Smith and their respective statuses both in the jazz world and among music fans that are not jazz aficionados? Where does the Manouche/French Gypsy violin style stand in your concept of the jazz world?
AB: Let’s talk, as we have long promised ourselves, about the Hot Club of Robinson County. It may well be the best Hot Club there is. Why? Because, as we know, it doesn’t exist. There is no Robinson County. That …

by Carolyn Osborne 
Years ago I got to watch my favorite classical violinist, Itzhak Perlman, play the fiddle music of his Jewish heritage, klezmer.  He’s an amazing player, of course, having mastered the hardest classical violin music there is.  But what really struck me as I watched him play with the other klezmer fiddlers is that while all the players were facile in first and third positions, Perlman was equally at home in the stratosphere of the fiddle.  Watching Perlman made me realize how important knowing how to shift and …

By Tim Woodbridge
As described in the previous installment, when Don Messer was 16 he went to Boston, where his Aunt Mary ran a boarding house.  According to biographer Johanna Bertin, he did well for himself, eventually becoming an assistant manager of a store in the Woolworths chain, with prospects of assignment to a store of his own.  On the other hand, his long working hours made for a lonely existence, and Bertin notes, his work visa was running out and he would soon be faced with deciding whether to seek …