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 Cookie Segelstein
In our last article we spoke about the one of the most recognizably Jewish modes,  Freygish. Now I would like to talk about the mode Mishebeyrakh, which (like Ahava Rabboh, the alternate name for Freygish)  is named after a prayer with the musical elements of the mode in the Jewish synagogue liturgy.
Before we start with some musical examples, here is the mishebeyrakh mode. In this example we are using D as the tonic. The motives listed underneath the mode are typical examples of when a note’s position (in …

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 …

by Anthony Barnett
SP: More generally, speak to misunderstandings of jazz violin exhibited by the jazz community and/or violinists.
AB: That is a big question. I am tempted to answer that things are much better but I am often given cause to wonder.
For example, 2009 saw, to my knowledge, three centenary celebrations of Stuff Smith: one in The Strad by classical violin guru Tully Potter (in-depth and in many ways excellent), one in Strings (largely sounding out other violinists), and an hour on the BBC in which the host, a well-known jazz …

by Stacy Phillips
The past few years have seen a relative bonanza in fiddle-oriented nonfiction in print. Check out the previous review article I wrote for the October 2004 edition of Fiddle Sessions. Here is a rundown of nine of my favorites that are not mainly music transcriptions or instruction.
“Fiddler of the Opry – The Howdy Forrester Story” by Gayel Pitchford (Viewpoint Press – 2007) is a biography of the most important Nashville fiddler in the 1950’s and `60’s.  He composed many now standard tunes as well as variations of pieces …

by Anthony Barnett
 SP: Comment on the evolving position of violin in the ragtime, early, swing, bebop and current eras of jazz.  
AB: First, let me say I am not the knowledgeable person about ragtime and, say, early string bands. Document CD’s (http://www.document-records.com/index.asp) are a good source of, if not always accurate information, at least the string band music itself. I would also mention the two very useful early blues violin compilation CD’s put out by Old Hat (Folks He Sure Do Pull Some Bow! and Violin, Sing The Blues For Me …

by Tim Woodbridge
May 9th was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Don Messer (1909-1973), the great Canadian fiddler and cultural icon. Measured by popularity, influence and long running success on radio, recordings, and television, Don Messer was arguably the most important Canadian fiddler of his generation, if not the 20th century. His instantly recognizable style — bright, precise, lively and accessible, earned him the loyalty of millions of Canadians (and many in the United States). He and his band, the Islanders, toured extensively throughout Canada, reinforcing an image …

by Miamon Miller   
Romanian Transylvania has many sub-regions each with its unique folkloric flavor and traditions and the northern county of Maramureş is no exception. Indeed, each valley can be said to have distinct characteristics.   
While most Transylvanian folk bands rely on bowed strings for both melody and accompaniment, Maramureş musicians have gone down a different path. For over a century, they’ve used a version of the guitar (called ‘zongora’) to play rhythm and harmony. When Béla Bartók recorded musicians during a 14-day research trip in 1913, he wrote that a 2-string …