New Old-Time and Cajun

A Devil of a Row

Compact Disk: Swing Cat 1610 (1999)
$18.00

Chinquapin Hunting (MP3 sample cut)

Check out the detailed description of the CD at the Blech family site.

Old-time stringband music, in many flavors, is alive and flourishing in the Pacific Northwest. Swing Cat Recordings has selected, from the more traditional wing, the Seattle-based trio of Hart & Blech as their first entry into the old-time music compact discography. Allen Hart and Sheila and Kerry Blech bring to you the old music of the hills and hollers (well ... Allen's from North Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood and Sheila and Kerry live in South Seattle's Rainier Valley) on banjo, guitar, and fiddle respectively, with a few vocals on this, their first CD. They have spent many years listening to old recordings on 78s and albums and material from various field recording trips, augmented with their own visits to the old masters who originally created this dynamic music. They have internalized these traditional settings of old-time music and developed their own sound in their 15 years of playing together, though it retains the essence of tradition. Most of the music on this recording is similar to what one might have heard at a barn dance or house frolic in the rural South in the early years of the 20th-century, music they've learned from such diverse and widespread sources as: Charlie Kinney, Hiram Stamper, Clyde Davenport, Sammie Walker and Clyde Troxell of Kentucky; J.D. Dillingham and Moses J. Bonner from Texas; Matokie Slaughter, Roscoe Parish, and Wade Ward from Virginia; Jeff Hiatt and Bertie Mae Dickens from North Carolina, Earl and Max Collins from Oklahoma; Melvin Wine and Miller Wikel from West Virginia; Arthur "Cush" Holston from Florida; and Harry "Tink" Queer from Pennsylvania; and from African-American old-time traditions, they learned pieces from Will Adam of Maryland and Joe Thompson from North Carolina.

"Good tunes, good notes, I'm with you...keep it up." John Hartford

Kicked Up a Devil of a Row Crow, Little Rooster Wake Up, Chicken Tuck Me In Rockin' In a Weary Land Red, White & Blue Holly Ding Old Sharon Train on the Island French Waltz Chinquapin Hunting California Cotillion Hook and Line

Yearlings in the Canebreak The Roscoe Parish Waltz Buffalo Gals Battle in the Horseshoe Tie Your Dog, Sallie Gal Will Davenport's Tune All Young Leather Breeches Go and See Your Own True Love, Leave Mine Alone The Scolding Wife Lightning in the East The Mirabelle Waltz

For Old Times' Sake
Dance Tunes and Songs

Compact Disk: Swing Cat 1614 (2000)
$18.00

Swamp Cat Rag / Waldorf Reel (MP3 sample cut)

New! The music of For Old Times' Sake has been lifting dancers off the floor throughout California since 1989. Jim Mueller and Amber Roullard-Mueller's straight-ahead twin fiddling supported by a powerful and unique rhythm section featuring W.B. Reid on guitar and banjo-guitar and Jerry Ray Weinert on bass, provides just the right groove for contras or squares. This CD, recorded during the band's first Northwest tour, is a fine mix of favorite songs like Prohibition Is a Failure and Ragged but Right, and high-energy dance medleys including tunes such as Swamp Cat Rag, Ways of the World, Waldorf Reel and Sugar Tree Stomp.

The tunes:

Swamp Cat Rag/Waldorf Reel
John Sharp's Hornpipe/John Stinson's #2
Rocky Mountain/Comin' Through the Canebrake to Shoot the Buffalo
Prohibition is a Failure
Ways of the World/Great Big Taters in Sandy Land
Lost Indian
Bob's Farewell/Cold Frosty Morning
Ragged but Right
Cotton-Eyed Joe/Watermelon Pie/Dusty Miller
Tears of Love Waltz
Sugar Tree Stomp
Milwaukee Blues
Altamont/Wagoner One-Step
Bobtailed Mule
Say Darlin' Say
Live Oak/Seneca Square Dance
Black Hills Waltz

Al Berard & Friends

Compact Disk: Swing Cat 1612 (1999)
$18.00

Canray's Jam (MP3 sample cut)

Al Berard is without a doubt one of the best Cajun fiddlers on the scene today. Here he offers up a Louisiana melange of vocals and instrumentals, two-steps and waltzes, pieces 'old as the hills' and newly written gems. Al's heartfelt playing and singing are supported by a top-flight cast of backup musicians, making this CD a great addition to anyone's Cajun music library.

Canray's Jam Cowboy Waltz II Attackapa's Trail McGee's Tune It's a Shame Choupic (Dennis McGee version) Pop's Waltz Bosco Stomp My Little Woman Oberlin Waltz Traveler's Playboy Special Perrodin 2-Step Hebert's Waltz

Happy One-Step Kye-Yet Cheese's Tune Cowboy Waltz Catch My Hat Jolie Blonde Midland Special Swamper's Jam Hackberry Hop Praire Rhonde Ireland 2-Step Courville Special The New Acadians Valse De Amour

Les Femmes d'Enfer
Hot Flash

Compact Disk: Swing Cat 1613 (1999)
$18.00

T'En Au Eu, T'En Auras Plus (MP3 sample cut)

Les Femmes play fiery, infectious Cajun and Zydeco two-steps and waltzes in the traditional style of southern Louisiana.

"Love the new CD and the band's name, women from hell! I love it. I do the Cajun show on WWOZ 90.7 FM here in New Orleans every Sunday 11:30 am to 1 pm. You guys have some really good material." (Charles Laborde, New Orleans, LA)

"Thanks for some great music and dance last Wednesday at Portland State college ... when listening and dancing to Cajun music there is nothing to improve on the traditional Cajun style, and that's what we want to hear!" (Mark & Denise Hardy, Portland, OR)

"Thank you for the wonderful music. It is really fun to dance to your music...I hope you keep on making such wonderful music with so much fire." (Hugo Becker, Germany)

"Woe be it to the Joe who says 'you play great for a girl band.' They play great for a band...You can't help but dance when Les Femmes d'Enfer strikes up the Cajun music." (Sandy Bradley, Seattle Press, Seattle, WA)

"..I am listening to your CD right now, and I am LOVING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... I LOVE every song. I mean I LOVE it, LOVE it, LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to spread the word about Les Femmes d'Enfer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Doug Stevens, LGCMA Lesbian/Gay Country Music Association, Oakland, CA)

Allons dansez:

T'En Au Eu, T'En Auras Plus Reel de Courville Alexina Rie Old-Fashioned Two-Step Boozoo Bassette Pa Janvier La Cassine Special Jongle a Moi

Toutes les Nuits The Back Door (La Porte d'en Arriere) Chére Bassette Amédé Two-Step Saturday Night Two-Step Les Flammes d'Enfer

Femmes!
Les Femmes d'Enfer

Compact Disk: Swing Cat 2001 (2003)
$18.00

Femmes (MP3 sample cut)

Les Femmes d'Enfer, Seattle's exuberant all-woman Cajun dance band, have announced the release of their CD Femmes!. The seventeen tracks on Femmes! range from instrumentals such as Enterre Moi Pas, to the rollicking Zydeco Chère Ici, Chère Là-Bas, to the delightful French children's song J'ai Vu Le Loup, Le Renard et La Belette. Les Femmes d'Enfer also contribute to the Cajun tradition with two original songs: the lovely lullaby Fais Do Do Waltz and the rousing Saturday Night Two-Step.

Cayenne Cajun Band
Live at the Greenwood

Compact Disk: Chomp 101 (1999)
$18.00

Lacassine Special (MP3 sample cut)

Winner of the 1999 Prix Dehors de Nous from the Cajun French Music Association. It's the award for "the best Cajun music recording by a band from outside Louisiana" from the Cajun version of the Grammys. This CD contains 18 tracks (over an hour) of traditional Cajun dance music played on acoustic instruments. All tracks were recorded live at our monthly dances at the Greenwood Masonic Lodge in Seattle. The recording was done using ADAT technology that allowed us to digitally capture 8 tracks simultaneously for later mixdown in a studio. Since the recording was done live, we feel that it captures the true mood of the performance.

"...you and your [band] have really captured the true Cajun style of music. Jolie Bassette...is as good a Cajun song as anyone has made, anytime, anywhere...I have such an urge to dance when I hear it!" Terry Edler, Photographer, New Iberia, Louisiana (Aug 1998)

"It was [From the Bayou restaurant's] first anniversary and owner-chef Matt Marcus was boiling crawfish and grilling steaks, and the place jumped to a zydeco band called Cayenne. Matt's folks were visiting from Opelousas, La., and they said Cayenne was as good as any band back home." Bart Ripp, Tacoma's News Tribune (Apr 1999)

Put on your dancin' shoes:

Lacassine Special
'Tit Monde
Jardell Two-Step
Memories Dans Mon Coeur
Flammes d'Enfer
Port Aurthur Waltz
Evangeline Special
Durald Waltz
T'En As Eu, T'En Auras Plus
Bon Soir, Moreaur
Queue de Tortue
Cajun Waltz
L'Anse aux Pailles
Personne Pole Danser Avec Moi
High Point Two-Step
Chére Bassette
Jolie Bassette
La Dance Carrée

How's Bayou formed in 1978 after founding members Karen, Dave and Mike met Dewey Balfa and Marc Savoy at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington. The first Cajun band in the Northwest, they have been favorites at clubs, parties and festivals for over 20 years. During this time, they have evolved a repertoire consisting of traditional Cajun music, Zydeco and Swamp Pop. While the band started in what could best be described as a "Cajun vacuum" in the Northwest, they now find themselves pleasantly in the midst of a thriving Cajun music and dance scene.

Their new CD Pardon My French is a return to the band's roots, featuring a powerful traditional Cajun dance-hall sound. On Pardon My French the group is augmented by guest appearances from Al Berard of Louisiana's Basin Brothers on fiddle and electric guitar, and Ben Lang on electric guitar.

Al Berard says "I went up to play with How's Bayou for their 20-year celebration . . . The group is lined up with real talent

The tunes:

Madame Etienne/Rosalie
La Vie J'Croyais J'Voulais
Bo Sparkle Waltz
Louisiana
Cher Bebe
Oberlin Waltz
Acadian Special
Travelin' Light
Valse de Grands Pins
Crowley 2-Step
La Valse du Prairie Rhonde
Goodtime 2-Step
Pine Grove Blues
Hip et Tieaux
Valse a Tout l'Monde
Take a City Bride
valse des Meche
T'en as Eu, Ten N'Auras Plus
Courville McGee Waltz

Spaghetti Rag
featuring Paul Anastasio, Rich Levine and Ray Wood

Compact Disk: Swing Cat 1500 (1997)
$18.00

Peacock Rag (MP3 sample cut)

Rich Levine, one of the finest Texas style fiddle backup guitarists, has backed Paul Anastasio and scores of other fiddlers at dozens of fiddle contests, as well as playing countless hours of swing rhythm in jam sessions and wiring half the city of Seattle as an electrician. For years he and Paul had discussed making a fiddle and guitar recording of ragtime, a style that in its original form dates to the turn of the last century. As with so many other popular styles, ragtime evolved, drawing from the traditional and swing jazz that followed it, and in the case of fiddle rags drawing from the various regional fiddling styles to create a number of compelling hybrids. So irresistible was this melange of styles that make up rag fiddling that the Swing Cat tapped not only Paul and Rich but the ebullient and eminently talented Ray Wood (heard here on tenor guitar), and led them to the digital lair of our engineer Rus Davis, commanding that a recording of such be made forthwith.

A hearty helping of rags named after animals, states, people - even pickles and spaghetti - was the result, comprised of:

Crazy Otto Rag
Christie Ann's Rag
Draggin' the Bow (Take 1)
Peacock Rag
Oklahoma Rag
Forty Dogs in a Meat House
River Road Stomp
Spaghetti Rag
I Don't Love Nobody
Dill Pickles
Hotfoot
Don't Let the Deal Go Down
Draggin' the Bow (Take 2)
Satisfied
Bill Boyd's Lone Star Rag
Crazy Otto Rag (Reprise)

Noted composer and pianist Eubie Blake said of ragtime, "...it had all the best things in music: rhythm, melody and syncopation." Rich, Ray, Paul and the Swing Cat concur and suggest that you to serve yourself a CD-sized portion of Spaghetti Rag.

Waiting for the Sun
with Spencer and Tracy Hoveskeland

Compact Disk: Bottom Line 1001 (1999)
$18.00

Black Orpheus (MP3 sample cut)

Speaking of the sun, here is an exceptional recording from an unlikely duo - bassist Spencer Hoveskeland and his cellist wife Traci - The Bottom Line Duo. Their repertoire runs the gamut from "A Hard Day's Night" and Charlie Parker's "My Little Suede Shoes" to classical works by Vivaldi, Dragonetti and Rossini. Before hearing this odd pairing one might be tempted, like the legendary aerodynamic engineers studying the bumblebee, to proclaim "This duo can't fly," but fly they do, and with considerably more elegance than the bee. Great players, great arrangements!

Ken Olendorf's reputation as a stellar accordionist and pianist is unsurpassed, and his son Brian is also a very fine keyboardist. Together father and son dovetail musical ideas with hand-in-glove precision, their riffs chasing after one another like kittens at play. Swing standards and original compositions alike are ably showcased in this sunny set. If this CD were a soundtrack, it would without a doubt accompany the sun's emergence from an overcast sky.