My Dear Mr. SixAlmost too long ago, now, a friend of mine lent me an audio cassette entitled Simple Gifts, as done by William Coulter and Barry Phillips. It was a collection of simple, heartfelt instrumental arrangements of Shaker melodies, and I listened to it too much. One of the wonders of our time is not only that these things can be recorded and played again, but those recordings can re-rise from the ashes of magnetic media, ascendant as digital bits in a tightly wound loop drawn out on an encased platter of silvery foil. In this particular case, Simple Gifts and its two sister recordings, Tree Of Life and Music On The Mountain are all available, in singular or as set, from Gourd Music in Felton, California. They are all good, if one goes in for this sort of thing.
Gourd has other treasures to offer. I find the twin discs of Robin Petrie's Victorian arrangements of Christmas Carols for hammered dulcimer and sundry to be quite comfortable, even as the air shimmers with eighty degrees. I am always pleased to find good examples of Carols as folk music, ripped free of the dollar signs. This stuff is that stuff, and fine stuff. I expect as this year deepens again to cold and early twilights, this music will only become more of a comfort.
They sell Woody Phillips, too.
All content under copyright by the author. Dancing is permitted. The strange deltic glyphs in the sand under tidal flow are a pleasure to watch in their deepening. Offer not valid in Kansas. We put it down and then we lost it. It all happens in the corner of the eye. Commentary accepted at comment@goob.com, although the traps are agressive and the pointy bits simply drip with dark liquour. We have a dog, but we do not own it. Thank you.