Concert Reviews
North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance 11th Annual Conference
Albuquerque, NM
February 25-28, 1999
This winter's annual gathering of the far-flung members of the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance offered a bonus on top of the customary blend of informational, networking, and musical opportunities: the brilliant sunshine and warm air of the New Mexico desert. For this particular refugee from the February miseries of New England, the climate and scenery were almost as exhilarating as the 12 hours a day of music.
"Under One Sky" was the theme of the 11th Folk Alliance conference, which attracted the largest registered attendance yet, just under 1700. As usual, it fostered a theme of sharing common interests and skills within the multifaceted community that revolves around broadly defined "folk" music and dance.
At the opening luncheon, the brilliantly colored costumes and ancient music and movements of the Cellicion Traditional Zuni Dancers preceded the Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony, which this year saluted African-American singer and scholar Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, the classic country traditions of the Carter Family, and the pioneering song collection work of Anne and Frank Warner. Daytime workshop sessions offered practical advice on nuts-and-bolts topics like promotion, working with agents, and developing organizations, as well as peer group discussions for various subsets of performers, producers, and media. There were cultural and historical workshops too, featuring people like Mexican-American cowboy singer Johnny Whelan and blues banjo player Otis Taylor.
Late afternoons and evenings were for music, only a fraction of which could ever be heard by any single attendee. The official showcases, held in the overly vast auditorium of the Albuquerque Convention Center, featured 27 acts selected, as always, to represent a broad spectrum of traditional and contemporary music. Sets ranged from the powerfully emotional songwriting of Pierce Pettis and Susan Werner to the gritty Texas irony of Ray Wylie Hubbard, from the wall of Finnish fiddles called JPP to the just-for-fun Western swing/gypsy jazz blend of the Hot Club of Cowtown. Wistful, unique songwriter Annie Gallup painted strange, imaginative pictures. Mollie O'Brien and her soulful band made a potent, bluesy point.
The trio Frifot (Ale Möller, Lena Willemark and Per Gudmundson), part of a large Swedish contingent sponsored in part by the Swedish government, introduced mysterious Nordic bagpipes as part of their shivery mix, and the New York band Whirligig found a home for klezmer clarinet in fiddle-fronted reels. Uillean piper Todd Denman and his accompanists created powerful modern arrangements of Irish tunes, while Dave Carter and Tracy Grammar offered spine-tingling country harmonies. Barachois, a vibrant quartet from Prince Edward Island, won a strong standing ovation for their driving French-Canadian sound.
Each night, a couple dozen rooms in the hotels transformed into miniature folk clubs, and it's in these informal and often tightly-packed confines that much of the conference's musical magic happened. Michigan's Elderly Instruments gets this year's nod for sponsoring the all-around best "private" venue, where I kept returning to hear people like the happily gruff Greg Brown, who after an edgy, compelling set in a jammed room that held 50 people introduced master raconteur Utah Phillips, who soon had us all laughing and singing old union songs. William Pint and Felicia Dale sailed off with graceful nautical ballads and forceful chanteys accented by Dale's wailing hurdy-gurdy. Another harmonious couple, Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen, managed a quick but smooth set in spite of advancing colds. In an encore from last year's conference, charming 83-year-old English traditional singer Bob Copper told stories of his family's centuries of songs and performed a few with his son John.
Elsewhere during the weekend, Vancouver's Paperboys, who have evolved into one of North America's best folk-rock acts, introduced new accordionist Doug Schmidt. They joined forces with Eddie From Ohio on Thursday for some big-band stompin' fun, and with roots-rockers Yardsale on Saturday for an electric hoe-down. Eric Andersen closed a quiet, moody set with Tom Paxton's "Last Thing On My Mind" after reminiscing with the author, who was sitting in the second row. The Kennedys played unplugged and mesmerized a tiny room with their guitar harmonics and winsome enthusiasm. The Mollys played full blast as Kevin Schramm assaulted an electrified slide bouzouki in a manner worthy of Jimi Hendrix.
There was the constant blur of unknowns hopefully busking in the halls, late night dances in various styles (C&W, salsa, squaredance and more), shape note singers massing in the foyer, and poetry slammers throwing words around. I wrapped up my weekend with the hypnotic electric zither music of Andrew Cronshaw, backed by a sparkling 19th-floor view of Albuquerque at 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
The Folk Alliance will next bring this annual but all-too-brief experience of a very special musical community to Cleveland, on February 9-13, 2000. See you there.
