Sylvia suggests that 

 

"We should follow the tempo in the Assembly Players CD Levi Jackson. Nic
Broadbridge is the leader of that group and worked closely with Pat Shaw who
wrote the dance."

 

I am not sure that I agree.  This might be the preferred speed in Scotland,
or the UK, or now.  It says nothing, however, about the speed that Pat
wanted or expected it to be played back in 1974.  

 

My first experience of dancing Levi Jackson Rag was to the calling of Pat
Shaw, in London, and although this was over 30 years ago, I am certain that
it was slower than generally done today.  As well as working with the
Assembly Players, Pat also worked closely and regularly with the Kenton
Ramblers, a London-based 3 piece band led by the late Sheila Mason.  As well
as being the mother of one of the dancers in our university dance group,
Sheila lived just around the corner from me and was a regular baby sitter.
We had many musical and dance-based conversations, including about Levi
Jackson Rag.  If I recollect correctly, Sheila was the 1st person to play
the tune for Pat, if not in the world, at least in the UK.  She always
complained that people played it much too fast and that it should be slower
and 'swing'.  That is certainly how the Kenton Ramblers played it for me.
Of course, when you play it more slowly it becomes more obvious whether the
musician has actually hit all the notes correctly!  I am thinking about
112-114bpm.

 

 

Michael Barraclough
http://www.michaelbarraclough.com




 

From:
sentto-10754689-14055-1236621858-michael=michaelbarraclough.com at returns.grou
ps.yahoo.com
[mailto:sentto-10754689-14055-1236621858-michael=michaelbarraclough.com at retu
rns.groups.yahoo.com] On Behalf Of smiskoe at aol.com
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 2:04 PM
To: trad-dance-callers at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [trad-dance-callers] Re: Tempo for Levi Jackson Rag

 

We should follow the tempo in the Assembly Players CD "Levi Jackson". Nic 
Broadbridge is the leader of that group and worked closely with Pat Shaw who

wrote the dance. Pat has passed away but what better reference could we get 
than by listening to Nic's recording. It is faster than the you tube 
selection first cited, 29 seconds for one rendition.
Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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