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Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Contra Music: The Sound of New England by Eleven New England Contra Bands
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fave it Traditional Folk | Contra Dance
12 tracks | 51 minutes
Released Jul 2006
on Great Meadow Music
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for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:08 The Green Mountain Medley - Mary Cay Brass & Friends lyrics BUY MP3 05:08 The Green Mountain Medley - Mary Cay Brass & Friends lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:08 The Green Mountain Medley - Mary Cay Brass & Friends
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:10 Lafferty's - Wild Asparagus lyrics FREE 04:10 Lafferty's - Wild Asparagus lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:10 Lafferty's - Wild Asparagus
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:32 I Don't Love Nobody Medley - Rodney Miller & Bob McQuillen lyrics BUY MP3 03:32 I Don't Love Nobody Medley - Rodney Miller & Bob McQuillen lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:32 I Don't Love Nobody Medley - Rodney Miller & Bob McQuillen
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:07 Leather Britches Medley -Rodney Miller, Peter Barnes & John McGa lyrics BUY MP3 04:07 Leather Britches Medley -Rodney Miller, Peter Barnes & John McGa lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:07 Leather Britches Medley -Rodney Miller, Peter Barnes & John McGa
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:30 Poor Old Woman Medley - Rodney Miller & David Surette lyrics BUY MP3 04:30 Poor Old Woman Medley - Rodney Miller & David Surette lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:30 Poor Old Woman Medley - Rodney Miller & David Surette
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:03 The Jewel Tune Medley - The Moving Violations lyrics BUY MP3 05:03 The Jewel Tune Medley - The Moving Violations lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:03 The Jewel Tune Medley - The Moving Violations
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:57 Bagpipe Ditty Medley - the Rodney Miller band lyrics BUY MP3 03:57 Bagpipe Ditty Medley - the Rodney Miller band lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:57 Bagpipe Ditty Medley - the Rodney Miller band
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 08:23 Chorus Jig Medley Susan Kevra, Mary Car Brass & friends lyrics BUY MP3 08:23 Chorus Jig Medley Susan Kevra, Mary Car Brass & friends lyrics "GIFT MP3" 08:23 Chorus Jig Medley Susan Kevra, Mary Car Brass & friends
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:04 O'Donal Abhu Medley, Rodney & Randy Miller lyrics BUY MP3 04:04 O'Donal Abhu Medley, Rodney & Randy Miller lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:04 O'Donal Abhu Medley, Rodney & Randy Miller
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:58 Lamplighters Medley - Rodney & Randy Miller lyrics BUY MP3 03:58 Lamplighters Medley - Rodney & Randy Miller lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:58 Lamplighters Medley - Rodney & Randy Miller
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:01 Happy Acres Medley - Bob McQuillen & Old New England lyrics BUY MP3 03:01 Happy Acres Medley - Bob McQuillen & Old New England lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:01 Happy Acres Medley - Bob McQuillen & Old New England
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 01:18 Kilcommon Medley - Rodney Miller & Airdance lyrics BUY MP3 01:18 Kilcommon Medley - Rodney Miller & Airdance lyrics "GIFT MP3" 01:18 Kilcommon Medley - Rodney Miller & Airdance
He are cuts from the CDs of ten leading New England Contra Bands, including Rodney Miller, Bob McQuillen, Wild Asparagus, The Moving Violations and others
Bio / Background
CONTRA MUSIC: THE SOUND OF NEW ENGLAND is a full length sampler CD featuring cuts from the first eleven CDs released by Great Meadow Music. Great Meadow Music focuses on the recording, appreciation and promotion of New England's special music.
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"There is magic in the music that you have to hear to understand why people keep on wanting to do it. When you see somebody come in a hall who hasn't danced before, their eyes just light right up. They get swept up into it physically. You all of a sudden are being involved in this music - besides playing it or listening to it, you are doing something to it. And it's something you are not doing solo. It is something you do with other people"
Taken from Together in Time - A Contra video
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Contra is the special sound of New England in that it remains active social dance music. This is participatory music.
↓ more ↓Contra musicians come into full glory in the dance hall, where people still listen as they dance to the music as they have done for centuries. The clean phrases of the music are cut to suit the dance.
New England contra has been around since Colonial times, surviving through the centuries because it brings communities together. Contra's distinctive charistics are stylistic flexibility built on a dance rhythm framework. These rhythms are those found at any New England contra dance; from jigs and reels to waltzes and polkas. Tunes can be New England traditionals, British and Celtic dance tunes, American folk and parlor songs, or inspirations from other musical cultures.
Fiddle and piano are core instruments of today's New England contra dance music. The mark of good contra mnusic is a steady beat, generally provided by the piano, and a clearly phrased melody line, usually carried by the fiddle. Piano is a central to the sound of New England dance music as the banjo is to Appalachia and the accordion to Tex Mex. But contra is accessible to musicians as well as to dancers. Few other genres welcome such a variety of instruments. From penny whistle to bodhran, almost any string, wind or percussion instrument can be heard in a contra band. Another signature of New England contra music is phrasing. Phrasing fits the melody to the figures of the dance. Because New England contra is a social dance based upon a simple, yet flowing, walking step, its tempo is slower than Bluegrass, Irish or Old Time music.
Contra is not just for dancing. It is great listening. We hope you enjoy our special sound.
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Words and ideas of David Kaynor, Andy Davis, Peter Amidon, Scott Alarik, David Millstone and others in the northern New England Contra Community
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