Helicon and Friends Live at the Winter Solstice Concert
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Release Date: Dec 10, 2022 (Expect 3-5 days for shipping).
Helicon and Friends
Live at the Winter Solstice Concert
Fenchurch Music 13
Every December since 1986, the INDIE Award-winning world-folk trio Helicon has celebrated the midwinter holidays with their annual Winter Solstice Concert at Baltimore's Kraushaar Auditorium. This recording of the 2021 Winter Solstice Concert (Helicon’s 36th year) captures the exuberance, excitement, and joy of the event. Helicon is joined here by National Scottish Fiddle Champion Elke Baker, The Ken and Brad Kolodner Quartet with old-time multi-instrumentalist/singer Rachel Eddy, champion stepdancer Jonathon Srour, and members of the Baltimore roots music supergroup Charm City Junction.
1. Il est Né / Gesu Bambino / Polkas (9:14)
2. In the Csitari Mountain Foothills / The Storm Warning (5:21)
3. Ma'oz Tzur (Rock of Ages) / Come West Along the Road (4:00)
4. Across the Great Divide (3:51)
5. Black Eyed Susie (4:19)
6. In Those Twelve Days / Noëls (5:54)
7. Säästöpankki Vals / Lars and Satu / Reels (6:17)
8. Hard Times Come Again No More (3:59)
9. Liza Jane / Sandy Boys / Hangman's (4:59)
10. Chimney Swifts (3:53)
11. Wild Rose of the Mountain (3:12)
12. Lay Down Your Arms (2:56)
13. Boozy Suzy (4:03)
14. The Rumbling Quadrille (3:37)
15. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Christmas Eve Reel (5:52)
16. Hop High (5:21)
Running time: 77:14
HELICON:
Ken Kolodner: hammered dulcimer, hammered mbira, fiddle
Chris Norman: wooden flutes, whistle, Scottish smallpipes, vocals
Robin Bullock: guitar, cittern, mandolin, piano
With guests:
Brad Kolodner: banjo, gourd banjo, fiddle, triangle, vocals
Alex Laquement: bass, harmonica, vocals
Sean McComiskey: button accordion
Elke Baker: fiddle, viola
Rachel Eddy: guitar, fiddle, vocals
Jonathon Srour: stepdancing
Fenchurch Music 13
© 2022 Helicon. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
1. Il est Né / Gesu Bambino (Pietro Yon) / Polkas
Robin, guitar & cittern / Ken, hammered dulcimer / Chris, flute
The festivities get underway with this crossbreeding of two favorite Helicon sets. The opening Christmas carols are French and Italian, respectively, and four polkas follow from various other corners of Europe: "The Tenth of December" from the Gow Collection of Scottish fiddle tunes, the Polish "Polka Suwanna from Rzeszow," "Dick's Maggot ('Favorite')" from England and "Denis Murphy's" from Ireland.
2. In the Csitari Mountain Foothills / The Storm Warning (Robin Bullock)
Ken, hammered dulcimer / Robin, cittern / Chris, flute & alto flute
Another Helicon standard from the trio's 1990 album The Titan: a Hungarian tune that takes its title from where Zoltan Kodaly collected it, followed by a composition of Robin's.
3. Ma'oz Tzur (Rock of Ages) / Come West Along the Road
Sean, accordion / Brad, banjo / Robin, mandolin & guitar / Alex, bass / Chris, flute
Two-thirds of Helicon join three-quarters of Charm City Junction for a Jewish song of praise and a hard-driving Irish reel.
4. Across the Great Divide (Kate Wolf)
Brad, gourd banjo & lead vocal / Rachel, guitar & harmony vocal / Alex, bass / Ken, hammered dulcimer
The Ken & Brad Quartet offers their take on this lovely song written by the late Kate Wolf.
5. Black Eyed Susie
Brad, gourd banjo & lead vocal / Rachel, fiddle & harmony vocal / Alex, bass & harmony vocal / Ken, hammered mbira / Sean, accordion
The tune that won the Ken & Brad Quartet (joined here by Sean) first place in the neo-traditional band category at the 2019 Appalachian String Band Festival at Clifftop, West Virginia. This arrangement features an instrumental combination not often heard in old-time music!
6. In Those Twelve Days / Noëls
Chris, smallpipes & lead vocal / Robin, guitar / Alex, bass / Elke, viola / Rachel, fiddle / Sean, accordion / Ken, hammered dulcimer / Brad, banjo / All, backing vocals
Chris sings and pipes us through four French Noëls from Christophe Ballard's 1703 collection Chants des Noëls, Anciens et Nouveaux de la Grand Bible.
7. Säästöpankki Vals / Lars and Satu (Elke Baker) / Reels
Ken, hammered dulcimer / Elke, fiddle / Alex, bass / Robin, guitar / Sean, accordion / Chris, flute / Jonathon, dancing
Elke transformed the first tune, a little-known Finnish waltz, into the second tune, a strathspey built on the same harmonic progression and named in honor of her cousin and his wife who live in Finland close to the Arctic Circle. The three reels that follow are all by contemporary tunesmiths: "Bus Stop Reel" by Seattle pianist Anita Anderson, "Baker's Favorite" (and it is!) by guitarist Larry Unger, and "Frank's Reel" by Scottish fiddler John McCusker.
8. Hard Times Come Again No More (Stephen Foster)
Robin, guitar
Robin flies solo with a guitar interpretation of a classic Stephen Foster song. A quiet anthem of defiance and resilience.
9. Liza Jane / Sandy Boys / Hangman's
Brad, fiddle & commentary / Ken, fiddle & percussion on Brad's fiddle / Elke, fiddle / Robin, mandolin / Rachel, guitar / Sean, accordion / Alex, bass / Chris, whistle / Jonathon, dancing
The whole gang convenes, complete with three fiddles and the percussive practice known in the mountains as "fiddlesticks" (in which one person plays fiddle while a second beats rhythm on the instruments's strings with sticks, or in this case dulcimer hammers). The first two of these fiddle tunes are old-time, the third is Québécois...and it's possible that a bit of a beloved Christmas song might have found its way in there too.
10. Chimney Swifts (Brad Kolodner)
Brad, banjo / Alex, bass
An original tune from Brad - and the title track of his first solo album - inspired by the birds who come to visit a factory chimney near his home in Baltimore every year on their migratory journey.
11. Wild Rose of the Mountain (Si Kahn)
Rachel, guitar & lead vocal / Brad, banjo & harmony vocal / Robin, mandolin / Alex, bass / Ken, hammered dulcimer / Sean, accordion
Si Kahn pulled off the rare trick of writing a new song that sounds traditional and timeless. This song always reminds Rachel of being home with their family in West Virginia.
12. Lay Down Your Arms (Doron Levinson)
Ken, hammered dulcimer / Elke, fiddle / Alex, bass / Robin, guitar / Chris, alto flute
A musical prayer for peace composed by Doron Levinson, an Israeli soldier wounded and temporarily blinded during the Yom Kippur War.
13. Boozy Suzy (Mark Kilianski)
Alex, bass, harmonica & lead vocal / Rachel, guitar & harmony vocal / Brad, triangle & harmony vocal / Sean, accordion / Robin, mandolin / Ken, hammered dulcimer
"Big Al" leads the way through a song written by our friend Mark Kilianski on a bet that he could incorporate the words "dolphin," "calliope," "Murphy bed" and "shim-sham-shimmy" into a song lyric. The audience can be heard gleefully responding to each one as they appear.
14. The Rumbling Quadrille
Ken, hammered dulcimer / Robin, piano / Brad, banjo / Alex, bass / Elke, fiddle / Rachel, guitar / Sean, accordion / Chris, whistle
"Rumlekvadrille," to give it its original title, is a four-part dance melody from Tåsinge, Denmark, and a fine jam tune as can be heard here.
15. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Christmas Eve Reel
Ken, hammered dulcimer / Chris, flute / Robin, piano / Sean, accordion / Elke, fiddle / Brad, banjo / Rachel, fiddle / Alex, bass / Jonathon, dancing
Helicon brings it all back home to wind up the evening, before being joined again by the rest of our compadres to rip through the final tune. If we haven't played this holiday-themed pairing at every Winter Solstice Concert since 1986, we've certainly played it at most of them! It grows and evolves over time - this is the 2021 version.
16. Hop High
Brad, banjo & lead vocal / Rachel, guitar & harmony vocal / Alex, bass & harmony vocal / Ken, hammered dulcimer / Sean, accordion / Chris, whistle / Robin, mandolin / Elke, fiddle
Back for one more... Everybody gets to take a ride on this romp through an old-time folk favorite. And with that, we bid you goodnight until next year!
All selections arranged by the musicians.
All selections are traditional/public domain except where noted.
Produced by Robin Bullock
Recorded live at Kraushaar Auditorium, Goucher College, Towson, MD, December 18, 2021
Live recording engineer: Charlie Pilzer
Concert sound crew: David Eisner, Jonathan Charry
Postproduction, editing and mixing by Charlie Pilzer and Robin Bullock at Tonal Park, Takoma Park, MD
Mastered by Charlie Pilzer at Tonal Park
Graphic design by Kelley Wills www.brainflowerdesigns.com
Photos by Julia Golonka www.juliagolonka.com
Robin Bullock endorses McCubbin guitars and GHS strings
Thanks!
Way back in 1986, our friend Busy Graham pitched the idea to start a Winter Solstice Concert. The concert quickly became a Baltimore tradition. Thanks to Busy for her vision. So many have helped us make these concerts happen. We can’t name them all. At the top of the list are those who work the show: Alison Brown, Hillary Kolodner, Kirk Kolodner and Jeff Arrington, Paul and Sue Hartman, Maura and Jay White, Mary Lynn Michal, and Renee Baldwin. Thanks also to Tom Hall and Mark Steiner for helping us spread the word about the concert. And of course, the show would not be possible with the many thousands who have attended the concerts over the years. You have kept us going!