Early American Classics for Banjo

Here is the Forgotten Heritage: Great Banjo Music! Discover the birth of the American fingerstyle banjo in this collection of 28 of the finest tunes culled from banjo publications between 1860 and 1887. Learn amazing banjomusic by some of the early leading players James Buckley Albert Baur and the great Frank B. Converse the greatest virtuoso of his day. From folk-style dances to parlor dances such as the Polka Mazurka and Schottische toadvanced Romantic-period classical-style solos. Can be played on modern banjos or period-style instruments. The audio recording by Rob MacKillop features a gut-strung banjo and is played with the flesh of the fingertips in theold American tuning. For modern instrument players Rob has provided TAB and a Standard Notation stave at modern banjo pitch. Clawhammer players will find many of the pieces in the book suitable for their technique andbluegrass/fingerstyle players will be able to play all the pieces. Rob MacKillop provides a fascinating introductory essay placing the music in its historical context while his audio of performances can be viewed as astand-alone recording by a leading player in the revival of this great American banjo heritage. Includes access to online audio.

Transcriptions from Buckley???s Banjo Guide of 1868-Early American Banjo?by Tim Twiss provides complete banjo tablature transcriptions of the instrumental solos that first appeared in standard notation in?Buckley?s Banjo Guide of 1868.?Thismodern tablature edition of over 100 mid-19th century jigs waltzes polkas hornpipes and reels provides insight to the transition between the African down-stroke technique which preceded claw-hammer style and the newer morerefined plucking technique. James Buckley (1803 ? 1872) sometimes referred to as the ?Father of the Classical Banjo ? was one of the most prolific transcribers of early banjo music. His compositions andarrangements were performed on the minstrel stage and his scholarly discipline produced a lasting record of banjo music of his era. This repertoire collection includes easy tunes as well as more complex pieces suited for theconcert stage. The player will delight in discovering how fresh and unusual some of this music sounds even today?all in modern banjo tab. While best experienced on a period reproduction gut-string fretless banjo ina lower tuning any 5-string banjo in C tuning (gCGBD) may be used to interpret this collection. Includes access to online audio.

The composer says: For years, my fellow guitarists have been asking me to compose a solo classical guitar piece that reflects that most American of musical styles?the blues. Their prodding was the motivation for Periwinkle Memories; the inspiration for the piece, however, really came from a maestro of extraordinary skill, and a teacher of even more extraordinary patience, Elias Barreiro, my guitar teacher at the University of New Orleans. I have always tried to emulate in my performances the beauty of his interpretations, and to fuse in my compositions the power and emotion of the blues. The name, Periwinkle Memories was a serendipity. I was struck by the light purplish-blue hue of the periwinkle, and soon learned the history of the funnel-shaped flower (Vinca minor.) Though it now grows wild in parts of the United States it is native to Australia, some consider it an invasive weed, most admire its extraordinary beauty. Common herbicides won?t kill it. The periwinkle is too vigorous and hardy for that. And now it is not merely a begrudged part of the American landscape, it is a vibrant part of the American landscape, elegant, stubborn, and nearly native. Like the blues. And like that young recalcitrant student Maestro Barreiro worked so hard to mold so many years ago. Ogden Nash said, ?One man?s remorse is another man?s reminiscence.? Periwinkle Memories is a celebration of Maestro Barreiro, and of both facets of that adage in me. Carlos Barrientos was born on June 25, 1954 in Tela, Honduras. He began his formal music studies at the National Music Conservatory in Guatemala City, Guatemala C.A. His training with Maestro Elias Barreiro, Director of Guitar Studies at Tulane University, was supplemented with Master Classes with Manuel Barrueco, Leo Brouwer, Juan Mercadal, Michael Newman, Tommy Tedesco and Carlos Barbosa-Lima. He studied composition under the tutelage of Dr. Jerry Sieg, University of New Orleans, and Dr. Roy Johnson, Florida State University. He consulted with Michael D. Martin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Music, Albany State University, Albany, GA in the creation of a recordings library that reflects Western Art Music and American Jazz for the students at Albany State University. The New York Premiere of the First Movement of his Second Guitar Sonata was dedicated to and performed by Classical Guitarist Maestro Carlos Barbosa-Lima in 2003 at Carnegie Hall. At the request of U.S. Senator Bob Graham one of his compositions, Si Tu Te Vas (If You Go Away), was included on a recording to promote The Everglades Trail. In 2004, at the American Church in Paris, France the World Premiere of his Romance for Flute and Guitar was performed by the award-winning Serenade Duo, flutist Michelle LaPorte and guitarist Gerry Saulter. He has performed with such legendary musicians as Herbie Mann, Donald Byrd and Debbie Reynolds, led an on stage Renaissance Trio in a University of New Orleans production of Shakespeare?s Twelfth Night, and played incidental music for their production of Bertold Brecht?s The Good Woman of Sichuan. He has performed Carulli?s Guitar Concerto in A, Leonard Bernstein?s West Side Story and Marvin Hamlish?s A Chorus Line with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and Okaloosa-Walton Community College, Niceville, FL, and with the Southern Art Music Ensemble, a Jazz/Latin Fusion Sextet, including an Honors Convocation in Atlanta for Mr. Ted Turner. He has been a guest performer with the Albany State University Jazz Ensemble at The Fletcher Henderson Jr., Macon and Atlanta Jazz Festivals, and played the banjo in the Albany State University /Albany Symphony?s co-production of George Gershwin?s Opera Porgy and Bes