Episode 38 - Dave Bartley

Contra Pulse

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Ring Of Kohala by KGB on their album In From the Cold, Devil's Churn/Vladi On The Trans-Siberian/It's Too Hot from the Bag O' Tricks/Tricky Brits 2001 album Contra Dance And English Country Dance Music, Chimney Pond & Kirtan performed by Contra Sutra live at NW Folklife Festival 2017, To Sofia & The Reconciliation by KGB from the album Contra-Intelligence, Act With Agility by Roguery from the album A New Leaf, and Alpenglow by KGB from their album The Red Light of Evening.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more. Or click here to download directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

More about Dave Bartley:

Much to see on Dave’s own website, and you can also learn more about his many bands and musical projects on these sites:

• KGB - (Julie King, Claude Ginsburg, Dave Bartley)
• Contra Sutra - a contra dance band with Marni Rachmiel, Ryan McKasson or Brandon Vance, and a elite percussionist selected from a binder full of percussionists.
• Roguery - A versatile English (and contra) dance band with Anita Anderson, Shira Kammen, and Jim Oakden.
• Valse Café Orchestra - Viennese waltzes and other ballroom dance music from latin to swing.
• The Irish Experience, electric Celtic music
• Keltoi, traditional music of Scotland and Ireland
• Rouge, French cafe music featuring chanteuse extraordinaire Elle Rayor

See and hear Dave in action:

• Recently Dave, Anita Anderson, and Ryan McKasson played Paddy Fahy’s #1 & Big John McNeil at the Lake City dance October 21, 2021 (N.B. masks were required for dancers, optional for musicians while on stage)
• With KGB:
  • Banjo in a Bear Suit and Za in the Qi in the Glen Echo Bumper Car Pavilion
  • Zahtar at the Ann Arbor Dawn Dance weekend 2012
  • As MI-5, our ECD alter ego, playing Jack’s Maggot hambone in formal wear
• With Contra Sutra:
  • Growling Old Man and Woman & Dancing Bear from Butterfly Whirl 2018 from Dancing with the GODS 2020
  • Play with Alacrity & Loud Hall from Dancing with the GODS 2020
  • Vladi on the Trans-Siberian & The Dancers of Teeth from Dancing with the GODS 2020
• With Roguery:
  • Love and All That Hijaz (for the dance Love Always), Ann Arbor Dawn Dance weekend 2013:
  • A Flash of Vermilion (for the dance Ruby Crowned Kinglet), Hey Days 2018
• Other delightful bits:
  • Dave wrote this lovely tune called “Remembering David” for David Kaynor. He shared the sheet music with us, which you can see here
  • Dave plays classical guitar during the pandemic shutdown: Vals #3 in D major by Agustin Barrios Mangore
  • A mid-80s composition from Dave called City Rain
  • Rouge (also featuring Ruthie Dornfeld) from NW Folklife 2011, playing La Steppe by the Amestoy Trio
  • Pasatempo playing rebetika at a 2009 concert in Portland, OR.

Some odds and ends mentioned in this interview:

• Sandy Silva’s incredible percussive dancing and her Migration Dance Film Project
• The epic Princeton area mega-dance band Rum & Onions playing at the NEFFA Festival
• Dave is a big fan of the epic English and European style folk band Blowzabella