Album Notes

Rebecca King, Jon Berger and Jim Oakden are regulars in the English Country Dance music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. This album presents the tunes for the dances in Andrew Shaw's new collection of dance reconstructions. The arrangements are influenced by the music of the 17th and 18th century, when the dances date from, but make no attempt to sound like the authentic music of that era; these are English Country Dance tunes as played by modern players in a contemporary style that respects the past without trying to emulate it. Instrumentation includes piano, flute, violin, viola, button and keyboard accordions, clarinet, recorders, banjo, mandolins, and gaita (a small but piercing Spanish bagpipe).