Benton's Dream
Fiddler Michael Gorin
and I have been playing a few dances here in the NYC area with
pianist Neil Pearlman. He plays with a distinctive jazzy Cape
Breton style that makes an interesting mix with the classic New
England and Southern old time tunes we like to
play.
Click the button above
to hear us at Dave Harvey's Barn
Dance playing Benton’s Dream.
This fiddle tune is an all time favorite of ours for both sessions
and dances and is really fun to play on any instrument including
Anglo concertina. It was written by Benton Flippen.
In her tune book The Portland Collection, Susan Songer writes that Benton told her that he was at neighboring Mt. Airy fiddler Tommy Jarrell's house “some time in the ‘60’s just fooling around on the fiddle when this tune emerged. Tommy said. "That's a good tune" and named it "Benton's Dream."
In her tune book The Portland Collection, Susan Songer writes that Benton told her that he was at neighboring Mt. Airy fiddler Tommy Jarrell's house “some time in the ‘60’s just fooling around on the fiddle when this tune emerged. Tommy said. "That's a good tune" and named it "Benton's Dream."
The last I heard,
Benton Flippen from Mount Airy, North Carolina is still playing
strong at 90 years old. You can listen to him play his tune,
Benton’s Dream and other great selections on his
myspace
page, or
here, or
here.
For Anglo players...
cool tune right? Well, I chose this one because it works out great
on both G/D and C/G instruments. The live dance recording above is
played on a G/D but this slowed down version below is played on a
Morse 31 button C/G with no tricks. All those notes are really
there in the key of A Mixolydian. Try it for yourself.