Capering & Kickery

CD Review: The Civil War Grand Military Ball

The Civil War Grand Military Ball dates back to 2007, but I only recently encountered it while looking for new nineteenth century dance music.  It is the fourth recording by the Tennessee-based 52nd Regimental String Band and the first to consist specifically of dance music.

The most immediately noticeable difference between this album and most of my others is that most of the tracks include vocals, which may or may not be to everyone's taste for dancing.  I have mixed feelings about it, myself.  I prefer my nineteenth-century dance music instrumental rather than vocal, but with a couple of notable exceptions (see below) I enjoyed the singing and was amused to realize that the two songs ("Polly Wolly Doodle" and "Kemo Kimo") in one medley are ones I remember singing versions of as a little girl growing up in Texas.

CD Review: Home Sweet Home

I picked up this 2002 album by the Dodworth Saxhorn Band last year when they were engaged to play for the Remembrance Day Ball I call for in Gettysburg each November.  It's not specifically a dance recording, but there are three labeled dance tunes on it and a couple more that are usable as such.

The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, as the name implies, consists primarily of saxhorns, a marching band instrument with a more mellow sound than a modern brass band.  The saxhorn apparently was particularly popular with Civil War-era marching bands, and the group uses original instruments built between 1840 and 1900 and tuned to a high pitch, nineteenth-century style, for a very authentic sound.  The Dodworth of the band's name refers to the family of New York dancing master Allen Dodworth, who had a notable career as a musician, composer, and bandleader before turning to dance.  The group is modeled on the Dodworth family's own band, founded in 1825 by Allen's father Thomas and reformed in the 1830s by Allen himself first as the National Brass Band and then as the Dodworth Band.

Most of the nineteen tracks on Home Sweet Home are songs or concert pieces from the era, including a short rendition of "Yankee Doodle" and popular pieces like "Goober Peas" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."  An exception in this otherwise-period set of selections is "Ashokan Farewell", a modern piece by Jay Ungar which is associated with the Civil War because of its use in the Ken Burns documentary.

But for the dancer, the pieces of most interest are the dance tunes.  These include the familiar "Prima Donna Waltz" and "Cape May Polka", both well-played at danceable tempos.  It's nice to have new versions of these old favorites with such an interestingly different sound.  The third labeled dance piece is the "Jumping Galop", played at a very brisk 150 beats per minute.  While period dancing masters do suggest high speeds for the galop (Dodworth himself suggested 152, and his contemporary M.B. Gilbert listed 144), most modern dancers are more accustomed to around 125, so this tempo may be a bit of a shock.

Two tunes not labeled as such, but usable as slower (around 125 bpm), less driving galops are "Skyrockets" and "Listen to the Mockingbird".  The latter includes mockingbird noises.

The "Dixie Medley Quickstep" is a nifty little medley, but at less than two minutes long it is not a workable length for a Grand March.

While not primarily for dancers, dance music played on authentic instruments is not easy to come by, so Home Sweet Home is worth picking up despite the few dance tunes, and will be even more enjoyable for anyone who likes nineteenth century vocal music.  It is available from CDBaby and a number of other online retailers.  Excerpts may be heard on the band's Myspace page.

CD Review: Knockout Drops

I'm frequently asked for recommendations for period dance music, especially for the turn-of-the-century ragtime era of the 1890s-1910s.  Fortunately, there are quite a few CDs which are commercially available and useful to the social dancer, among them the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra's 1997 album, Knockout Drops.

The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra is a leading exponent of vintage American popular music with the rich and varied sound of a twelve-piece orchestra (wind, brass, percussion, and strings).  Working from period orchestral scores, they play concerts, radio shows, and silent film programs as well as producing several CDs and a DVD with their accompaniment to the silent film, The Mark of Zorro.  Though as far as I can tell they do not play for dance events, they include a great deal of lively dance music in their repertoire, much of which is played in a way usable for dancing (not always a given with music played as concert pieces).  I recommend Knockout Drops for anyone searching for good one-steps and two-steps as well as for those who simply enjoy popular American music of this period.

Paragon director Rick Benjamin's liner notes contain a wealth of detail about the history of ragtime music and about the historical context of the tunes and their composers.  The title of this CD is taken from the first track, Frank Klickmann's "Knockout Drops," about which the notes say it is:

a ribald allusion to the shocking modis-operandi of the White Slaver, much in the news that year with the passage of a Federal law "prohibiting the interstate transportation of women and girls for immoral purposes."

Musically, Knockout Drops features a rich selection of popular tunes of the ragtime era.  It includes two Scott Joplin rags and a Sousa march as well as good recordings of old favorites such as "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" and "At a Georgia Campmeeting."  One-step and foxtrot medleys incorporate tunes such as "I Ain't Got Nobody" and "Ragtime Cowboy Joe," and an amazing 1905 two-step medley includes a whole cornucopia of Civil War-era songs from "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to "Dixie."

Though many of the tunes are given dance types (one-step, foxtrot, etc.), not all of them are usable as labeled.  Looking at the tunes purely as dance pieces, Knockout Drops includes: