Milkmaid Molly

• Morris

INCLUSIVE MORRIS

Milkmaid Molly’s whole ethos is to support vulnerable and disadvantaged people to enrich their lives through the joy of music and movement.

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Me and my recorder

by Val Haines

There’s a meme going around social media: just when you think parenting can’t get any harder your kid comes home with a recorder. Us recorder players still have a lot of convincing to do.

Flashback to 1969. I’m at primary school and we are told to line up and take a recorder out of a large box. I’m at the back of the queue, as always, as my name is at the back of the Early daysalphabet. When I get to the box there is one left, a dark brown one, Bakelite I learned much later. Everybody else has a pale wooden recorder with a white top. Appearance is not the only difference I realise as we all begin to blow. Everybody else’s sound like asthmatic mice – mine sounds like a bird. Nothing I can do can make my recorder wheeze like theirs and this beautiful sound encouraged me on.  

Unlike the current meme my parents never objected to my recorder. We were told don’t take the recorder home. I took it home. We were told don’t tell your parents you have to buy one. I told my parents we had to buy one, after all once a week playing wasn’t enough, but I had to wait until my eleventh birthday. The night before I could hear my dad blowing it and my mum saying shhh, she’ll hear you. I was too excited to sleep.

I found early on that I could play lots of tunes from memory which meant that if I had to read music it slowed me down. There seemed to be an automatic connection from ears to brain to fingers. When I heard Sparky’s Magic Piano on the radio, I thought yes, that’s how it works. My teacher liked my playing and asked me to play in assembly. I refused to play alone and asked a friend to join me. We played together but I didn’t enjoy it at all. She was too loud and blew all wrong and didn’t think about how it could sound nice. I was too shy to play on my own in public so continued to march around the house playing instead: TV adverts, hymns, pop songs, anything. Then it was time to go to secondary school and I got my trumpet, flugel horn and cornet. Recorders became a bit childish, but at least you could hide them in your bag.

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Frederick (Fred) Sanders - an appreciation

• Suffolk
• Essex
• Morris

Fred Sanders

Neville Parry, Squire of The Morris Men of Little Egypt has sent the following tribute to Frederick Sanders.

“It is with immense sadness and grief that we announce the passing of our dear friend and Founder of the Morris Men of Little Egypt, Frederick Sanders.  Frederick passed away at home on Monday 24^th May surrounded by his beloved family.

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Janice Burns & Jon Doran at The Canopy Theatre

JANICE BURNS AND JON DORAN - CANOPY THEATRE, BECCLES  SATURDAY 18th MAY 7.30 p.m.

Janice & Jon are an award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music. Their songs tell vivid stories about the nature of life and our place in the world.

Their ‘clever and uncluttered musical storytelling’ (Songlines) comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki and guitar. Their arrangements have a spellbinding presence and an understated energy that transports songs from the pages of books and manuscripts into the imagination of the listener.

With their relaxed and personable approach to performance, Janice & Jon are renowned for the warmth of their connection with audiences. From opening Stage 2 at Cambridge Folk Festival, to playing at the likes of Edinburgh Tradfest, Cecil Sharp House and Sage Gateshead, the duo are highly sought after across the UK and beyond.

Read more: Janice Burns & Jon Doran at The Canopy Theatre

Morris and Covid-19; Part 2 Morris Dancing for the Socially Isolated

• Morris

Two weeks ago, on the 16th March, when I wrote the first article, in what now is becoming a series, no-one expected that almost immediately all Morris practices, pub nights, day's of dance and festivals would be cancelled until further notice but that is what has happened.  Even more astonishingly most of us are now required to remain in our own homes as part of the social (physical) distancing strategy.  For those of us who are feeling an urge to get back to dancing here is a way of performing the Upton on Seven Stick Dance completely in compliance with social distancing; kindly provided by Keith Graham of Colchester Morris Men.

Following the Government announcement on 16th March the Joint Morris Organisations issued a statement which confirmed that the JMO National Day of Dance planned for 18th April 2020 in Liverpool has been postponed until April 2021 on a date to be decided.

Similarly, Daniel Fox, Squire of Thaxted Morris Men announced  "the not-unexpected decision to cancel this year's Thaxted Morris Weekend due to be held on May 29 to 31.  It is the first cancellation since 1939".

Morris On!

Dave Evans

29th March 2020

Getting a Life

I wrote this article for Living Tradition Magazine in early 2020 - pre-virus. Maybe the prolonged lockdown and cancellation of festivals, folk clubs and related events and the effect this is having on the lives of many folk musicians make my thoughts even more relevant than I had anticipated. (Sorry - you may have to get out a magnfying  glass to read this clearly.)