Doug Lamey, Dedo Norris, and Cliff McGann at the Canadian-American Club

[Victor Maurice Faubert]

[A typographically richer and therefore more readable version of this
posting is available at
      <http://homepage.mac.com/vicmf/ne/2009/14_feb/14_feb.html>
along with photos taken at the concert.]



This year, the Canadian-American Club [1] is holding a Cape Breton dance 
on the second Saturday of each month through June, which, this February, 
fell on Valentine's Day. This evening's performers featured Doug Lamey 
[2] on fiddle, Dedo Norris [3] on upright piano, and, for much of the 
evening, Cliff McGann [4] on guitar.

Watching a young musician improve before your eyes is always a pleasure 
and Doug has been improving by leaps and bounds since I first heard him 
play in 2007, when he was already a very good fiddler. This past 
Saturday night, he played magnificently well, better than I had ever 
heard him play before, and I was not alone in saying so. His music had 
the perfect tempo, rhythm, and phrasing for dancing; with just the right 
amount of bounce, crystal clear, and standing four-square in the Cape 
Breton fiddling tradition, it was a superb performance! I was also 
delighted to again hear Dedo Norris, who has been doing Cape Breton 
accompaniment on the piano for more than fifteen years and has worked 
with many of the greats in Cape Breton music, adding a complex but 
delicate rhythmic component that blended perfectly with Doug's lilt and 
phrasing and complemented it with those lovely tones that only a 
well-played upright piano can produce. It was pure Cape Breton music at 
its best! Cliff McGann added his guitar accompaniment to the mix, 
enriching the sound even more, around 21h30.

As is usually the case at the Canadian-American Club, the dancing did 
not get under way until 20h50; during the four hours of music, only four 
square sets were danced. The evening started off with several sets of 
gorgeous tunes--I was so taken with the playing I forgot to count--which 
soon commanded everyone's attention. Jigs, reels, and strathspeys came 
tripping off Doug's fiddle with scarcely a pause between sets. The first 
square set of the evening used the Inverness figures; a waltz followed 
and then the dancers took their seats to listen to some more sets of 
tunes. The second square set used the Boston figures with no prompter on 
stage and closed out the first half of the evening, as Doug and Cliff 
took a break.

Gordon Aucoin on fiddle and Dedo on piano then played several very 
enjoyable sets of tunes, several of which I hear only fairly rarely and 
therefore made me prick up my ears. At this time, the fine array of tea 
and refreshments in the kitchen was opened up and much of the audience 
enjoyed gustatory delights along with Gordon's music.

To spell Dedo, who had by then played for two and a half hours straight, 
Peggy Morrison took over on the piano as Doug and Cliff returned to the 
stage. The universal call for step-dancers soon sallied forth from 
Doug's fiddle and, this evening, three people answered it by taking to 
the floor: Mary Lamey (Doug's aunt), Dave Harvey [5] (a dance instructor 
and dance prompter from New York City), and Mary MacGillivray (a regular 
at the Canadian-American Club). After a few more tune sets, Dave Harvey 
proposed a new square set be danced with variations on the figures he 
thought the dancers would know and which he prompted from the stage. 
Dedo then returned to the stage and continued with Doug and Cliff with 
more tune sets. A fourth square set, danced to the Boston figures 
without a prompter, followed. Jerry Holland's "In Memory of Herbie 
MacLeod" and "Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife" closed 
out the evening's music.

The audience for much of the night was about the same size as the 
January dance's, between forty and sixty, perhaps not too surprising as 
it was Valentine's Day and there were many competing activities. The 
next dance is scheduled for 14 March and features Doug, Cliff, and 
Charlie MacLeod. Unfortunately, I am going to have to miss that one, but 
I can certainly say I am looking forward to listening to Doug's artistry 
again in the near future. If you haven't heard him recently, you should 
give his superb playing a long listen.

As always, my thanks go to the dance organizers, especially Peggy 
Morrison who has put the idea of monthly Cape Breton dances into 
practise, and to the friendly folks at the Canadian-American Club whose 
hospitality is greatly appreciated.



[1]	<http://www.canamclubofboston.com/>
[2]	<http://www.douglamey.com/>
[3]	<http://www.rafikibubu.com/bostonkiltics/bio.php>
[4]	<http://www.cliffmcgann.com/>
[5]	<http://www.nycbarndance.com/>