Le Vent du Nord

It's always exciting to discover a band or style of music. One group I've recently discovered is Le Vent du Nord, who are a French Canadian band and play what they call "progressive folk" music. I was lucky to have been able to see them perform at Longwood Gardens on Aug. 24, 2014, and it was a great show. The band is a four piece that utilizes traditional folk instruments like accordion (both button and piano accordions), violin, guitar, bouzouki, piano, jaw harp (jew's harp), and hurdy gurdy. Here are a couple of pictures of the stage before the show started in which you can see the instruments.

Left side of the stage where you can see the accordions, bass, and hurdy gurdy.

Right side of the stage, with piano in the center, then bouzouki and guitar. 

I was unfamiliar with the band before seeing them, but was intrigued by the description of "progressive folk" and of the instrumentation. I mean, how can you pass up a band that uses the hurdy gurdy? Sings in French? Well, why not, even if you don't speak the language (which I don't) just listen to the vocals as just another instrument. Needless to say, I was impressed by the show. The musicianship was top notch, the singing was great and you have to love a band where all of the percussion was provided by foot tapping/stomping. Also, I love when musicians play multiple instruments, and everyone in Le Vent du Nord played different instruments. Nicolas, the piano player, also played the hurdy gurdy and piano accordion. 

Rejean played button accordion, bass, and jaw harp. 

Simon played guitar and bouzouki, 

and Olivier played fiddle...okay he also did all of the foot percussion,

 

plus they all sang.

Here are a couple of snippets of the show.

Instruments

Vocals

Hurdy Gurdy 

Definitely worth checking out if you get the chance.

 

Todaro's Music Pt. 3

Here's a look at some more stuff at Todaro's Music. First, here's a guitar I would love to have if I had the money and the need for another guitar... well if I had the money... a Danelectro Convertible. (The tan one in the middle.)

I'm a big fan of these guitars. I really like the whole aesthetic of Danos. Cheaply made, consisting of a poplar frame with masonite top and back. If I had this one, I'd put a lipstick tube in the slot, and then set up a piezo pickup under the bridge. That way you'd get the Danelectro jangle and then have the option to get an acoustic sound. For more info on Danelectro guitars, check here for vintage, and here for current.

On to something a little more "out there." Some Harp guitars. Harp guitars were popular back in the early 1900s, and are making a comeback now. The first harp guitar I saw was the one Robbie Robertson played in the Last Waltz, which was a Gibson Harp Guitar. 

The next one I remember seeing was The Dyer Harp Guitar that the late great Michael Hedges played.  

Joe has two harp guitars in his store, one of which has a label of "Teodoro Fuso." This one is a ten-string on the guitar side with four bass strings on the harp side. 

The other one doesn't have a label that I could see, but looks to have some age on it. It has a regular six string on the guitar side, with six bass strings on the harp side.

For more information on harp guitars check out this site. http://www.harpguitars.net/

Next time, we'll look at some more esoteric instruments.

Todaro's music - Pt. 2 Ukes and Charangos

I recently took a trip down to Todaro's Music to see what cool instruments Joe had gotten in. The first thing I took a look at were the ukuleles. Joe had a bunch of cool ukes in. First up is the T.V. Pal.
The T.V. Pal uke is a plastic uke from the 1950s.  Some of these ukes have a great sound, plus they look cool. This one has a nice marbled look in the plastic.

Next up is an early mainland uke. I couldn't make out a name from what's left of the label, but it has all of the signs that it's an early uke made on the mainland, probably by one of the big Chicago makers, Regal, Kay Harmony... I don't know for sure, but I really like the looks of these ukes.

Next up are some new ukes that Joe carries, here are some Makai, Diamond Head and Lanaiki ukes. Really nice looking, nice sounding ukes.

 Check out the binding on this Makai. (check out that Koto in the background.)

Here are some of the Todaro Ukes that Joe has made for him. I have one of the early ones, and they are great sounding ukes. The new ones are looking and sounding even better.

These are all from the Sweetheart design of Todaro Ukes, or Akuleles.

While I was there, he also had a large shipment of charangos just in from Bolivia.

If you're not familiar with the charango, it's a Latin American instrument that is similar to the ukulele. It's strung with double courses and tuned like the ukulele g c e a with an extra set of e's on the top. (so its g c e a e)  It's reentrant in the middle set of e's with a high and low e. If you play the uke or guitar, you owe it to yourself to checkout the charango.

That's it for now, I'll have more on Todaro's Music in the next post.