5th Annual Battle of the Bands

The 5th annual Battle of the Bands, sponsored by the Fiddle Club of the World, will be held in Szold Hall at the Old Town School of Folk Music (4545 N. Lincoln) in Chicago on Saturday, July 9, 7-9pm. Part of the Square Roots Festival.

3 bands, 2 hours of dancing, intermittent dance lessons, big fun

The winning band is the one that best fills the floor with dancers. Vote with your feet.

All competing bands regularly play for dancing, but not all feature fiddles. However, the number of fiddlers in the competing bands balances out.Teresa Shine Trio
Teresa Shine Trio
with Jim Dewan on guitar & Mike Austin on bodhran
Irish music : Raised on the South side of Chicago, an area rich in Irish culture, Teresa was first introduced to Irish traditional music from Phil Durkin, an Immigrant from County Sligo, Ireland, who taught her how to play the fiddle. Growing up, she and her siblings spent many years playing with Phil along with the Irish musicians of Chicago at the Ceilis, sessions, and Irish music events locally, nationally, and back in Ireland. in more recent years, she has spent much of her time being a musician for Irish Dancing competitions (feiseanna) and performances, some of which have taken her to World Folk Festivals as a musician for the Trinity Irish Dancers. Currently, She leads a monthly session at Connolly’s in Oak Park and teaches Irish music classes at the Old Town School of Folk music, Chicago Gaelic Park, and Saint John Fisher school in Chicago.

Jafra
Jafra (Name of a character in Palestinian folk songs>
Ronnie Malley – oud, Dusan Simic – woodwinds & percussion,
Hamze Allham – vocals & shibaba & Ahmed Hamad – dance teacher
The Palestinian members of the group hail from Al-Quds/Jerusalem and Gaza. Ahmad Hamad, the dance instructor, has studied traditional dabke steps and teaches at various workshops around the area and across the country. Ronnie Malley performs, among other instruments, oud and vocals. Ronnie performs with a number of different orchestras/groups and has taken special interest in the tradition of Arab Andalusian music. Hamze Allaham is a vocalist and shibaba player, as well as a poet who performs classical Levantine Arab songs, folk melodies, and his own poetry. Dusan Simic performs various traditional woodwind, string, and percussion instruments from the Balkans/Levant, and his specialty is the calgija and village music of Kosovo/Southern Serbia. While these musicians have strong backgrounds in folkloric tradition, they also contribute modern, unique elements to their performances.

Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)
Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)
Judy Higgins, Mitzi Lebensorger, Rebecca Brooke Skrede, Vidar Skrede on fiddle
Othello Anderson on flute, Rene Cardoza on vihuela, Gail Tyler on bass
Paul Tyler on fiddle, dance teacher
American, Nordic and Mexican music. Simple set and couple dances from three fiddle-crazy parts of the world: Norway, Mexico, and the US of A. The Chicago Chapter was formed in 2008, and has since hosted 58 guest musicians from 10 countries and 21 US States representing 16 ethnic music traditions and numerous distinctive styles of fiddling. The Chicago Chapter holds monthly jam session to play tunes learned from our guests and other sources.

4th Annual Battle of the Bands

The 4th annual Battle of the Bands, sponsored by the Fiddle Club of the World, will unfold in Szold Hall at the Old Town School of Folk Music (4545 N. Lincoln) in Chicago on Saturday, July 11, 7-9pm. Part of the Square Roots Festival.

3 bands, 2 hours of dancing, intermittent dance lessons, big fun

The winning band is the one that best fills the floor with dancers. Vote with your feet.

Nota Bene: Once again, all competing bands feature fiddlers.
Jim Stoynoff

 Jim Stoynoff’s Greek Band
 Izaki Metropoulos on violin
 Greek music
 An Iron Heart artist

Juan Rivera

 

 

Juan Rivera
con Los Condenados Huastecos
Mexican/Son Huasteca
An Iron Heart artist

White Mule

 

 

 Genevieve Koester
 with White Mule
 Old-Time Square Dance tunes
 White Mule

Results of the 3rd Battle of the Bands

Held July 13, 2014 at the Square Roots Festival

For the 3rd year in a row, the Battle of the Bands ended in a draw. The objective was to fill the floor with dancers. Here is the report of the judges, as texted to the emcee.

“The Fantastic Toe Trippers Orchestra actually got the most dancers on the floor, as determined by counting feet and dividing by two. However, they were assessed penalties for having both a banjo and an accordion in the band. The Renato Anesi Trio did not attract as many feet. However, as Brazilian dancing requires moving more body parts, they were given bonus points. The Byzantine Time Machine was also given a bonus for the largest inchoate mass of moving humanity. An additional technology bonus brings them into a virtual tie with the other two bands.”

The following pictures illustrate the tie-clinching bonus.

Here are some recordings from the hotly contested battle of 2014.

Greek Syrtos by the Byzantine Time Machine

Brazilian Choro by the Renato Anesi Trio

Who could have imagined. Thanks to all particpated.

Paul Tyler – convenver

Come dance to some of Chicago’s best

The 3rd Battle of the Bands, sponsored by the Fiddle Club of the World, will unfold in Szold Hall at the Old Town School of Folk Music (4545 N. Lincoln) in Chicago on Sunday, July 13.

3 bands, 2 hours of dancing, intermittent dance lessons, big fun

The winning band is the one that best fills the floor with dancers. Vote with your feet.

Renato Anesi Trio
Brazilan Choro

This was Renato visiting an Old Town School class.
Check out some of the many concert videos on his YouTube channel.

Byzantine Time Machine
Scientronic* Greek and Balkan syrtos and kolos.
Check out some samples on their sound cloud.

* Santur, sax, horns and drums processed through a flux capacitor.

Fantastic Toe Trippers Orchestra
Polkas, waltzes and barn dances from 3 continents

3rd annual Battle of the Bands

at the Square Roots Festival
Festival info here.
Presented by the Chicago Chapter of the Fiddle Club of the World

Sunday, July 13, 7-9pm, Szold Hall
Old Town School of Folk Music East (4545 Lincoln)

Three bands (by invitation only).
The band that gets the most folks dancing wins!
Dancers wanted and encouraged for three different styles of music.
Quick dance lessons will be given intermittently throughout the event.

Byzantine Time Machine

 

Byzantine Time Machine
Scientronic Greek & Balkan dance music.

 

Renato Anesi Trio

 

 

Renato Anesi Trio
Choro music from Brazil.

Fantastic Toe Trippers Orchestra

 

 

 

 

Fantastic Toe Trippers Orchestra
Polkas, Waltzes & Barn Dance from 3 continents.

 

 

 

Put on your dancing shoes!

Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World

2nd Annual Battle of the Bands

at the Square Roots Festival
Presented by the Chicago Chapter of the Fiddle Club of the World

Saturday, July 13, 6:30-8pm, Szold Hall
Old Town School of Folk Music East (4545 Lincoln)

Dance and cheer as bands compete to be named Best Fiddle Band in Chicago!
The band that get’s the most dancers on the floor wins the top prize.

Fred Campeau & Money Creek

 

Money Creek
One of the best old-time square dance bands in the Midwest.

 

Fruteland Jackson

 

Fruteland Jackson
Chicago bluesman fronts an old-time jook band.

Mary Allsopp & the Chicago Spelmanslag

 

 

 

Chicago Spelmanslag
Chicagoland’s own Scandinavian musicians club.

 

 

Put on your dancing shoes!

Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World

Battle of the Bands

Presented by the Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)
at the Square Roots Festival
Saturday, July 21, 7-8pm
Szold Hall in Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln)

Three bands have been invited.

They’ll take turns, bringing us a fine mix of dance music: old-time, Cajun and Mexican son.

The band the gets the most people on the dance floor wins the top prize of $400.

Come dance and root for your favorite. Here they are in alphabetical order . . .
Matt Brown

Brown’s Dream
Matt Brown – fiddle
Steve Rosen – banjo
Greg Reish – guitar
Jesse McQuarters – bass

 

 

Dorian Gehring & the Cajun Vagabonds

 

Cajun Vagabonds
Dorian Gehring – fiddle
Heather Cole Mullin – fiddle
Charlie Terr – accordion
Stewart Gehring – guitar

 


Tarima Son
Irekani Ferreya – fiddle, guitar
Anabel Tapia – jarana, viheual
Rose Gaitan – small percussion
Orlando Tenumbre – bass