Sunshine barndance

Here’s a lovely tune that I heard played at the Wierdigan’s session tent at Knockengorroch Festival.
It’s by Gregory Jolivet, the hurdy-gurdy player of the french band La Machine.

You can hear him playing it in this video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuSGZIqqW88

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… it was also possibly the sunniest Knockengorroch Festival that I’ve ever been to this year, so it’s a perfect tune to have brought back with me!

Thanks for sharing this! Love Jolivet’s playing.

There are a couple of points in the X:1 setting which do not match what the composer, Gregory Jolivet, consistently plays in all the recordings I have been able to find of him performing the tune on YouTube, both solo (linked up-thread) and with La Machine - most notably in Bars 2 and 6 of what I have labelled the “B” music (we’ll come back to that…) where he and his band all always play the first group of 4 notes as BGGF, not BAGF and the second group as four quavers EDEF, not crotchet plus 2 quavers E2 EF. That BGGF (with the initial B being tied to the last note of the previous bar for a syncopated effect, as WilfDell correctly gives) in particular makes quite a significant difference to the feel of the piece (IMO). There are a couple of other more trivial differences at the turns.

Now the format/order of parts. Which section of the tune should be labelled “A” and which “B” and with which one should end seems to be somewhat controversial in British sessions and, short of the composer telling us directly, there’s no definitive/consistent answer I can find from his own available performances, so go ahead and do whatever you prefer, but here’s what I can tell from observation:

In live performances (recordings with La Machine on YouTube, e.g. https://youtu.be/B82SstnkGpA

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& https://youtu.be/Gc4mi4-1g5M )

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the tune is always introduced (after a song) with one time through what I have designated the A part, 8 bars without repeat, with the unresolved second time ending. Thereafter they play (for dancing!) both parts (with repeats) in alternation in the normal way, always ending with what I’ve marked as the “B” music with its resolved ending. Format = ABB AABB AABB etc.

However, in his tutorial video linked above, Jolivet plays only half (4 bars) of the “A” music (with unresolved 2nd time ending) as an intro and then plays each (normally repeated) part twice through, ending after 2 full iterations on that unresolved 2nd time ending of the “A” music. Format = ½A BBAA BBAA.

Unless someone can ask him for clarification and post the upshot, it’s up to you!