The Whiz slip jig

Don’t blame me, Neill Barr did this to me, in part… See:

Take No Prisoners ~ submitted by Neil Barr
https://thesession.org/tunes/4706

I was innocently collecting ingredients and preparing and baking a cheesecake, for someone who need the absolute highest fat in the small things he’s able to eat ~ some of you know the stories, certain tragic situations…

I found myself stuck in 7/8 mode. I couldn’t even walk without doing it with a “slow-quick-quick”. And then this tune came on me and kept me company all through the process. I might blame the tune and the 7/8 rhythm for the outcome, and thinking about barbecues with music, Neil and Jeremy, hold your ‘guffaws’, it’s what I ended up making, a ~

“Strawberry-Rubarb and Chocolate-Ginger Cheescake”

Stop it you doubters. I’m a sensitive soul with regards to sparks of creativity. The cheescake ain’t half bad, at least in its raw state, even if I was thinking of Neil Barr and Jeremy while lilting this thing, stepping it and making this unexpected result of a cheescake…

For you percussionists out there, those who might like to emulate a ‘tapan’, hope I remembered the rightly, as I am short of those resources here. Anyway, I’ve seen one made two ways, hollowing out the lower trunk of a tree, and by steam bending the wood around. There is a skin on either side and the drum is so sturdy you can stand or even dance on the top of it. There is a thick stick in one hand, the low toned “Boom” and “Bum”, and in the other is a long slender stick, the high pitched “tah” or “tuh”. They have names, but I don’t remember them. It has been some time. Here is a basic beat pattern for a four bar phrase, in a way appropriate to the tune given here:

|: Boom-tah-tah Bum-tuh Bum-tuh | Boom-tah-tah Bum-tuh Bum-tuh |
Boom-tah-tah Bum-tuh Bum-tuh | Boom-tah-tah Boom - - - :|

http://www.balcanto.net/www/english/instruments/

“Playing righthanded with a thick, frequently carved stick, the player produces strong and loud beats. Soft and weaker beats are played with the left hand, tapping a wand (often made out of the wood of a cornel-tree) against the lower membrane of the tupan.”

Balkan Music & Dance Workshops
http://www.eefc.org/site_archive/staff_mendo.htm

Balkan Bands outside the Balkans
http://balkanarama.com/bands.htm

& if you want to get ahold of recordings:

http://www.balcanto.net/www/english/index.htm
http://www.balcanto.net/www/english/bazaar/index.htm

Just in case someone may take it otherwise, and taking responsibility for anything unclear ~ it’s the one tune, a four-parter…

http://www.prigsbee.com/Musicals/shows/wiz.htm

“He’s the Wizard”

"Let me tell you ’bout
The world and the way things are.
You’ve come from a different place
And I know you’ve traveled far.
Now that you’ve told me what it is,
I’d better point you towards the Wiz.

He’s the Wiz,
He’s the man,
He’s the only one,
Who can give your wish right to ya.
He’s the Wizard.
He’ll send you back through time
By running magic through ya.
All of the super power’s his."

Toto could always see beneath the veil…