"Content: Bow the banjo to make perfect sounds"
A simple request from the late Carole Finer/Chant in the piece CF8, one of her contributions to the activities of the renowned Scratch Orchestra, of which she was a core member from its start through to more recent revived iterations.
"Perfect sounds", "bow", "banjo", "the".
What do those words mean? And strung together in a sentence?
The banjo, with it's long and winding history from Africa outward through various forms of folk music and jazz; and the bow, a sophisticated symbol of Western culture. (Imperialism too? Though also ancient and found in many cultures.) What kinds of interaction might arise when they are partnered?
It would be perfectly possible just to sit and imagine these things, something beyond the limits of the physical reality of banjo sound. But why not just get stuck in and discover where the piece takes you like a trip on a magic carpet (another of Carole's Scratch pieces)?
Initially, I made my own (imperfect) attempt at realising the piece but then the thought struck: frankly, wouldn't it be more interesting to broaden things out, see what others make of it? I sent out invitations to a number of people known to have plinked a banjo or similar and I'm very happy to be able to present this fantastic bunch here who each bring something characteristic of their extraordinary and varied musicmaking, be it revealing the instrument's resonant, harmonic possibilities or laying out its perfectly gnarly unvarnished intractability.
About Carole Finer/Chant
www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/fari-bradley-remembers-scratch-orchestra-s-carole-finer
"Everyone mattered
EVERYONE counted.
We were all stars."
(Carole Finer on the Scratch Orchestra)
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