Loading ...Elan’s Personal Journey to Cracker Jazz
The Fiddler’s Journey to the Realm of Cracker Jazz
The fiddle part of my musical journey began in 1975. Up until that time I played only violin and viola, no fiddling happened. My violin ability was enough to get me into the Tampa Philharmonic and get paid. But, it was not at a high enough professional level to even think about playing in a major symphony orchestra.
I began fiddling because I wanted to improvise, and that seemed the path of least resistance to that objective. When I first began attempting to make my own musical lines in a folk trio, I knew nothing about fiddle playing, absolutely nothing.
About two years I played in that ensemble. We also made forays into folk rock and pop. Then, I had an opportunity to join a successful bluegrass band, Green Grass Revival. That’s when I met Pete Gallagher.
Here, in this band, I had a chance to learn a coherent fiddle style–bluegrass. Vassar Clements was the biggest influence. His spirit dominated my playing for many years.
A change began to manifest when I went back to USF in 1986. During that time I was not playing out so much. By the time I completed a Master of Music degree in Composition and Violin, I was back in the world of legitimate music. I was serving as concertmaster in the Richey Community Orchestra, as I still do today.
During that time I had the opportunity to work with Janette Carter, of the Carter Family and Pauline Oliveros, a renowned avant garde accordion virtuoso.
Soon after graduation I spent time at Mark O’Connor’s fiddle camp, where I met Liz Carroll, the American Irish fiddle genius. A little later at the Texarkana fiddle camp, I got deep into Texas style fiddling.
It was a few years before these influences began to fuse together. One of the important moments was the production of a public TV program, The Money Tunes. That was the first time I began consciously combining Irish and Texas style in the same tune to create something new.
Cracker Jazz was the brainstorm of Pete Gallagher. It fit perfectly into where I was going anyway. Our first presentation was very well received by our audience.
My current state of the art of fiddling has three primary components. Some pieces are recognizable as fiddle classics, even with the personal touches I give them. Some tunes have had such a strong fusion treatment, they have become something new. Some tunes feature all out improvisation, right at the edge of what inspiration and technique allows.
Cracker Jazz permits each of these concepts in the presentation of how it has come to be, and what it is, a fusion of powerful fiddle elements with swing, jazz and other influences.
Tags:cracker jazz,fiddle,fiddle styles,improvisation,symphony orchestra,Vassar Clements,violin