Galician Session December 2019

While the idea is to have sessions on the last Tuesday of each month, this is obviously difficult in December, so the next session will be exceptionally early and on a Wednesday, namely the 11th of December (NB not on the third Tuesday, as was previously announced).

This event will complete our three-month trial period with the Bullingdon Bar. I am happy with the venue and am hoping to agree regular dates with them for the new year, but if anybody has any other ideas, let me know.

Obviously, there is also the risk that the election on the 12th will go horribly wrong. If Bojo and his DeathEaters get a majority in parliament, I will certainly consider moving to safer shores, as quite a few people already have done. This may turn out to be the last time, so let’s party on the sinking ship …

The December session will take place on

Wednesday 11.12. from 20:30 h (NB we can make music until 1 am if we want to !!!!)

at the

Bullingdon Cocktail Bar, 162 Cowley Road, OX4 1UE

This is just opposite the Tesco supermarket, and very close to the James Street Tavern, so easy to walk from the St. Clements coach stop for people coming in from London or elsewhere on the buses. A car park is available behind Tesco if you have to drive.

Here’s a snap from last month’s session, you can see there’s still space for more people to join …

 

In its current incarnation, the former “Bully” is not the usual kind of folk session pub, but it has a number of key advantages, including the great location, large open space, and long opening hours. There is also a nice wooden floor which to me looks very dance-friendly, but I’ll take expert opinions on that.

This month, in the twenty-ninth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals. In the spirit of international understanding, we are also open for input from other traditions, especially other Celtic and Iberian ones. The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines (pandeiretas) and sing some of their songs. Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There is plenty of space for dancing. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (including the very Galician cunchas, i.e. scallop shells) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders I tend to send out a week before each session.

 

 

 

Galician Session November 2019

The November session will take place a week earlier than normally, namely on

Tuesday 19.11. from  20:30 h (NB we can make music until 1 am if we want to !!!!)

at the

Bullingdon Cocktail Bar, 162 Cowley Road, OX4 1UE

This is just opposite the Tesco supermarket, and very close to the James Street Tavern, so easy to walk from the St. Clements coach stop for people coming in from London or elsewhere on the buses. A car park is available behind Tesco if you have to drive.

We will be in the back left corner which looks like this:

In its current incarnation, the former “Bully” is not the usual kind of folk session pub, but it has a number of key advantages, including the great location, large open space, and long opening hours. There is also a nice wooden floor which to me looks very dance-friendly, but I’ll take expert opinions on that. I’m aiming to have the session there on the last or 4th Tuesday every month, but as these dates were already booked for Nov, I’ve settled for the third Tuesday this time (apologies to Tim and his lovely Early English session – will try to avoid clashes in the future). (UPDATE: The date for the December session has now moved back to a Wednesday, namely 11.12.)

This month, in the twenty-eighth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals. In the spirit of international understanding, we are also open for input from other traditions, especially other Celtic and Iberian ones. The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines (pandeiretas) and sing some of their songs. Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There is plenty of space for dancing. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (including the very Galician cunchas, i.e. scallop shells) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders I tend to send out a week before each session.

 

PS after a few months of forgetting about it, I have now updated the events diary. I’ve also added new sections with non-Galician tunes to the tunes list and updated the sessions list. So I’m hoping we’re all up to date now.

 

Bridging Celtic and Iberian traditions

At our new venue, we now have a lot more space and a lot more time (until 1am) to make noise. To make sure we can fill that space and time I will from now on emphasize a bit more what we’ve been doing anyway, namely the fact that we welcome music from other Celtic and from other Iberian traditions, essentially celebrating Galician folk as the crossroads between these two overlapping cultural worlds. We have already got Asturian and Portuguese songs, a Basque tune and a Scottish tune in our repertoire, and we have had amazing moments when participants shared other things with us including Welsh songs and Irish tunes.

 

To capitalise on this I have changed the description of the session (Galician Session in the sidebar) and the subheading. I might also use terms like interceltic and celtic connections (both of which are the names of very popular festivals) to describe the sessions. All of this doesn’t actually change the range of the music we have been playing anyway, but may encourage a few more people to come who might have otherwise felt excluded, thinking they don’t know enough about Galician music. So if this applies to you and you have any Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Manx, Cornish or Breton music to share or anything from the Iberian peninsula, do come and share what you’ve got. It’s an open session after all.

See you on Tuesday!

 

new venue, new date

It’s all change this month, we have a new venue and a new day of the week! The October session will take place on

Tuesday 29.10. from  20h30 (NB we can make music until 1 am if we want to !!!!)

at the

Bullingdon Cocktail Bar, 162 Cowley Road, OX4 1UE

This is just opposite the Tesco supermarket, and very close to the James Street Tavern, so easy to walk from the St. Clements coach stop for people coming in from London or elsewhere on the buses.

We will be in the back left corner which looks like this:

photo source

I have played jam sessions there and it’s a lovely place to play. And there is a nice wooden floor which to me looks very dance-friendly, but I’ll take expert opinions on that. I’m aiming to have the session there on the last or 4th Tuesday every month, but as these dates were already booked for Nov and Dec, I’ve settled for the third Tuesdays for those two months (apologies to Tim and his lovely Early English session – will try to avoid clashes in the future).

This month, in the twenty-seventh session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals (and maybe the odd one from other traditions as well). The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings. Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There is plenty of space for dancing. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (including the very Galician cunchas, i.e. scallop shells) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders I tend to send out a week before each session.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for a new home

Unfortunately, the Galician, French, Scandi and harp sessions can no longer rely on getting the usual slots at the Port, so we are looking for new venues. The French and Scandi sessions are moving to the Victoria Arms, the harps session is still undecided.

For the Galician session, I am hoping to stay close to the coach stops of the Oxford Tube, so our friends from London can easily come and join us. At the Vicky Arms that would be tricky to do.  I have sent out inquiries to the Royal Blenheim and St. Aldates Tavern, which are both very close to the St. Aldates coach stop and which have both hosted lovely sessions during the Folk Weekends last year and the year before. I am also considering a couple of places near Headington Shops coach stop. Around St. Clements, all options have been checked the last time we were looking, and the Port ended up being the only one around there.

The October session is definitely happening on the 30th, but as yet we don’t know where it will be, so watch this space.

PS in more positive session news, Oxford has a brand new Old Time session, which happens on Thursdays at irregular intervals at the Up in Arms, Marston Road. The next one will be on the Thu 24th, at 8pm.

 

singing and dancing

We had a lot of dancing at the September session, thanks to Alba, a Galician music and dance teacher who worked hard to get people moving. Here are some photos which Sonja took:

 

 

I’m afraid that Sonja happened to sit directly opposite to me so it can’t be helped that I’m in all the pictures. Just try to focus on Alba and her dance moves. I also made a couple of videos which I’ll post separately, and Sonja has shared videos in the facebook group.

 

 

Galician Session Oxford September 2019

This month the Galician session will happen on the last Wednesday of the month as usual, specifically:

Wednesday 25.9.2019, 20:30 – 23:00.

at the

Port Mahon, 82 St. Clement’s St., Oxford OX4 1AW

We’re normally in the downstairs bar.

 

(serving suggestion)

This month, in the twenty-sixth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals (and maybe the odd one from other traditions as well). The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings (you can also join a new monthly singing class with them!). Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There will be space for dancing, which has been used enthusiastically in the first sessions at the new venue. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (including the very Galician cunchas, i.e. scallop shells) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

Note that the pub has a 11:00pm curfew for musical activities, so the session will close before that time with the traditional anthem of “Fisterra”. If you don’t have to leave earlier, it would be nice if you could stay for that. The curfew also means that if we start late, we’ll just have less time to play music.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders I tend to sen out a week before each session.

 

Looking ahead, the normal schedule applies for October and November, but in December the last Wednesday falls on xmas day, so I guess we’ll have to move the session to the 18th. If only because the pub will be closed on the 25th.

 

If one session per month simply isn’t enough for you, check the other sessions page.  There’s an amazing number of regular events going on around here!

 

 

Galician Session Oxford August 2019

This month the Galician session will happen on the last Wednesday of the month as usual, specifically:

Wednesday 28.8.2019, 20:30 – 23:00.

We are now back at the newly refurbished

Port Mahon, 82 St. Clement’s St., Oxford OX4 1AW

We’re normally in the downstairs bar. Here’s a blurred impression of the July sessoin which was truly amazing, thanks to lovely people coming from far and wide and bringing their skills and enthusiasm:

This month, in the twenty-fifth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals (and maybe the odd one from other traditions as well). The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings (you can also join a new monthly singing class with them!). Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There will be space for dancing, which has been used enthusiastically in the first sessions at the new venue. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (including the very Galician cunchas, i.e. scallop shells) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

Note that the pub has a 11:00pm curfew for musical activities, so the session will close before that time with the traditional anthem of “Fisterra”. If you don’t have to leave earlier, it would be nice if you could stay for that. The curfew also means that if we start late, we’ll just have less time to play music.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders sent a week before the sessions.

 

If one session per month simply isn’t enough for you, check the other sessions page.  There’s an amazing number of regular events going on around here!

 

How it all began

If anybody out there stumbled upon our session and experienced the Oxford Pandeireteiras in full swing they may well wonder how this all started. I just discovered (as nobody tells me anything) a documentary from ~2012 with the first generation of pandeireteiras here, but without them playing any music. The brand new traditional music course launched by the Galician Studies Centre in January 2012 gets a mention.

This is part of a series of one-hour documentaries on Galician migrants around the world (each featuring one city) that ran from 1.7.2010 (London) to 2.7.2015 (episode 91: San Francisco).  Made for an audience back home in Galicia, this is more about the culture of the host country of course, and how the migrants experience it, so in the Oxford episode you’ll hear UK pop music (I need to listen again to check if they played any actual Oxford bands) rather than Galician ones.

 

Update: I just discovered a YouTube playlist which includes all 91 episodes in chronological order. Episode 9 on Brussels is of interest for fans of Galician music as one of the interviewees is Nuria from IALMA (she’s up second, so about 10 mins in).

Galician Session Oxford July 2019

Two years since this session’s founding genius, Mano Panforreteiro, moved away from Oxford, but some of us are still here! Some others have also moved, so if any musicians out there would like to join, there is space for you!

 

So, anyhow, here goes:

This month the Galician session will happen a week before the last Wednesday of the month, specifically:

Wednesday 24.7.2019, 20:30 – 23:00.

We are now back at the newly refurbished

Port Mahon, 82 St. Clement’s St., Oxford OX4 1AW

We’re normally in the downstairs bar, which now looks like this:

 

This month, in the twenty-fourth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals (and maybe the odd one from other traditions as well). The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings (you can also join a new monthly singing class with them!). Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There will be space for dancing, which has been used enthusiastically in the first sessions at the new venue. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (including the very Galician cunchas, i.e. scallop shells) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

Note that the pub has a 11:00pm curfew for musical activities, so the session will close before that time with the traditional anthem of “Fisterra”. If you don’t have to leave earlier, it would be nice if you could stay for that. The curfew also means that if we start late, we’ll just have less time to play music.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders sent a week before the sessions.

Other events coming up:

Friday 19.7. 20:30h till late: After the success of the Midsummer Mazurka on the corner of Broad Street / Catte Street, there will be some more dancing in the streets this coming Friday.  Codename: July Jig. But if anybody wants to dance a Muiñeira or three, I am sure that can be arranged!

Saturday 27.7. 13:30h Romaria do dia da patria – a major festivity for the Galician national day  (25.7.) happening in Hyde Park, London,  The Statue of Achilles, London, W1J 7NT, organised by REGA UK

2.-11.8. Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Bretagne) – featured country this time is Galicia!