BACDS
Roguery is composed of four highly versatile musicians who have come together to enchant dancers of ECD and contra. Their arrangements range from strictly traditional to soaring flights of imagination and improvisation. They have recorded 5 CDs (with another to be released in the fall), and have become favorites at dance camps throughout the country. The band’s varied influences include English, contra, early music, classical, Breton, Scottish, Irish, Cape Breton, Galician, French, Balkan, jazz-fusion, gospel, Scandinavian, and Greek. Roguery is:
Anita Anderson (Seattle) is an extraordinary English country and contra dance pianist, playing with Bag o’Tricks / Tricky Brits, the Bat Band, and other Northwest bands who is currently working with Paul Hutchinson in the UK. She is also a superb dancer, and this informs her playing--to the dancers' delight. She brings a large bag of tricks to her piano playing, with influences from do-wop, English, ethnic, and vintage dance music—all in attentive service to the dancers. Her syncopated, harmonically complex use of the keyboard has transported many a listener to Dance Nirvana. Anita is an excellent singer, Scandinavian musician and dancer, and composer of contra and English country dance tunes.
Dave Bartley (Seattle) plays mandolin, guitar, cittern, and numerous other plucked string instruments. He has also written over 300 tunes, many of which are working their way into repertoires around the country. He can provide a quiet foundation, inject a fiery driving rhythm, or pull wicked licks out of thin air. His odyssey from flashy rock guitarist to classical musician to eclectic sideman to tunesmith is clearly channeled through his fingers, making you wonder what he'll do next--playing the melody, and then playing around, inside, and beyond it. He currently plays with the bands KGB, Bag o’Tricks and Tricky Brits (with Anita), Contra Sutra, Rouge, and the Valse Café Orchestra. In the past he played in Greek and Balkan ensembles, and has performed with the Seattle Symphony and Opera.
Shira Kammen (Berkeley), a multi-instrumentalist (primarily violin and vielle) and vocalist, has spent most of her life exploring early and traditional music. She is one of a rare class of musicians who elevate the musicianship of those around her with her astonishing virtuosity and imagination. A favorite at dance and music camps and a member of many bands and ensembles, she is constantly performing and teaching nationally and internationally with the elite of the music world. She has appeared on 100 or so recordings in a variety of styles of music, and is considered a demi-goddess in early music circles.
Jim Oakden (Santa Cruz) started playing piano and clarinet at an early age and stumbled into early music from the classical music scene, whence he discovered the world of traditional and ethnic music. Having diverse tastes (or a short attention span), he performs on an absurd number of instruments, from accordion to zurna (to name a few). His musical wit makes for unexpected and delightful surprises in any performance. A dancer himself, he specializes in playing for dancers in a bunch of bands and genres--Persons of Quality, the Whoots, and Verna Druzina. to name a few-- playing for ECD, contra, morris, Irish, Galician, Breton/French, Greek, and Bulgarian. He has been on staff at myriad dance camps throughout the country, and also organizes and programs dance events.
Anita Anderson (Seattle) is an extraordinary English country and contra dance pianist, playing with Bag o’Tricks / Tricky Brits, the Bat Band, and other Northwest bands who is currently working with Paul Hutchinson in the UK. She is also a superb dancer, and this informs her playing--to the dancers' delight. She brings a large bag of tricks to her piano playing, with influences from do-wop, English, ethnic, and vintage dance music—all in attentive service to the dancers. Her syncopated, harmonically complex use of the keyboard has transported many a listener to Dance Nirvana. Anita is an excellent singer, Scandinavian musician and dancer, and composer of contra and English country dance tunes.
Dave Bartley (Seattle) plays mandolin, guitar, cittern, and numerous other plucked string instruments. He has also written over 300 tunes, many of which are working their way into repertoires around the country. He can provide a quiet foundation, inject a fiery driving rhythm, or pull wicked licks out of thin air. His odyssey from flashy rock guitarist to classical musician to eclectic sideman to tunesmith is clearly channeled through his fingers, making you wonder what he'll do next--playing the melody, and then playing around, inside, and beyond it. He currently plays with the bands KGB, Bag o’Tricks and Tricky Brits (with Anita), Contra Sutra, Rouge, and the Valse Café Orchestra. In the past he played in Greek and Balkan ensembles, and has performed with the Seattle Symphony and Opera.
Shira Kammen (Berkeley), a multi-instrumentalist (primarily violin and vielle) and vocalist, has spent most of her life exploring early and traditional music. She is one of a rare class of musicians who elevate the musicianship of those around her with her astonishing virtuosity and imagination. A favorite at dance and music camps and a member of many bands and ensembles, she is constantly performing and teaching nationally and internationally with the elite of the music world. She has appeared on 100 or so recordings in a variety of styles of music, and is considered a demi-goddess in early music circles.
Jim Oakden (Santa Cruz) started playing piano and clarinet at an early age and stumbled into early music from the classical music scene, whence he discovered the world of traditional and ethnic music. Having diverse tastes (or a short attention span), he performs on an absurd number of instruments, from accordion to zurna (to name a few). His musical wit makes for unexpected and delightful surprises in any performance. A dancer himself, he specializes in playing for dancers in a bunch of bands and genres--Persons of Quality, the Whoots, and Verna Druzina. to name a few-- playing for ECD, contra, morris, Irish, Galician, Breton/French, Greek, and Bulgarian. He has been on staff at myriad dance camps throughout the country, and also organizes and programs dance events.