Mtngoat - Posted - 07/15/2021:  21:06:06

TOTW  7-16-21 - Reel Eugene

I’ve chosen Reel Eugene for this installment of TOTW.   The Traditional Tune Archive notes that Reel Eugene is a French-Canadian reel from the repertoire of Montreal accordion player Joseph Arthur Pigeon (1884-1966).  Pigeon along with his son-in-law, violinist Hernri Wattierm, and pianist Edmond Moreau, billed themselves as Les Trois Copains (The Three Buddies) in 1936 but renamed the group Le Trio Pigeon when they began recording for Victor in 1940.

I first became aware of the tune (and many others) when a dance caller sent me a set list for a contra gig we had booked.    The band worked it up at a couple of our weekly practice sessions before the Covid pandemic hit and the gig was canceled.  We’re still playing around with it though and we’ll trot it out at our next live performance.

The tune has a decent internet presence.

Here’s a fiddle solo:  dmij.net/musique/eugenef.wav

Here’s an accordion version:  dmij.net/musique/accordeon/eugeneacc.WAV

Here’s a fiddle/piano duet:  youtube.com/watch?v=kxrWg6B_Iuk

Here’s a dulcimer/guitar duet: youtube.com/watch?v=Hb4IEwyJp4Q

Ryan Thomson plays solo banjo here:  youtube.com/watch?v=SIvUR8vgDT4

And our own John D has this posted on his Hangout Media page, my new favorite performance site with enough material to keep me busy for years:  banjohangout.org/myhangout/med...;archived=

I could not find a clawhammer tab for the tune so I wrote out a fun and simple bum ditty arrangement in double D tuning to get you started and posted it to the BHO tab library here:    hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...72021.pdf  

(BTW thanks to BHO Member gentrixuk/Mark Gentry for turning me on to the MuseScore free tab program in his recent Jenny Lind Polka TOTW.)

Viewers are encouraged to post observations, opinions, performances, and tabs contributing to this thread.

Joseph Arthur Pigeon (1884-1966)

 

Tamarack - Posted - 07/16/2021:  20:48:38

A fine tune - thanks MtnGoat for working this up for TOTW. It is distinctly French Canadian but I hear a hint of "mountain modal"

Mtngoat - Posted - 07/17/2021:  13:09:44

Tamarack,



Yeah, the effect is accentuated if you hit that B minor chord really hard in the first measure and sustain it for a bit.  I also find it takes a conscious effort to keep myself from speeding up in the B part of the tune.



Thanks for the contribution.

Edited by - Mtngoat on 07/17/2021 13:13:30

JanetB - Posted - 07/19/2021:  11:16:15

Your contra dance tunes provide for a fun repertoire for learning. The challenge was finding a tuning that utilized the 5th string as much as possible, so I ended up tuning to aCGCD. I agree that John D has an abundance of tunes for us to tap into. Thanks, John, and you, too, Mtngoat. I was glad to see your tab and think it would be just what a banjo should sound like when playing with the fiddle at a dance. My arrangement is more intricate for solo banjo.

VIDEO: Reel Eugene (TOTW)
(click to view)

Reel Eugene (CH) tab