HOPE HOFFMAN & KITTLISH: Infinite Winter Squash: New Maine Fiddle Music

Hope Hoffman & Kittlish

Infinite Winter Squash: New Maine Fiddle Music

© 2007 Hope Hoffman (format: CD-R)

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New Maine fiddle music - a musical journal of Maine's farm-fresh foods and good company. Original New England-style dance tunes written by dance fiddler, choreographer and playwright Hope Hoffman.

tracks

1 Westmanland Schottische
2 Dining Room Polka (H.H.)/ Snowshoe Polka (H.H.)
3 8th of February (H.H.) /Quadrille de Mont-Cäns (trad.)
4 Out on the Water (H.H.) [waltz]
5 Neofa Farewell (H.H.) [waltz]
6 Jamie Allen (trad.)/Saut de Lapin (trad.)/Superinsulated House (
7 Prosper Barter (H.H.) [hornpipe]
8 Saint Anne's Reel (trad.)/ Ross's Reel (trad.)
9 Flowers of Edinburgh (trad)/Sweet Pea/(H.H.)Those Little Crumbs
10 Bean by Bean (H.H.)
11 Out the Window (H.H.)/Out of the Woods (H.H.) [jigs]
12 First Day of Autumn (H.H.)/Infinite Winter Squash(H.H.)/Kindness
13 Cows Go Sailing (H.H.) [waltz]
14 Westmanland Schottische

notes

A musical journal of Maine's farm-fresh foods and good company.

Original New England-style dance tunes written by Hope Hoffman.

"Pure New England fiddle music, proud of its rural past, relishing the present ... the feeling of a warm kitchen above a well-stocked root cellar ... The performances are inviting, warm, energized and straight ahead, with a bit of mischief thrown in."
- Greg Boardman, longtime Maine fiddler and teacher

"Hope's waltzes ... convey an original sensibility, with particular passages which more hip reviewers might be inclined to call 'edgy,' and yet she has captured the sweetness of the waltz, that faraway quality which speaks to our instincts for things which exist simply for the sake of their own beauty."
- Jeff Trippe, reviewer for Mainefolkmusic.com

Maine fiddler Hope Hoffman presents lively and inventive performances of original tunes and the traditional Maine music which inspires them.

Known for her warm and personable performances from Presque Isle to Manhattan, Hope Hoffman has been a professional musician in Maine for several years, sharing a rhythmic and lyrical repertoire including Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, French Canadian, Welsh and Scandinavian tunes in addition to her new compositions.

Her musical style is noted for its evocative beauty and rough-and-tumble playfulness, with influences including Maine dance fiddlers and early music.

Hope's collection of original fiddle tunes was written while living in Maine surrounded by a community of farmers, artists and other independent-minded people, exploring and appreciating the varied landscape and unique personality of Maine.

The stories behind the tunes are generally about farm foods, weather, and the related adventures of neighbors and friends.

A self-employed performer and teacher since 1999, Hope currently gives concerts, plays fiddle and viola for contra dances, as well as solo fiddle for barn dances, and provides imaginative charm and good old-fashioned fun to dozens of downtown festivals, restaurants, weddings, and community gatherings. She also leads sessions for children's museums and festivals featuring fiddle music, creative movement and folk dance.

Her band, Kittlish, is named after a Scottish slang word for "ticklish." It features Larry Burkett on guitar and bouzouki, and Hugh McGinness on cittern, cross-tuned guitar and jaw harp.

Hope's concerts are often partnered with local food-related organizations through www.freegrange.org.

reviews

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  • Wonderful!
    author: Sara E. Randall

    This is a great CD and it embodies the spirit of Maine and its people. Lively, cheerful, impish, warm, and thoughtful all wonderfully describe this CD. If you are fan of traditional Maine folk music and/or are a fiddle player, this CD is a must have.

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