Updated June, 2011

Dr. Frederick Crane on Trump CDs and Books

Our thanks to Dr. Crane for his contributions to this newsletter
and his constant communication with the Guild.
See the JHG Store for more information on his publication VIM.

One of the remarkable features of the CD era in recordings is that
there are now available a good number of records that feature trump (Jew's
harp, jaw harp, khomus, guimbarde, maultrommel, or whatever--I prefer the
old English name trump) from beginning to end.  The list that follows
attempts to be a complete one, and I have added a few records that have
outstanding material, though there are some tracks on them that don't have
any trumping.  For a more complete list, see VIM no. 5.  Many of these can
be ordered from Roots & Rhythm, PO Box 2216, San Leandro, CA 94577, which
is pretty much my favorite American source for folk, traditional, and world
music recordings.  Others must be ordered from the addresses given.


ATS CD-0463.  Brummeisen.  Utterly marvelous stuff, nearly all for
trump(s), and mostly Alpine traditional music, but including a fine
performance by Manfred Russmann of the Albrechtsberger Concertino in D,
previously unrecorded.  Order from Manfred Russmann, Austrasse, A-4591
Molln, Austria.  The CD is AS 250.00, and it's also on cassette for AS
150.00, both plus shipping.


CARE Österreich CD.  Chomus.  Fine performances by five of the best Sakha
khomusists; remarkable for the variety of techniques.  Order from CARE
Österreich, Invalidenstrasse 11, A-1030 Wien, Austria.  US$30, including
packing and postage; send cash if you want to take the chance, otherwise
have your bank transfer the money to CARE's account with Creditanstalt,
Mariahilferstrasse 54, A-1070 Wien, Austria, account no. 0957-31113/00,
bank routing code: 11000.


Crystal CD520.  Eldon Rathburn, Mostly Railroad Music.  The marvelous
Canadian composer Eldon Rathburn is an enthusiast for the trump as well as
for railroads.  Fully a third of the CD is given to two of the best works
ever composed that feature the trump, Junction and The Rise and Fall of the
Steam Railroad.


Gold Records CD 139.  Emanuele Calanduccio, Die Maultrommel.  Unique
performances by one of the greats, including a rare number in minor, which
works just fine.  Order from Gold Records, Henrion Bernard Produktion u.
Vertrieb, Einsiedlerstrasse 159, CH-8810 Horgen, Switzerland.
Harmonia Mundi M.C.M. 460.004.  Musiques de la toundra et de la taïga.
(Inédit 7.)  Yakut, Buryat, and Tungus music, starting off with 16 minutes
of khomus solos and ensembles by Ivan Alekseyev and others of the greatest
Yakut players.


Kansanmusiikki-instituutti KICD 46 (1996).  Tapani Varis  munniharppuuna.
Attractive, original-sounding music, mostly arrangements of Finnish and
Norwegian traditional tunes, played by Varis with the support of others on
trumps and Finnish folk instruments.  Order from: Digelius Music,
Laivurinrinne 2, FIN-00120 Helsinki 12, Finland; send credit card
information.


MDS Records MDS4010 (Mülirad-Verlag, Weinplatz 8, CH-8001 Zürich,
Switzerland).  Also issued as cassette.  Anton Bruhin spilt 's Trümpi:
Maultrommelmusik Schwyz Schweiz Europa Welt.  A sample of the work of one
of the great trumpists of today.  A majority of the pieces are Alpine-style
dances, many of these composed by Anton himself.  The instrumental groups
vary greatly; who would have believed that the combination of trump and
tuba would work so well?  Two tracks feature the continuous tone of his new
E.T. (see VIM 5 and Koukin Journal 8).


Nihon Koukin Kyoukai NKK001 (1996).  Ivan Alexeyev and Spiridon Shishigin,
Sing, My Khomus: Jew's Harp of the Sakha (Yakut) People, Eastern Siberia.
A fine sampling of the improvisational art of two of the greatest Sakha
players, in eight solos and three duets.  Order from: Nihon Koukin Kyoukai,
1-12-24, Midorigaoka, Ageo, Saitama 362, Japan.


Orfeo C 035 821 A.  Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Concertos for Jew's Harp,
Mandora and Orchestra.  The concertos in E major and F major, in just about
perfect performances by Fritz Mayr.  See VIM 1, 382-384 for a review.


Ossian OSS 013.  The Lark in the Clear Air: Irish Traditional Music Played
on Small Instruments.  Reissue of one of the most delightful of all LPs of
whatever cate-gory.  Nine of the 18 tracks feature John Wright on trump,
some with his brothers Dave and Mike.


Pablo OJCCD-732-2.  Dizzie Gillespie and Arturo Sandoval, To a Finland
Station.  Three of the five tracks feature Dizzy's remarkable and unique
trump-playing.


PAN 2032CD.  Khomus.  One of the all-time great trump records!  Some of the
outstanding players of today are heard on this compilation from
Turkic-speaking peoples from the Urals to eastern Siberia: Altai, Kyrgyz,
Tuvan, Bashkir, and Sakha (Yakut), the last with 18 of the total 33 tracks.
Order from Roots & Rhythm, or direct from Paradox, Postbus 155, NL-2300 AD
Leiden, Netherlands (and ask for the PAN catalog, especially if you're a
fan of Tuvan and other overtone singing).


Tonomatic CD 187515 (1994; also on cassette).  Mittenwalder Maultrommler/
Stubn'musi Sponsel, Volksmusik mit der Maultrommel.  All but 2 of the 14
tracks (Bavarian traditional dances) feature the trump duo, excellent
players on multiple trumps, mostly with other folk instruments.
Fred Crane

[ Most of these CDs are now available at: www.zeelandnet.nl/paclax/jewsharp    Ed. 12-2000]

1996 saw the publication of another outstanding book on the trump:
Gjermund Kolltveit, Munnharpas tidlige historie i Skandinavia: En studie i
et arkeologisk materiale (The Early History of the Trump in Scandinavia: A
Study and the Archaeological Material).  Oslo: Norsk Folkemusikklag.  157
pp., paper.


        This is the most thorough of all the national or regional studies
of excavated trumps that have been published so far.  It provides a very
thoughtful introduction to the whole question of the archaeological trumps,
and addresses particularly the problem of just how long ago the trump was
introduced into Europe, and particularly into Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden,
Norway).


        There is a large bibliography, a table with information on each
trump, a photo or drawing of each of the 144 trumps Kolltveit could
identify, and a 4 1/2-page English summary.


    Order from: Radet for folkemusikk og folkedans, RFF-senteret,
N-7055 Dragvoll, Norway.  A more detailed review will follow in VIM 6.


Fred Crane