DICK KIMMEL AND PAMELA LONGTINE

DICK KIMMEL AND PAMELA LONGTINE
FIDDLE AND MANDOLIN

Dick Kimmel Music
CD 2017-01

You certainly can’t say that Dick Kimmel and Pamela Longtine haven’t diversified the music on their first recording together. With the exception of bluegrass, which gets only a slight nod in that both “Rain And Snow” and “Pretty Little Miss Out In The Garden” were covered by Del McCoury and the Stanleys respectively, there’s quite a mix of old-time and folk styles in an array of tempos and settings. About half are original and half traditional.

There are mandolin (Kimmel) and fiddle (Longtine) duets on the Kimmel original “Lima Beans” and the lively cover of the standard “Buffalo Gals.” There’s a solo fiddle (and foot-tapping) version of the French-Canadian tune “Reel Du Ting Tang” and a twin-fiddle and guitar-supported medley of “Three Jigs.” A full stringband treatment backs Longtine’s “Metamorphosis Stomp,” while quartets of guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and bass provide the support for “Pretty Little Miss…,” “Fly Away To Mexico,” and Kimmel’s mournful look at London’s displaced poor on “Homeless And Heartbroken.” A couple of Irish-tinged marches, a waltz, a schottische, and a guitar-driven version of “Rain And Snow” round out the recording.

Kimmel should be familiar to readers of BU. His talent is well-known and documented. Longtine, also Minnesota-based, is no less talented. While their music here is enjoyable and well-played, most impressive is their ability to write tunes that sound as if they could be a hundred years old. “Metamorphosis Stomp,” a sort of ragtime, music-box tune, could be a lost side from the Leake County Revelers. Kimmel’s “Lima Beans” and Longtine’s “Desnoyer Waltz” and “Glyndon Turkey Schottische” could easily fool you into thinking they’re from a long-ago time and place. That’s an admirable skill and this is an admirable album. (Dick Kimmel Music, P.O. Box 101, New Ulm, MN 56073, www.dickkimmel.com.)BW