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Roger Landes will be playing Irish music on the mandolin at his show Saturday at Apple Mountain Music.
Roger Landes is widely known for playing Irish traditional music on the bouzouki. But lately he’s been performing more on the mandolin. That may have something to do with a new custom-made mandolin he’s got.
“It was designed to my specifications by Keith Newell of Oregon,” Landes said in a phone interview from Lubbock, Texas, where he’s finishing up a doctorate in musicology. “And now he offers it as the Roger Landes model.”
Landes said he’s always felt that the mandolins that are used for bluegrass and old-time music are not perfectly suited for Irish music.
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Roger Landes WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15 WHERE: Apple Mountain Music, 10301 Comanche NE HOW MUCH: $15 at the door |
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“They tend to have a mid-rangey, kind of round tone that makes perfect sense if you’re playing in a bluegrass band,” he said.
“If you’re playing Irish music in a session and you want people to hear you or you’re playing solo, you want an instrument to respond more like a fiddle does.”
So Landes suggested several changes to his custom-made mandolin; one of them was to lengthen the strings.
He will give a solo concert – on mandolin and bouzouki – on Saturday, Dec. 15, at Apple Mountain Music.
In his head, Landes said, he plans out concert sets that are dictated by musical style, such as a dance tune, a medley of reels and a medley of jigs. Then when he’s on stage he will plug in the specific tunes that he wants.
“Whenever you do performances of what is essentially dance music and you’re putting it in a context with people listening, you make slightly different choices,” he said.
“I think it’s a good idea to keep it as spontaneous as possible because then the music is closer to the way it is in its natural habitat.
“There’s a great audience in Albuquerque for folk music in general but it’s great to see come out a dedicated group of people who listen to and play Irish music,” Landes added.
Unlike in bluegrass or in jazz, he said, there’s no improvisation in Irish traditional music. However, there are moments within some tunes where a musician can play instrumentations or variations on a melody.
“That can be fun,” he said.
Landes, who is the founding director of ZoukFest, also will give a workshop at 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16, at Apple Mountain Music. It’s on concepts and procedures that can work for any kind of instrumental folk music. Tuition is $40 at the door.
Reprint story -- Email the reporter at dsteinberg@abqjournal.com. Call the reporter at 505-823-3925
