"The Wind in the Willows"

It’s another Musical Monday here at Robert Frost’s Banjo, & today we’re showcasing our Alice in Wonder Band song of the month.

What better song title for an April song than “The Wind in the Willows”? April is a blustery month in many places as the old winter season is scattered on the winds & the trees & flowers start putting forth their foliage & blossoms. Because there’s a high water table on our land (which is a mixed blessing), willows thrive around us. There’s the willow outside my office window that crops up in my poems, & there are the willow trees we see out our kitchen window (the dishwashing window) where birds congregate in the feeders. Along the ridgeline at the northwestern side of our property, there’s a profusion of willow shrubs—willow weed as Eberle calls them. They’re useful trees—she has used them, for instance, to make pea trellises & a fence, & they also can be woven into baskets.

As I recall, Eberle’s song “The Wind in the Willows” dates from the Alice in Wonder Band’s second year, 2003. At that point we had three talented melody instrumentalists: Art Troutner on oboe, Bob George on clarinet & Lois Fry on violin. Eberle decided we should have showcase pieces for all three of these folks—Art’s will come up later this year, & Bob’s already has appeared on Robert Frost’s Banjo—it was Eberle’s arrangment of Satie’s Three Gymnopédies, which you can listen to at your leisure here, here & here.

Lois’s piece was “The Wind in the Willows”—it’s actually been posted before, in the "teaser" post for Lois’ Musical Questions interview (only long-time readers will recall that series). You can read Lois’ interview here. But in the meantime, please listen to Lois’ beautiful violin work! She is backed by Eberle on piano & yours truly on electric bass (all the showcase pieces were trios). The recording dates from June 2004.



Pic at the top of the post shows Lois with violin at a show at Bistro 45; Deadre Chase, our singer is behind her, & drummers Deb Cahill (R) & Barb Dixon (L) are in the background. The photo was taken by our late friend, the very talented photographer Earl Brockman.