Home-made jam

I was out on the front porch tonight, learning a new tune on my button accordion, when a couple passed by, very interested in the music. The fellow asked,"You have an accordion?". I went in and brought one out - my 3-reed smaller Mundinger. We had a gas playing together. We played all the Portuguese tunes I knew and more that he showed me. He's a very good and very fast player. Between the two instruments, we made a lot of noise. Some kids were dancing, and Tuffy handed out shakers. You can't beat home-made jam.

Meanwhile, I've started recording some tunes with J. He has some good recording equipment and a lot of experience. We've put down just one song so far, a Schottiche, with button accordion, guitar, bass, a clave-like percussion instrument called a 'toad' and washboard played with a rake like a guiro. He's going to do some mixing work with this tune, and we meet again in two weeks to put down a second song. The one I want to do next is the Vira de Santa Marta. There are actually two tunes with that title, different melodies, but both played in F, both excellent tunes. Today I was messing around with a version that combines both. A vira is a Portuguese dance form, like a fast waltz with a heavy emphasis on the first note of each bar.