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Cover art © 1992 Bridget Reymond

Everyone in the band knows what it is to be a dancer - to appreciate a good tempo, to meld the rhythm and the dance, to find joy in the music. We want to make every six hands 'round and back' a delightful experience.

Kim and Lyle do the arrangements in tandem (a time-consuming yet satisfying process), and then all seven of us participate in creating music. However, our greatest joys have been the strong bonds of friendship forged from our long collaboration. We love playing this music together.

(For closeup, click picture)

Photo © 1991 Arlene Baxter Kim McGarrity died in 1998. She lives on in our hearts and in her music.

Fair Jennys Jig is a 1991 composition by Ron Wallace, a well-known Bay Area teacher, piper, and Highland dancer. It is both inspired by and named for the wonderful tune by Peter Barnes. Delvine Side is a dance which has become increasingly popular in the Bay Area - a pleasant yet basic strathspey which can fill a useful role on a dance program. Lady Susan Stewart's Reel is another Bay Area favorite. Our thanks to Susie Petrov for pairing Alasdair Fraser's "Tommy's Tarbukas" with "Hold the Lass'till I Get at Her." We aren't aware of any recordings of Bonnie Stronshiray which use this beautiful original tune. We changed the key from the original A to F in order to bring out the warmth of the violins. We're pleased to include the tune here with several other modern compositions. Waverley (also suitable for Fugal Fergus) is an old favorite. We received many requests to include this dance.

Barbara McOwen wrote the beautiful Carolynn's Waltz for the wedding of Carolynn Harvey and Bob Zuparko in 1985. We'd like to express our arm thanks for Barbara's friendship and support through the years. J.B. Milne gave us a chance to use some of the many wonderful tunes being written world-wide. This arrangement is great fun to play! Miss Ogilvie's Fancy is a touch of something different: three-hands piano and bass. Kim plays the melody, Lyle the lyrical back-up. Miss Grace Hay's Delight is a little-known dance that the late Miss Jean Milligan would occasionally teach. This is a set suitable for any 8x32 jig. The more we played this arrangement of Monymusk, the more we liked it, so we added a fourth strathspey to this recording. The new C and D sections of the title tune were written by Kim in order to match the other tunes, which have four musical parts each. The album closes with The Rendezvous. In this arrangement we replaced the suggested lead tune 'The Lads of Air" with 'The Rendezvous."

We had great fun making this record; we hope that you have even more fun dancing to it!

             -- David Mostardi & Kim McGarrity

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Last updated December 2006