Take a stroll along “Otter Creek” with hammered dulcimer virtuoso and fiddler Ken Kolodner, the 1995 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship winner Elke Baker and Tacoma Park’s 2010 Old Time Banjo Festival Contest winner Brad Kolodner. The occasion is the release party of their new CD bursting with old time Appalachian melodies and instrumental expertise. The celebration, which will be held at the Washington Ethical Society Auditorium under the auspices of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, will be chock full of traditional and original music guaranteed to invite energetic dancing.
| “Otter Creek” CD release party, hosted by the Folklore Society of Greater Washington |
| Where: Washington Ethical Society Auditorium, 7750 16th St. NW |
| When: 8 p.m. Friday |
| Info: $20 adult, $15 Folklore Society members, $10 students; fsgw.org |
Unlike many master musicians, Kolodner was a late bloomer. He did not begin teaching himself to play the fiddle until the age of 23 when he became fascinated by recordings of bluegrass standards. He was at John Hopkins University working on his doctorate in public health before he discovered the hammered dulcimer.
Thirty years later, his reputation as a hammered dulcimer artist has spread worldwide. He plays as soloist or as a member of Helicon, Greenfire and other ensembles, performing live at festivals or on concerts broadcast on NPR, German National Radio, All Things Considered, the Voice of America and similar programs. As for the doctorate, he continues to consult and work as a part-time epidemiologist with more than 70 publications to his name, but music is both his primary occupation and hobby.
Kolodner is a familiar face at arts centers and music camps nationwide, where he teaches the hammered dulcimer at workshops to students who later can learn advanced techniques on his five instructional CDs. He also has written a book with an accompanying CD on the art of Appalachian fiddling.
The Baltimore resident has performed with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and was a featured soloist on the Emmy-nominated CBS television Christmas special with members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Among the artists with whom he has appeared are Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, the Paul Winter Consort and Alison Krauss and Union Station.
His repertoire goes beyond traditional music from Ireland, Quebec and Appalachia, spanning songs from more than 20 countries around the world featured in ten recordings. One of these, “Walking Stones,” hit the top of the World Music charts.
Several years ago, his son Brad began studying the banjo at a summer camp. Today the 20-year-old junior at Ithaca College has become a master of the claw hammer banjo, as well as the banjola, a cross between a banjo and a cittern with a guitar-like quality.
“Brad’s claw hammer banjo differs from the bluegrass banjo which uses finger picks,” Kolodner said. “Instead, the claw hammer uses the nails and thumb. The strumming is melodic and rhythmic, a softer style that’s more chordal and pre-dates the bluegrass style.
“Brad and I have another duo CD coming out soon with a lot of tunes he wrote, some of mine, and some traditional Appalachian songs. It’s a pairing of the old time fiddle, the claw hammer banjo and the hammered dulcimer, so it’s percussive, rhythmic and has a dynamic groove. We look forward to Friday’s show and hope folks have a good time dancing to our music.”
