Jim Bainbridge wrote:-
the idea that Ireland is a lost World of music is rubbish.
to which another Jim replied:-
You edto get out more Jim
I must admit that the idea that Jim Bainbridge needs to get out more (if that was what was intended in what I have quoted) made me smile. I have known him well since the 1960s and if I asked to award first prize for INCURABLE SESSION JUNKIE amongst all the hundreds of people that I have met through this music, there is little doubt that the first name to come into my mind would be that of Jim Bainbridge. I have played with him in sessions in four countries and although I go to many sessions and folk clubs I believe that this number is dwarfed by the number that Jim must have attended. Jim Bainbridge would find it difficult to get out more than he does.
However, this set me thinking, Jim Bainbridge implies that the spread of traditional music in Ireland is patchy - and he has lived all over Ireland, so that is an opinion that I respect... but still an opinion. Another opinion.... but still only an opinion, come from the other Jim and is that traditional music is now widespread and thriving all over the island.
I have recently returned from a month in the Gambia where I have been going every year now since 1997 and one of my purposes when I am there is to find and record the traditional music of Manding jalis. Experience has taught me not to go to the capital, Banjul, or the largest town, Serrekunda, or the north bank ferry town of Barra because I won't find jalis there; I would have much more success in Bansang, in Kembujae and particularly Brikama. If I go food shopping in the bustling, crowded Brikama market with my best Gambian friend, Jali Sheriffo Konteh, the chances are that we will bump into another jali that I have not met before and another contact is made. My impression, like that of Jim B. in Ireland is that the spread of jali traditional music in the Gambia is patchy though still thriving.... but again this is only an opinion.
What we need is some research that produces supportable facts. Now I need help here. Somewhere on the internet, I have seen a scatter graph map of the British Isles that plots the geographical location of every informant of the Victorian/Edwardian collectors - mainly using the Roud Index as a source. I wish I had downloaded it at the time because now I cannot find it and would welcome links from anyone who can locate it. Of course, it is only a retrospective version and it does raise questions; what about the Travellers? Did the collectors cover the counties methodically? Still, it did throw up some fascinating results. Huge concentrations - Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, East Anglia, Herefordshire, Sussex, Somerset as well as large areas that seemed to be traditional song deserts. Many more were located in the south of England than the north. Why were there more than 10 times as many names from Sussex as from Surrey and Kent combined? Are that three neighbouring counties that different? This would seem to be as factual as we are likely to get and it suggests that the spread of traditional music was patchy, particularly in England.