DD,

How can I ignore a post with a reference to my letter to Musical Traditions? If everyone who read it got together we might just have enough for a bridge game.

I have not yet seen SongCatcher, so I can only comment on OBWAT.

First, My wife and I loved the movie. It struck us as one of the most imaginative and entertaining things we have ever seen on the silver screen. We think that the music contributed significantly to the success of the movie.

Second, we loved the movie in spite of the fact that we are both obsessed with "hard core" "traditional music."

You ask if some of the musicians on the sound track "were performers with more name recognition to offer than real dues paid in researching and singing real traditional music." I assume this is a rhetorical question. I also assume that the people who conceived of, secured financing for, and created the final product felt that it was their goal to bring into existence a "good" movie rather than a documentary. I assume that at least part of their definition of "good" included some degree of commercial success. But I also assume commercial success was not the only factor operative in the choice of musicians for the soundtrack. I find it hard to believe that anyone in his/her right mind could have thought that the movie would do much more than cover costs (at best) no matter who appeared on the sound track. Thus, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that "good" also included some degree of artistic integrity. So finally, I assume that the people who appear on the soundtracks are there because someone sincerely felt that they were appropriate and sounded good. Given all the constraints, I think OBWAT succeeded musically beyond my wildest expectations.

Without going into a detailed examination and discussion of credentials I am willing to go out on a limb and claim that everybody who appears in the OBWAT sound track are solidly rooted in "real traditional music" whatever their current musical proclivities. I also doubt that most people who are currently doing "real traditional music" would have serious MUSICAL problems with any of the names on the list.

If I were casting the soundtrack, I might have used more old recordings and fewer live musicians, but it would be a tough call. This is because IMHO the living musicians who appeared on the soundtracks "really know their stuff and sound like it." I think that both movies have a hell of a lineup of musicians.

I am not suggesting that the movie had no problems. It proved, however, such a pleasant surprise that I tend to discount them.