At a rehearsal last week over at a friend's place I spotted a cassette sitting on top of his formidable array of stereo equipment. It had a familiar look. The red italic lettering. The black bar at top and bottom. The name of the performers in white, just above the smallest text, the title, in quotation marks. There's the circular stamp: MUSIQUE EN AUVERGNE. And the stylized AMTA logo.
This particular cassette was by La Jimbr'tée, and called Virage. The cover shows five men and one woman, an array of vielle, accordéon, and pipes.
Seeing the cassette there, I was cast into a fugue state. I was thrilled. These were the cassettes that changed everything.
I believe I have mentioned before, the role that AMTA cassettes have played in my musical life. The AMTA -- Agences des Musiques des Territoires d'Auvergne -- is an especially effective regional cultural organization that somehow managed to export its music to Amherst, Massachusetts, which is where the Button Box was located at the time.
In 1998, I traveled to the Button Box to pick up my first box -- a red Hohner Corso (G/C) tuned very wet -- and saw a bunch of these black/red/AMTA cassettes on the shelf. I picked up Frédéric Paris's, Carnet de Bal, and Jacque Lavergne's, Cadences d'Auvergne. After getting home, I called the store back and asked them to send a few others, including the hardcore Bal Auvergnat duo of Guy Letur and Pierre Ladonne on chromatic button accordéon and cabrette.
All of my copies of these cassettes have either broken, melted, or disintegrated into iron dust. (All the more amazing that my friend's were in great shape). My cassettes had lived in my car, mostly, which is never ideal for a music delivery medium. A good number of them I've managed to find in digital form. But that doesn't change the magic of that discovery at the Button Box. The sheer abundance of discovery. The amount of this music suddenly to hand, this joyous, amazing music.
I'd love to hear how you discovered this music. What early finds inspired you? Feel free to add your story to the comments.
In the meantime, thank you AMTA!
Labels: AMTA, Auvergne, Button Box, Frédéric Paris, Jac Lavergne
