CLOG À TI-JULES. French-Canadian, Reel (cut time). A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. The title is a reference to fiddler Jules Verret (1916-1982, "Ti-" meaning 'little'), who received tutelage and repertory at the age of 10 from "Pit Jornoch" (Pierre Verret, no relation), who lived in a neighboring parish and was a friend of Jules' father, accordion player Jean-Baptiste Verret (1894-1955). Jules' son, Jean-Marie Verret, recalled:
My father always considered him to be the greatest fiddler he had ever heard inhis life. I was told that Pierre Verret learned his repertoire and style fromCharlot Parent from Charlesbourg, which is a few kilometers southeast [ed. of Lac St-Charles],
and at the time just a village.[1]
The tune is irregular with meters of 6/4 time interspersed with 4/4 meters, a form that Lisa Ornstein finds a sometime characteristic of, and unique to, Québécois music. Despite the word 'clog' in the title (which often means a dotted rhythm), the piece is played as a reel.
Additional notes Source for notated version : - Jules' son Jean-Marie Verret (b. 1945) [Hart & Sandell].
Printed sources : - Hart & Sandell (Danse se soir!), 2001; p. 115, No. 79.
Recorded sources : - MF-009, "Jean-Marie Verret Rend Hommage à Pit Jornoch (1863-1937)" (1990). Elvie Miller and Naomi Morse - "Grapevine" (2004).
