Cazadero – a fiddle tune.
It recently came to my attention, and immediately captivated me with its bouncy happy melody, and an attention-getting chord progression. It’s a jam-buster, but for intermediate players with a taste for adventure, this tune is well worth your consideration.
Cazadero was written by the extraordinary California fiddler Paul Shelasky, who was California State Fiddle Champion in 1975 and 1981. It is not a coincidence that Cazadero is also the name of a legendary music camp in Northern California. It reminds me of the story told by Jay Ungar about how “Ashokan Farewell” was created.
There are several performances of Cazadero available on the web, featuring fiddle, guitar and mandolin… I even found clarinet and flute versions that are quite compelling. Originally written in the key of E, most performances and sheet music appear in the fiddle-friendly key of D.
The July 2013 issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine has a well written article about the tune, with a free downloadable PDF of the sheet music with tab, and you can listen to an MP3 recorded mandolin and guitar version: https://www.flatpick.com/category_s/1995.htm
An excellent example by mandolin player Chris Thile and his band Live From Here, recorded in 2019, can be found here: http://youtu.be/6owU26ZTtnk
John Reischman, a mandolin player who has played with Paul has recorded a very tasty version that is a bit slower – This from his 1993 album North Of The Border: https://youtu.be/hr7RXjyXR-c
A simplified score is attached, showing the melody with chords. Enjoy!
No sheet music files available for this piece.
This is a fun tune to play, but the circle has to know it or the crash is inevitable. I have only seen it played in E. Perhaps this transcript is from the guitar mag? I’ve played it in D, but with capo on the second fret. Worth the effort.
Don’t try Thile’s version unless you want to risk breaking a hip!