…and while we’re at it: Any nice Contra-CDs You can recommend? Rather bands than soloists, preferably without callings…
It’s been my experience that few listen to contradance music for the musical content. It’s usually performed live, as accompaniment for the dancing. Subsequently there aren’t a great many recordings. (And they’re not all that interesting, at least to me).
You might look up Yankee Ingenuity, Wild Asparagus, Rodney Miller, etc…
Jigsaw: Cut Up The Floor
Available at www.glencottagemusic.com
Check with Walt Sweet via the Sweetheart Flutes website. He plays this type of music regularly for dancing.
Spare Parts
http://www.bfv.com/spareparts/
I got my first whistle lesson MANY years ago from Liz Stell.
That’s a pity, because there are some really gorgeous Playford tunes.
I’ve got an LP by the Boston band Bare Necessities that I like a lot.
Living in Vermont, I am kind of spoiled for contradance music.
The following bands all put on a good show, and have albums.
Wild Asparagus
Nightingale
Beeswax Sheepskin (now defunct, but a fantastic band based around a clarinet)
Crowfoot
Beverwyck String Band
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/beverwyck
Bill Spence with Fennig’s All-stars
http://www.oldsongs.org/billspencemusic/recordings.html
George Wilson
http://www.oldsongs.org/georgewilson.html
In between, I managed to get the CDs of almost every band You recommended (not an easy task from Europe 
), and firstly I have to say:
Thank You veeery much! 
You gave me the chance to listen to some wonderfull music during the last weeks - sometimes I took over extra tasks for my job and my family that had to do with driving, so I could listen to Contra-music in my car 
.
All of the music recommended was really good - but one band really was special, shooting up into my personal top-ten folkbands of any style, and that’s Nightingale from Vermont.
It’s not first of all their musical craftmanship - they are very good musicians, all three of them, doubtlessly. But listening to their solo-projects, I sensed, something was missing (, though Becky Tracy’s CD is great, as well as Jeremiah McLane’s “Hummingbird” - I found his other albums a bit too experimental, and I’m not a big fan of Keith Murphy’s singer-songwriter-stuff… Not really my genre…). As a trio, they just get together perfectly - on all three albums published (so far…). Very gentle, subtle, yet powerfull interpretation, beautifull choice of tunes, impressive compositions - and just the perfect mixture between Celtic, French, Skandinavian and English trad-style dancemusic I like so much about Contra.
10 out of 10! 