This album is sophisticated urban pop played with a combination of acoustic instruments usually found in bluegrass bands. Any further references to blugrass is hard to find on the album.
Radim Zenkl, the Czech-born, California-based magician of the mandolin has been on the road and onstage since he arrived in the USA more than twenty years ago. He recently swung through my hometown of Portland, Oregon and performed his eclectic solo show to a packed house of enthusiastic fans.
Rio Con Brio started out to make one CD. As they recorded tracks, they realized they had two albums on their hands. One is their third choro album, the other is the debut of fado singer Alexandra Coutinho.
Luckily, Alexandra Coutinho and Rio Con Brio decided to make this a stand alone album. The plan was to feature Alexandra Coutinho on some tracks of Rio Con Brio's Caprice.
Caprice is an album by a guitar and mandolin duo playing mostly choro standards. It could be a challenge to make this fly. Rio Con Brio have pulled it off.
If you were there, you’ll agree that the Baltimore host team put on an excellent convention for our quarter-century landmark. With so many people attending, the energy level was high. If you weren’t there, you want to know what you missed. Here are some highlights.
James "Yank" Rachell was the primary exponent of blues mandolin, although he also played guitar, violin, harp and sang expertly well.
To create a violin with the same characteristics as the 1704 instrument known as "Betts," Dr. Sirr worked with professional violin makers John Waddle and Steve Rossow of St. Paul, Minn. They used a CT scanner and a CNC router. Here are a few photos.
Recently, Cheryl Watson released a CD called Watertown. She unplugged her Fender Tele and turned to acoustic guitars. She traded a guitar for her first mandolin. Chloe, her cat, listen with the eyes closed when Cheryl plays the mandolin.
Watertown is an honest low cost production. All tracks but one are signed songwriter Cheryl J. Watson. Fellow musicians helped her by contributing takes from their home studios.
News
Joseph Spinella Conducts Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra Concert
The Italian American Club of Venice is pleased to present a performance of the Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra performing rare, classical and traditional pieces under the direction of Mr. Joseph Spinella, conductor and tenor.
Press release from BriefingWire.com
A unique musical concert of "Mandolins in Venice" is sponsored by the Italian American Club at its facilities in Venice, FL. Joseph Spinella will conduct the Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra for a one-night only special performance on Wednesday, February 8, 2012.
Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra
The Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra consists of 14-members and plays music arranged for 1st and 2nd mandolin, mandola, mando-cello, guitar, bass dorma, percussion and voice. Led by Music Director Joseph Spinella, the SMO's repertoire focuses on the best in traditional mandolin orchestra music (waltzes, tangos, marches and polkas) plus light classical, modern, Italian and Latin numbers. The SMO regularly performs their traditional repertoire at music festivals, art galleries, country clubs, retirement halls and concert halls around Sarasota and occasionally outside the State of Florida.
Members of the SMO span various age groups, come from all walks of life and enjoy diverse occupations. Yet, they are bound together by a desire to promote the mandolin and to keep traditional music alive. The music is lyrical and entertaining; and audiences enjoy the familiar tremolo technique associated with the mandolin.
“Mandolin orchestras have been quite popular in Europe, especially Italy. So this program that we have planned for the Italian Club of Venice is full of traditional pieces written specifically for plucked-instrument orchestras,” explains Joseph Spinella, the conductor since 2010.
In addition to conducting, Mr. Spinella also performs a few songs, such as “Funiculi Funicula” and the perennial favorite, “O Sole Mio,” as part of the show. Mr. Spinella is also a tenor and a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Discovered by Paul Nadler, one of the Metropolitan Opera conductors, Mr. Spinella was invited to work with Metropolitan Opera coaches in NYC. This began his regular sessions with Joan Dorneman, Luciano Pavarotti’s vocal coach of thirty years. He has participated in Master Classes with Birgit Nielsen, Eleanor Steber, and Regina Resnik. His tenor voice quality was described by Princeton’s weekly newspaper, Town Topics, as “a solid Metropolitan Opera level performer.”
“It’s a bit of multi-tasking,” Spinella says, “but the mellifluous tones from the strings actually support and highlight the voice. Audiences seem to enjoy this interplay of singer, conductor and orchestra; so we make it fun. Our goal is to keep this tradition alive and introduce the mandolin orchestra to new generations of audiences.”
Although stringed instruments go back to ancient times, the mandolin first appeared in Italy in the 17th and 18th century derived from modifications to the lute. The small size and portability made this an easy instrument for traveling musicians throughout Europe.
Mandolin music almost went out of style in the late 1700’s. Orchestras and composers preferred stringed instruments, like the violin and cello, which produced sustained musical notes. However, with the introduction of the tremolo style of playing and the transportability of the instrument, many musicians and local communities kept mandolin music popular.
In the 1960’s, mandolins experienced a resurgence with the folk and traditional music. Today, the mandolin is a popular instrument for Celtic, bluegrass, jazz, and classical genres; and many recordings of mandolin virtuosos have been made in the last decade.
Finnders & Youngberg, Colorado’s premier Americana quintet, will add yet another honor to their impressive resume: they’ve been chosen as an official showcase act for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass conference in Nashville, Tenn., this fall. They are one of just 13 acts invited to perform during the bluegrass industry’s biggest and most important week.
Festival Mozaic has announced its 2012 summer season, which will take place July 12-22 in the most charismatic spaces across California's Central Coast including Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, Chapel Hill in wine country, Hearst Castle overlooking the sparkling Pacific Ocean, and Mission San Miguel . The theme, "In The Footsteps of Giants," will showcase a lineage of masterworks which inspired – and were inspired by – phenomenal composers over the ages.
The San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra with singers Susan Gundunas and Twila Ehmcke will be performing one of the gems of the Baroque music era, Stabat Mater, written in 1736 by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.
The Newport Festivals Foundation has announced the lineup for the 2012 Newport Folk Festival set to take place July 28-29 at Fort Adams State Park.
A neurological disorder called dystonia is estimated to have ended the careers of at least one member of every major American metropolitan orchestra. Dystonia has claimed the livelihoods of musicians across genres including the acclaimed pianist Leon Fleisher of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, former first oboist of the Chicago Symphony Alex Klein, acoustic guitarist Billy McLaughlin, classical guitarist Liona Boyd, keyboard player Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and others.