Pete just put out a new album, and is offering it for free download. Just posting here so none of the newbies will miss it. https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...rding-download
I listened to most, if not all, of the tunes last night and this morning. That is high praise when coming from someone like me who dislikes jazz, or doesn't understand it, or maybe even both. Some random impressions or questions: Pete is really good with the mandolin. I have watched and learned a lot from his instructional videos. But these recordings just hammer home that he is indeed really good. (His website, www.petimarpress.com, has a lot of free or semi-free material.) I wonder if Pete is using a pickup and amp that allows him to dial in a "sound" that he wants? I don't know much about this, but the sound I am hearing is sometimes hard to distinguish from jazz electric guitar (which I guess is what he is trying to do ... duh). It sounds like every note he plays is "pure". I don't think I heard even a slightly buzzy note or semi-on-purpose-but-not-really slide. He doesn't have to play at a galloping fiddle tune pace to sound like a master. His notes seem to "hold" right to the next note, so he gets this legato effect when he wants it instead of the bright tinkly staccato we usually hear in bluegrass. Mark, as usual, thanks for expanding my horizons a bit. It is interesting to climb out of my rut every now and then and have a look around.
Good question about the instrument, I know he uses an old Gibson a lot, but not sure if he used different instruments on those tracks. I just posted a video recently of Johnny Gimble playing with Ray Benson. Johnny's playing has a very similar sound to Ray's guitar. He's playing an old A style mandolin with only four strings installed, tuned like a mandola, and using a magnetic pickup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwPtA4TE48 I'll listen to Pete's record with an ear to what his setup might be just out of curiosity.
