OK Then...
OK Then...
Stormy Morning Orchestra
My YouTube Channel
"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
The totally relaxed virtuosity is stunning. Important to note: not just what Mark O'Connor can do, but what, in good hands, this instrument can do. The days of mandocello serving "only" as bass section of a mandolin orchestra are coming to an end. From my work with CMSA, I have a trove of mandocello solo music, though of course nothing comparable to O'Connor's improvisational wizardry.
I have to decide: does this inspire me to practice more, or make me want to give up and throw away my K4?
.... Alright, I'll go practice.
Jim
Dr James S Imhoff
Boston University
Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
1912 Gibson K4 Mandocello; Thomann Mandocello; Stiver F5; American? Bowlback; Martin 00016; Dusepo Cittern/liuto cantabile
Gosh, the 'cello sounds gorgeous in that space. the player ain't bad either.
Guess I'll just have to stay in my lane....
Well Mark being Mark (the worlds top mandolin virtuoso hires one of the worlds top violinists to play guitar in his band?)
That looks like a Gibson K4? not sure if its recent or antique, either way it has wonderful tone.
Mark is quite adventurous on that instrument and has a significantly different style than Mike Marshall, seems less classically influenced, less Bach-ish.
Stormy Morning Orchestra
My YouTube Channel
"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
Jim, I agree. I am glad to see the big mandolins and the big fiddles move to the front of the room. I try to do my bit. This monday played solo mandocello for our bluegrass club christmas concert. a couple of John Goodin contra dance tunes. well received.
Elsewhere. Nataly Haas cello moved to the front of the room to play tunes. Cello workshops at the Fiddle Hell are super popular. Bass fiddle is here (Flight of the Bumble-Bee for two Double Basses): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLvC1046t7w. and how (5 basses play a Vasen tune): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxpKSrhIwa8
All this started with Apocalyptica plays Metallica. They were first and they put "cello is cool" solid on the table. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNE7Mt63t2E
Mandocello8:
Oh yes, John Goodin; I thanked him profusely for his "4 Seasons" mandocello suite and played a memorial tribute piece at CMSA. Since you are on the NW coast, be sure to look into August Watters' Cascadia Mandolin and Guitar Festival in Astoria. August tells me there will be a lot of attention paid to mandocello.
Jim
Dr James S Imhoff
Boston University
Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
1912 Gibson K4 Mandocello; Thomann Mandocello; Stiver F5; American? Bowlback; Martin 00016; Dusepo Cittern/liuto cantabile
Right on. I've always been drawn to the big fiddles and horns ...worked a lot on DB, but switched to cello when covid hit and everything solo. I always wanted to play the Bach suites on cello, having long played them on guitar.. but I started fiddling pipe tunes and pibrochs on DB a while ago, and of course that's nice on cello. When my kids were small I really liked listening to Alasdair and Natalie - but was playing other instruments more...so now!, I'm spending at least half my time on cello and playing Bach again
Ah I forgot to say the most relevant thing I guess .. for improvising I really like. I spend a lot of time jamming to recordings, etc and it's the one for me - after a lot of playing frets and buttons and keys and stops all my life, I love to stretch out .. on oud too. Love the feel.
I attended a Mandolin World News event at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall around 1980, which featured Tiny Moore, Jethro Burns, the DGQ and maybe a coupla other acts (foggy recollection). What I do distinctly recall (in addition to Jethro's hilarious solo act and Moore's western swing genius) is inviting myself discretely backstage at one point in the show and happening upon a young O'Connor and a young M. Marshall with K-4s in some dark corridor, engaged in a mandocello duel, complete with exaggerated rocknroll posturing, and all for their own entertainment, I presume, seeing as how I was the only observer and succeeding in making myself invisible in the shadows. It was, for lucky me, an unexpected highlight in a night of mandolinian highlights for me. I am fairly certain if they had put this act on stage, it would have been a highlight for others as well!
too many strings
Great story, and for my money I will take a an intimate acoustic performance in a quiet room any day over a huge venue and crowd, I'm just selfish that way.
Stormy Morning Orchestra
My YouTube Channel
"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
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