Chris Thile in London Interview
Kudos to Mandolin Cafe staff writer Dan Beimborn on an excellent, insightful interview with living legend, Chris Thile. Dan had some prime moments to speak Read more»
02.04.12
Digital text format to dominate the future
We've personally found the iPad to be extremely useful for performance and practicing. The iReal b for practicing with jazz "Standards" accompaniments, the unreal Book Read more»
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"Good improvisation communicates harmonic progression melodically. Effective melodies manipulate harmonic content through the use of guide tones and preparatory gravity notes, masterfully woven in systematic tension, release, and transparent harmonic definition."
Not much for video games, still we were taken back by a mandolinist simply known as "Keelsman." His laid-back dreadlocked persona betrays an admirably energetic effort to interpret a high octane, high tech video game theme on the more low tech acoustic instrument. Nice work, especially for one take!
Back from a successful exhibit in the August Healdsburg Guitar Festival one of our favorite mandolin builders, Austin Clark(see Clark JM cutaway at the top left corner of the JazzMando website) boasts of extremely positive reception of his new archtop guitar model. Coming back empty-handed is a good thing; the guitar sold and he's already actively taking orders for more.
Click for closeup
Magnifico!!!
Of course, we'd love to see these luscious instruments a bit smaller and with eight strings. Maybe five. All in due time; we've got him working on other projects. More later...
August 26, 2009 | Johnny Gimble on Bob Wills Radio
Bob Wills Radio just added a terrific installment of a historic interview with fiddler/mandolinist Johnny Gimble. Recorded in Austin, Texas, it's more fiddle than mando, but still an incredible archive of dialogue with the Texas Swing master, reminiscing his pre-Texas Playboy days with Bob Wills. Names like Buck, Curly, Jesse, Eldon, the Rhythmaires bring back the late 40's & 50's roots of this great American genre.
Tune to this and other archive audio on the Bob Wills website.
Thanks to friend and mentor, Paul Glasse for bringing this to our attention. Paul had the pleasure of interning with Gimble, and is one of the few mandolinists on the planet to have studied also with masters Tiny Moore, and Jethro Burns. The best of the best.
Have you ever wondered what drives a crowd to the dance floor at a wedding reception? Some songs seem to have that magic, be it memorable lyrics or a familiar melody, but most often it's a primal rhythmic groove. We talk about this phenomenon in our latest "Tips and Tricks" entry entitled "Complements of You," how the interaction of players through simple rhythms can create a supernatural driving force to music and an aesthetic experience, effective even for the non-musician audience. We explore how you can create this in an ensemble context.
We mentioned this shortly after our Summer NAMM visit, the introduction of the new prototype electric mandolins from JBovier. Check out the cool video documentary with company owner/innovator Jeff Cowherd as he explains future enhancements on these marvelous critters:
August 20, 2009 | Mike Marshall on Blog Talk Radio
We've certainly enjoyed our personal subscription to Fretboard Journal. The summer 2009 issues is spectacular, especially mando-content heavy. The latest treat we've enjoyed is their online artist interviews, particularly the June 12 conversation with JazzMando fave, Mike Marshall. Mike discusses everything from his new Smart 10-string, meeting Hamilton de Holanda the first time, mandolin pedagogy, and cutting carrots. The audio is about an hour long and worth the time to kick back and enjoy.
August 18, 2009 | Field Testing. To the ends of the earth...
One of the most intriguing men we've ever encountered is builder, author, published columnist and Renaissance man, James Condino. Oregon ex-patriot now based in Asheville, North Carolina, the craftsman is world renown for his out-of-the box design and wood-finishing expertise. He also makes a mean mandolin!
In addition, he's an experienced traveler and fearless mountaineer. We've been granted the privilege of a page out of his journal, a look at his unique approach to "field testing" his instruments.
We're looking forward to a review treat later this month. From the expert hands of builder/adventurer James Condino, an intriguing 10-string "Fanndola" mandolin. The fanned frets off a solution to the tension disparity that plagues most 10-string instruments (C,G,D,A,E), allowing a graduated scale. In his instrument, barely at 14" for the E string, and 16-1/2" for the C side, this "stepping" of lengths allows a more appropriate pitch to string length solution, and counter-intuitively, the angle of the frets are easy to adapt to. Matter of fact, look at your own hands, and tell us this isn't already some "fanning" going on of the fingertips. (See JazzMando archive Gibson 5-string
Do not adjust your monitor!
Another issue is fretboard width. Too wide, you can't manage the strings as well; too narrow and your fingers run into each other. James has settled for a 1-1/8" width we can't wait to get our hands on.
Literally.
More on this at the end of the month when it hits the JazzMando laboratory later this month.
August 14, 2009 | The music world loses a legend; Les Paul
We couldn't let this go by without a mention. It can be argued the music world would literally not be what it is today without the contributions of pioneer Les Paul who passed away yesterday at the ripe age of 94. Not only did he develop the electric guitar (and the signature Les Paul & SG lines), he was responsible developing multi-track recording techniques commonly used today. He was also a brilliant musician, hanging with the likes of Bing Crosby, Django Rheinhardt, Chet Atkins, and may of the worlds rock legend icons.
August 12, 2009 | Two Tickets To Paradise; by Coconut and the Duke
Curious video from the creative acoustic forces of "Coconut and The Duke" (AKA Joe Maurer and Lucas Stangl). Taking cues from their "invasive" folk background, the duo reinvents Eddie Money's "Two Tickets To Paradise" ala Django Reinhardt and feature the mandolin. Coconut and The Duke are celebrating the release of their debut album, "In The Bamboo Forests Of Pennsylvania," by starting a Cover Of The Month Club.
August 10, 2009 | Snag a copy of "Getting Into Jazz Mandolin" on sale!
Special limited purchase pricing from the author here on the JazzMando website $15.00, plus domestic US Priority Shipping and Handling. ($19.95 total) You may have seen this at festivals this summer, or heard a hearty recommendation. Own a copy of your own, now!
We're running a very limited sale on the batch we have in stock, so now's the time. The latest from our many accolades, from Hank: "You and Mel Bay are a wonderful resource for new and old generations alike. All players of string instruments tuned in fifths stand to benefit from your clearly written representations. The beautiful simplicity of this tuning keeps revealing itself to me in many new and unexpected ways. Instead of just teaching the memorization of random scales you piece it all together as a unified, meaningful and understandable whole. Thanks again."
Buy an extra copy to keep at work, or get one for a friend to open up a whole new dimension to mandolin!
August 8, 2009 | August Mandolin Sessions: Spelling out the Chords. Melodically...
From Bebop to Doo Wop, we take a look at how to spell out a harmonic progression with single notes, the fancy technical name being "arpeggios." From the article: "One of the most elementary, but crucial skills in any genre (especially Folk/Bluegrass) is the ability to play (and improvise) in the Diatonic key, no sharps or flats. However, good music isn't just about confining yourself to notes that are within the key center, it's about capitalizing on notes that identify the harmonic structure, too. In other words, it's playing members of the chords. Yes, you can get around them by fumbling around the surrounding notes as 'passing tones,' but ultimately, you need to be making a conscious effort to stress these essential chord tones. It's what makes your improvisation sound 'intentional,' and not just melodic dribble."
Included in the article is a handy two-page drill extracted from the FFcP Studies.
We've raved about the soloing ability of bandolimist and 2009 Brazilian Instrumentalist of the year, Hamilton de Holanda, but often overlooked in kudos and public accolades is his accompanying skills. The mandolin not normally thought of as complementary to a vocalist, works well in this role in the hands of the 10-string superstar. The extra low C course certain helps, adding the baritone range for establishing necessary bass harmonic support and chord integrity.
Enjoy this skill displayed in full splendor in this YouTube video with singer, Maria Rita in a passionate rendition of Novo Amor:
More rave reviews from personal experience with the McClung Armrest from Doug Edwards of Hill Country Stringworks. We were so impressed with our first two (see article), we enlisted his custom services for a unique, inlaid armrest for the new JP Charles 10-string:
We're sold on the effectiveness of armrests. Not only do they protect the top from forearm perspiration, they allow better holding of the instrument; the rest clamps to the side of the instrument where minimal vibration occurs. This frees the top of the mandolin to resonate to its full potential, free of any interfering arm dampening.
The McClung Armrest is available in standard stock configurations of quality hardwoods, and customizing with inlays and special colors is offered at minimal upcharge.
August 2, 2009 | Acoustic Music Camp August 6 - 8, Dallas
Less than a week away for the Acoustic Music Camp August 6 - 8 2009 in Arlington, Texas! We helped out with this last year, and very much enjoyed getting to know some of the terrific teachers, spending some quality time with friend and mentor, Paul Glasse. He's not only a wealth of knowledge, he has a very approachable, laid back style of imparting his special knowledge, not only of jazz but bluegrass as well. Just being able to sit three feet from him and watch him in action is worth the price of admission!
Other teachers include: Tony Trischka, Jens Kruger, Gerald Jones, Eddie Collins, Alan Tompkins - Banjo, Paul Glasse, Butch Waller - Mandolin, Jim "Texas Shorty" Chancellor - Fiddle, Brad Davis - Songwriting / Guitar, Uwe Kruger, Clay Powers - Guitar, Dan Levenson - Clawhammer Banjo, Joel Landsberg - Bass, Nate Lee - Fiddle / Mandolin, Dave Walser - Harmony Vocals, Steve Curry - Django Style Guitar, Dennis McBride - Dobro, Randy Collier - Guitar / Jam Facilitator
There is room, but not much time so get your reservation in. If you can get a quick flight, maybe use up some frequent flier miles, the camp is minutes away from the DFW airport. Check it out!
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August 30, 2009 | Industrial area mandolin
