Going where no mandolin has gone before. [Archive]

Ken Sager

Sep-19-2005, 3:11pm

Is there a genre where the mandolin hasn't been used yet? It's used in classical, jazz, rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, punk, choro, gypsy, multiple and various world ethnic genres...

Help me out, I don't see a gap.

Best,
Ken

troika

Sep-19-2005, 3:18pm

Soul and R&B are pretty much mandolinless.:blues:

Keith Erickson

Sep-19-2005, 3:27pm

JEStanek

Sep-19-2005, 3:41pm

Rap? However, After seeing an episode of the Mandrell sisters doing a "Country Rap" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif maybe those worlds should never combine.

Jamie who enjoys Public Enemy very much, thank you.

357mag

Sep-19-2005, 3:57pm

Yeah Jamie, but your groove aint elevator music like mine is.Aint never heard no mando in no elevator. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Eugene

Sep-19-2005, 4:00pm

Soul and R&B are pretty much mandolinless.:blues:
Yank Rachell (http://www.io.com/~tbone1/blues/bios/yank.html)

John Flynn

Sep-19-2005, 4:21pm

I don't think there is a type of music that has NEVER been considered, or even attempted with a mandolin, but there certainly many genres where mandolin could make a much greater contribution than it is now. I would like to see mando become a lot more common than it is in old-time, rock, blues, religious music and even pop music. Certainly there have been great players in all those genres, but the mando today remains an oddity in them, rather than a staple. One hundred years ago the mando was one of the most popular instruments in the country, much more popular than the guitar. Now that it is the other way around, it would be great to at least get back to more of a balance. So where I think "no mandolin has gone before" is to become the rule, rather than the exception, in those genres.

fatt-dad

Sep-19-2005, 4:29pm

Pedal Steel Mike

Sep-19-2005, 4:37pm

How about mariachi music?
my next door neighbor is Mexican but apparently wealthy. 3 or 4 tims a year he holds huge parties. Last time, he hired a mariachi band, and invited me to sit in with them, which I did.

It was the easiest music I ever played.

Pedal Steel Mike

Sep-19-2005, 4:41pm

Blues mandolin is not new. (I think Yank Rachel's 1929 recordings with Sleepy John Estes may be the earliest recorded example) but it is starting to become more widespread, with more and more players (including me) doing it.

stevem

Sep-19-2005, 4:58pm

Go to Central America and it's pretty mandolin-less. Come to think of it, reggie music also comes to mind, Jamacian and other countries in Central America (Panamanian reggie is totally different from Jamacian reggie).

fatt back-from-the-beach dad
Los Lobos used mandos in their music. Granted, they're from East LA, but much of their 1st cd was mariachi music. My first mando was made in Mexico--El Cometo.

johnsmusic

Sep-19-2005, 5:05pm

I have used a mando in a band for Nelly(rap),Sublime (kinda white rap), Run DMC, Reggae (Marley). Only wish that I was better at any of it, but hey people dug it....

ira

Sep-19-2005, 7:25pm

i like johnny's thought. the concept of a mandolin in various genres isn't new, but i would like to see it as more of a staple. i consistently am asked- "what is that?" and all of the other quips and questions possible discussed on other threads. for such a widely used instrument re: genres, it still isn't a mainstream instrument, though it is versatile enough to be one.
re: blues- yes it has been used for decades (supposedely w.c. handy's first exposure was a 3some that included mando), and is used by numerous modern day folk here and there, i am still waiting for a popular blues band that has mando as a staple-not a guy that plays guitar and doubles on mando on a couple of tunes. i believe it is, as harmonica is, a perfect instrument for the blues.

re: rap music-not my cup of tea, but, i work with a young gentleman who as he puts it "makes beats" who has asked me to record some stuff. i guess i'm more hip than i thought!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif

bones12

Sep-19-2005, 7:44pm

How about in polka as a counterpoint to the big accordion? If Frankie Yankovic were still alive, maybe he could show us his Loar found in his barber shop. Man the beer and bratworst could open a new audience for the pleasure of the mandolin. Doug

JEStanek

Sep-19-2005, 8:44pm

I reckon you could use a could chop as a beat or scratch. Time to get busy on it Ira.

Jamie

B. T. Walker

Sep-19-2005, 8:50pm

I live in San Antonio, one of the mariachi meccas, and I have seen two mariachis with mandolins. Both were bowlbacks, and they played the part usually reserved for the (duh!) violin, but it sounded (d-duh!) different. Sat in with the beginning mariachi class at the junior high where I teach to learn the guitar parts, and later the violin parts. Mandolin is very versatile mariachi-wise. Though uncommon, it is not unheard of or considered out-of-place.

ira

Sep-19-2005, 9:37pm

hey jamie,
just gotta fizzizzle out the mandolizizzil parts yo!

fatt-dad

Sep-20-2005, 7:26am

Well, there ain't no mandolin in Greek music - that I'm certain of. . . .

f-d

ira

Sep-20-2005, 7:42am

but they do use mando family instruments in greek music...i think???

great thread!

JEStanek

Sep-20-2005, 7:55am

I think they call it a bow-zoo-key. Not the tube that blows up tanks. But the bow-zoo-key has been associated with smashed china.

Yo, Ira... Word!
Jamie
An aside - I heard an NPR clip on Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" covered by all different styles of music. The bluegrass version was a stitch (banjo as lead using the Scruggs rolls).

Jason Kessler

Sep-20-2005, 9:02am

Come to think of it, reggie music also comes to mind, Jamacian and other countries in Central America
I played mando in a reggae band here in NYC.

It started as an open jam/party. Knowing that "open jam" meant 17 guitar players, I left my guitar at home and brought my Oscar Schmidt F-style mandolin with a Fishman pickup.

Most of the musicians were from Jamaica or Africa. Several spoke no English, and about half had never seen a mandolin. They stared at it as if I'd brought in a dead 6-legged cat. But with the help of a fuzz box and an echo pedal, I wound up fitting right in with their electronica-inspired reggae. By the end of the night, I was a member of a band.

The mandolin is a VERY pliable instrument. I can't think of a genre it can't contribute to.

Keith Erickson

Sep-20-2005, 9:41am

Well, there ain't no mandolin in Greek music - that I'm certain of. . . .

f-d
F-D,

Last Christmas a young lady in our congregation came up to talk with me after mass. She had told me that her father was from Greece and he wanted to let me know how much it meant to him to hear the mandolin again after many years.

Apparently when he was a child in Greece, the mandolin was a common part of any ensemble during any family gathering, party or any other reason to celebrate. I guess all of those childhood memories came back to visit him.

He got so emotional that he sent his daughter up to talk with me.

I still get a lump in my throat and misty eyed when I think about it.

ira

Sep-20-2005, 9:51am

currently working out a solo mando/vocal version of "jammin"

fatt-dad

Sep-20-2005, 12:18pm

Last Christmas a young lady in our congregation came up to talk with me after mass. #She had told me that her father was from Greece and he wanted to let me know how much it meant to him to hear the mandolin again after many years.

Apparently when he was a child in Greece, the mandolin was a common part of any ensemble during any family gathering, party or any other reason to celebrate. #I guess all of those childhood memories came back to visit him.

He got so emotional that he sent his daughter up to talk with me.

I still get a lump in my throat and misty eyed when I think about it.
Keith,

These are the stories that makes playing music so much fun. My comment was totally in jest as they just call them the bow-zoo-key. Knowing that, I remain convinced that there's no mandolin in Greek music.

f-d

JimD

Sep-20-2005, 12:22pm

Well, there ain't no mandolin in Greek music - that I'm certain of. . . .

Don't be so certain. Victor Kioulaphides, who posts here regularly (mostly in Classical), is a Greek-American who, if memory serves, comes from a several-generation-long line of Greek mandolinists. I have several volumes of Greek mandolin music that he has published.

By the way, there is also Burmese mandolin music--so, don't head off in that direction here...

Ken Sager

Sep-20-2005, 12:44pm

So, it sounds we're in agreement for the most part. The mandolin is quite pervasive, albeit under-utilized. It could certainly gain in use in all genres except perhaps bluegrass where it is already expected.

Interesting comments everybody.

Joy to all,
Ken

JEStanek

Sep-20-2005, 12:54pm

For anyone who is interested from my aside above... Here (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1088122) is the link to the NPR All Things Considered story on Jimi Hendrixes Purple Haze on the 30th anniversary of his death. No Mando content but about 1:15 into the story you can hear 3 seconds of the bluegrass version.

Jamie

JEStanek

Sep-20-2005, 12:54pm

I have a four CD set of Greek music. Lots of mando family instruments on it. It'll get your toes tapping and legs shakin'.

Jamie

John Flynn

Sep-20-2005, 1:28pm

Last Christmas a young lady in our congregation came up to talk with me after mass. #She had told me that her father was from Greece and he wanted to let me know how much it meant to him to hear the mandolin again after many years.
Keith, I had a very similar thing happen. A middle aged lady with a heavy Eastern European accent came up to me after mass and asked what instrument I was playing. When I told her it was a mandolin, she said, "Oh yes, I thought so. Is Romanian instrument, yes?" I told her that my understanding was that its origins were more Western European, more Spanish and Italian. She protested, "Oh no, is from Romania. I heard them as little girl. Is so good to hear one again." I thanked her for the information. Regardless of the actual history, I figured if it made her happy to have the mandolin be Romanian, I was happy to oblige.

stevem

Sep-20-2005, 2:44pm

Yo yo. The man-do-lin is mad dole-in' out the crazy beats, y'all.

Testify.

Keith Erickson

Sep-20-2005, 3:40pm

My comment was totally in jest as they just call them the bow-zoo-key.

F-D,

My apologies for not understanding that you're comment was in jest.

Sometimes I'm a little bit slow, especially when I've got 500 things going on at once LOL :-)

Regardless of the actual history, I figured if it made her happy to have the mandolin be Romanian, I was happy to oblige.

jflynnst,

These are the stories that make playing and making music worth it's weight in gold.

Actually Italian, Spanish & Romanian are all romance languages. So I guess all of the would qualify.

hellindc

Sep-21-2005, 12:20am

I haven't heard any recorded reggae, but we do "Jammin'", "I Shot the Sheriff," and two or three other Marley or Jimmy Cliff tunes regularly at our jams, and mando is great for the back beat and syncopated leads.

There is plenty of mando in Venezuelan music. Does that count as Caribbean? I took my mando to Cuba two years ago and jammed with a couple groups.