View Full Version : Evan Marshall (Is he the "best"?)
Looking at the mandolin players of our day I can't say that there are any players out there who can hang with Evan Marshall.. including Thile. #I'm not trying to get into a "Who's the best" argument because I don't know that there is a "Best" but from a technical point of view, can anyone else do what Evan Marshall does with a flatpick? #
Maybe a better way to put this is, I can see Evan MArshall being able to play anyone elses material but I don't know that are many players who could play Marshall's stuff.
What do you guys think?
grandmainger
Sep-28-2005, 4:48pm
I had the opportunity to see many of the big boys play this summer at the symposium, including Thile, Grisman, Stiernberg and Mike Marshall.
Evan Marshall was also there, and his playing is awesome, in a gob-smacking sort of way. It seems unbelievable that he can make all this music, so fast, with just the one mandolin. It's really impressive.
But for me, that's just what it is: impressive. I am stunned, but not moved. Seeing Mike and Chris play together, or Mike Compton have a go at fiddle tunes... these are experiences that have moved me. Some of these were not necessarily impressive technically, and I'll agree that Evan Marshall may be one of the most technically advanced players... But I don't get touched by what he plays, and how he plays it... Bizarre uh?
Pedal Steel Mike
Sep-28-2005, 5:19pm
I saw Evan perform just last Saturday night (Sept 24), and he blew me away. I think he's just wonderful.
However, I also think that there is a limit to how much music an be played on a solo mandolin before it all starts sounding monotinois.
I'd like to see him interacting with other musicians, either in a chamnber ensemble or as a featured soloist with a symphony orchestra.
BigJoe
Sep-28-2005, 8:23pm
I am a huge fan of Evan Marshall. I love his recordings and my favorite is "The Lone Arranger", but to say he is the best is not quite fair. I love Jethro Burns as much or more than anyone, but there are others I love too. There are so many great players it is hard to quantify best. The truth is there are a good number of 'bests' available. My favorite is usually the one I'm listening to at the moment.
johnwalser
Sep-28-2005, 9:45pm
I have put a couple CDs together of about 100 tunes each in mp3 format. Some by Evan, Butch, Chris, Michael, Don, Ronnie and other fine players from around the world. I put them on random play and like Joe, my favorite is the one that's playing at the time. That said, Evan is unbelievably talented and his "William Tell" never fails to make me grin. "Hi-Ho, Silver!
John
BigJoe Posted
There are so many great players it is hard to quantify best. #The truth is there are a good number of 'bests' available. #My favorite is usually the one I'm listening to at the moment.
Well said Joe.
GVD
SternART
Sep-28-2005, 11:21pm
On Tone Poets....... I heard similar skills between Carlo Anzo's playing & Evan Marshall.
Both incredible. Personally I think the other Marshall.... among others... gets better tone.
Pete Counter
Sep-29-2005, 12:54am
No ... hes not the best.In fact.... No one is.
Eugene
Sep-29-2005, 10:01am
I heard similar skills between Carlo Anzo's playing & Evan Marshall.
Indeed. #Evan Marshall is very good, but the basics of what he does constitute the status quo of classical mandolinists. #You should hear Carlo Aonzo play an unaccompanied prelude by Raffaele Calace (1863-1934). #Some others to play music originally composed in classical "duo style" are Gertrud Weyhofen (prev. Troester), Caterina Lichtenberg, Alison Stephens, Richard Walz, Neil Gladd, etc. #As an intro to the roots of the technique, I would wholeheartedly recommend Gertrud's CD featuring all 10 of Calace's mandolin preludes (absolutely inhuman in their degree of physical complexity and speed) and Alison Stephens' CD "Con Espressione" (mighty tasty).
Eugene
Sep-29-2005, 10:11am
If you'd like to se what such stuff looks like on the printed page, try downloading Calace's prelude no. 5 (http://ohthatsmandolin.web.infoseek.co.jp/Scores/allsolo/5Preludio.pdf).
Daniel Nestlerode
Sep-29-2005, 12:26pm
On Tone Poets....... I heard similar skills between Carlo Anzo's playing & Evan Marshall.
Both incredible. # Personally I think the other Marshall.... among others... gets better tone.
"The Best" doesn't exist. All players (especially the guys who showed up to the Mandolin Symposium) are Masters of their instruments. Let's just leave it at that. Mike Compton and Evan Marshall (for example) are both great players who emphasize different styles and skills associated with those styles.
Evan is a great guy who we should be hearing more from in the near future. He has a particular style of playing (he calls it "Duo-Style"), and he can teach you how to do it. The concept is fairly simple, the execution at speed is very difficult and takes a lot of practice.
Evan's favorite music is Romantic Italian stuff, but of his repertoire, my favorite is the classical stuff. Because he plays Italian and classical, Evan goes for a quieter, sweeter tone rather than a robust tone. I didn't like it as much as (say) Mike Marshall's, or Grisman's either, but it works for Evan and I've learned to appreciate it. Point is, he gets that tone on purpose; it's a choice, so you have to trust that he knows what he's doing.
Best,
Daniel
Playing fast and without any soul becomes a purely mechanical exercise-sort of like the Yngwie Malmsteen or Steve Vai of mandolin.IMHO there`s too much emphasis on speed and technique,at the expense of musicality.
Once the"gosh,wow"factor has worn off there is frequently little left to impress.
Flash playing for its own sake leaves me cold,I`m afraid.Like competitions in Bluegrass-when did music become a competitive sport,the fastest wins?
Eugene
Sep-29-2005, 2:27pm
He has a particular style of playing (he calls it "Duo-Style"), and he can teach you how to do it.
He's not the only one to call it "duo style." It has been called that since the close of the 19th c. Again, it has been a staple of classical mandolinists since then.
Eugene
Sep-29-2005, 2:29pm
Playing fast and without any soul becomes a purely mechanical exercise-sort of like the Yngwie Malmsteen or Steve Vai of mandolin.IMHO there`s too much emphasis on speed and technique,at the expense of musicality.
Once the"gosh,wow"factor has worn off there is frequently little left to impress.
Flash playing for its own sake leaves me cold,I`m afraid.Like competitions in Bluegrass-when did music become a competitive sport,the fastest wins?
That said, I would gaurd against being too dismissive of technical music as "soul-less." #Technically difficult music can be played with passion too. #Technical aspects are just another facet of music making; all the facets are important.
Using the criteria that someone couldn't do their repertoire is very misleading. How do you know some of those mentioned( like Thile or Mike Marshall) couldn't do some duo-style stuff? I wouldn't be surprised if they did learn some but don't play it out. If that were a valid criteria then I would guess you'd have to say Radim Zenkl is up there too as nobody does his stuff either, especially the way he plays it http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif The more I hang at the Cafe and discover these other monsters( just look at all the youngins'! ) that have not been recorded or I've just not discovered yet, the more the "best" just looses all meaning when it comes to any musician.
Pedal Steel Mike
Sep-29-2005, 6:24pm
Playing fast and without any soul becomes a purely mechanical exercise-sort of like the Yngwie Malmsteen or Steve Vai of mandolin.IMHO there`s too much emphasis on speed and technique,at the expense of musicality.
I agree with this statement 100%, but it doesn't apply to Evan. He has the technical expertise, but he also has a great sense of when and when not to use it.
I find his music very soulful. His variations on the ode To Joy from Beethoven's 9th in partiucular is very beautiful.
Evan is the kind of player who puts his incredible technique at the service of the music, not to call attention to itself. He is definately NOT a diarrhea-of-the-fingers type shredder.
Eugene,Mike-I wasnt referring specifically to Evan,who I agree is masterful in his approach.I was making a bit of a generalisation that the drive to push the technique envelope seems to be becoming all pervasive-with a few notable exceptions.
LilCreekster
Sep-30-2005, 10:40am
I think the problem is that we tend to confuse "the best" with "my favorite"... if that makes sense? See, to ME, I'd say Nickel Creek is the best band ever hahaha, BUT I say that because of how their music and musicality affects me and how very much I enjoy it. Not because I think there's some global band competition and they won it http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
I think that's awesome that folks out there have Evan as their "best", he's SUCH a talented, humble... NICE guy & deserves all the accolades his fans have to give.
Every player has their passion and their own gifts and their own style. I've not heard Evan play much of Chris T. or Mike M. repertoire (which are both insanely extensive and diverse!) so making the comparison the other way around seems a bit lacking in substance.
As with so many of these discussions, it all comes down to taste in the end. It's art! It's subjective! What is ideal tone and technique to me may be completely different (ok and it probably is haha) to someone else... I think it's enough to respect those who have risen (and are rising) to the very heights of mandolin playing and expanding what the instrument can do. How boring would it be if there was one style, one technique, one "best"? I think we're pretty dang fortunate to have such talented musicians to pick and choose our own "bests" from http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Eugene
Sep-30-2005, 11:34am
Eugene,Mike-I wasnt referring specifically to Evan,who I agree is masterful in his approach.I was making a bit of a generalisation that the drive to push the technique envelope seems to be becoming all pervasive-with a few notable exceptions.
Of course, and I certainly wasn't being specific to Marshall in my defense of the occasional application of hyper-technique. #Pushing the "technique envelope" has been a drive of professional musicians at least since the 1500s and probably longer. #I don't mind it so much so long as the other facets of music are considered in making music as well. #You're right that it can become painfully dry when this becomes the only consideration.
Pedal Steel Mike
Sep-30-2005, 12:11pm
Good post Heather. I think you really nailed it.
Andy as I previously said, I agree totally with your statement about mindless million-notes-per-second style playing.
Even can play a million notes per second when the music calls for it, but he never uses his formidable technique as an end in itself. His playing is always tasteful and melodic.
I'm in total awe of him.
Darren Kern
Sep-30-2005, 12:24pm
I have nothing at all to contribute to this discussion, other than to say thanks for introducing me to another fine player that I haven't heard before. I'll be buying some of his music soon.
Nolan
Sep-30-2005, 12:31pm
Hey guys, great comments. #I knew I'd get some bites if I put "The best" in the title!
If you read my original post I wasn't really trying to get at the "Best". #I like Evan's playing and think he is awesome but he's probably not my favorite... that would be Steffey! #I just think he is a little "Under valued" in the mandolin world if that makes sense. #Technically, I think he is at the top though and wondered if anyone else agreed. #
The comment about Evan being able to play others players material but not vice versa... that came from reading through Mike Compton's web page of how he is trying to learn some of Thiles stuff and how hard it is.
Bradley
Oct-23-2005, 9:08am
I would agree that Steffey is the best....but that is for my taste. I walk away from seeing him saying "God,How does he do that". Especially now that Mountain Heart is really
cranking it up at their shows.He is such a good guy too !!
What I think is neat also is that there are several younger players that Steffey has left his mark on, who play very similar to his style.
But I also put on Doyle Lawson who I probably have listened to more than anyother player ( I grew up playing Church Music) He is the King of stiring up your soul with his more simple playing. Then there is Compton...who we all admire for his Monroe-ism's,but we must realize that he is in a League all of his own as far as his playing and probably more so IMO for his true love and preservation of the music.
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