Key moments

[stevem]

Would some of you comment on what you see as the most important moments in the history of the mandolin? Innovations in construction, notable luthiers, players, shows, genres, special moments--anything goes.

I feel like I know a decent amount, but also assume I have some big knowledge gaps. No major treatises are needed, given how open ended the question is. Im just looking for the highlights or hearing a couple stories.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

(Sorry if this has been done before. Please ref. me to that post if so.)

[mandolooter]

Orville Gibson did a little change to the shape it seems...

[swampstomper]

Go see the Wikipedia article on the mandolin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandolin) for a start.

[JimRichter]

Two dates:

September 13, 1911

&

July 9, 1923

Probably two of the most significant dates in modern mandolin history. Learn them, know them, breathe them.

Jim

[John Rosett]

*the first recordings of the monroe brothers(date?), and the first recordings of the "classic" bluegrass boys(1945).
*the release of homer and jethro's two instrumental albums.(1962 & 1964)
the release of the david grisman quintette's first album.(1976)
*andy statman's flatbush waltz-probably the first modern jazz mandolin album.(1980)

sorry, i don't know the exact dates on these.

[Jim Garber]

In terms of the US in mandolin history, it was January of 1880 (I believe) that a group of bandurrists from Spain called the Spanish Students arrived here for a tour. People got excited about the mjusic and the instruments which many folks thought were mandolins. As a result, there was a craze for mandolin playing and many manufacturers started to make them.

Hard to say if Orville would have turned to mandolins if there wasn't much of a market for them. Hey he could have chosen another instrument and Bill Monroe might have been a great bluegrass trumpeter.

Jim

[glauber]

November 1, 2004: Glauber joins Mandolin Cafe.
November 4, 2004: UPS delivers his first mandolin. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Thomas]

July 27, 2005. #Thomas sells last of his mandolins and goes back to guitar and banjo. #The mandolin world is less impacted with ****ing cuss words. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif #No, wait.....

[Django Fret]

Would some of you comment on what you see as the most important moments in the history of the mandolin? #Innovations in construction, notable luthiers, players, shows, genres, special moments--anything goes.
Stevem, you should check this page out:

http://www.musicaviva.com/encyclopedia/display.tpl?phrase=mandolin

Looks like a work in progress, but it does have some of what you are looking for.

[wallflower]

Whatever day WSM bought that old Gibson (Loar) mandolin.

[Martin Jonas]

I would highlight three events:

1) The development of the baroque Neapolitan mandolin by the Vinaccia familiy in the late 17th century. These are the earliest mandolins that would be recognisable to a modern player, with four double courses tuned GDAE. Strung with delicate mixed stringing, played with a quill and very lightly-built instruments.

2) The development of the modern Neapolitan mandolin by Pasquale Vinaccia from 1830 onwards, with a radical redesign of the bowlback to make it suitable for modern steel strings.

3) The concourse of Genoa in 1892, which for the first time brought the many isolated mandolin-playing groups in Italy together in one place and made them aware that there was a whole community out there. Sort of like a Victorian version of the synergy effects of the Mandolin Cafe -- get people to talk to each other and they will achieve vastly more than they could labouring away on their own. This is where the more virtuoso end of the mandolin boom started.

More on this in Sparks (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195173376/qid=1137147038/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_0_1/026-4422058-2995605).

Martin

[ManjoMan]

Whow! That's some history. I was born in 1961 and until 1969, I thought my Dad was the only one who played the mandolin. Then in 1970, I went to my first bluegrass festival and saw many of today's legends and heroes: Bill Monroe, Reno & Smiley, Mac Wiseman, J.D. Crowe & the Kentucky Mt. Boys (with Doyle Lawson on guitar). That was the turning point for me and music, particularly the mandolin. So besides when Bill Monroe formed his legendary bluegrass band (when I wasn't even around), the players that changed history for me were Jimmy Gaudreau, Larry Rice, and Doyle Lawson. They are the ones that influenced my desire to play the mandolin. Since then, a lot of great players have come around and would probably give the same kind of accolades to these same musicians.

[odeboy]

I agree with Mandorose. A very important date was in 1976 when David Grisman released his classic album with Tony Rice, Daryl Anger, Robb Wassermann and Todd Philips. All of a sudden, mandolin music was cool and modern. The same thing happened thirty years earlier when Bill Monroe played the Grand Ol' Opry. Other than that, the developement of the carved wood mandolin by Orville Gibson
was immensely important.