Top 10 Mandolin CDs (any genre)

[fiddlinfool]

I'd like to put together a mandolin music collection (I don't have much at the moment). I was hoping those more in the know could let me know what their top 10 (or more) essential mandolin music CDs would be (any genre) so I can make an informed purchase and not just a hit or miss.

I am assuming any list would include Monroe, Flatt/Scruggs, Rachell, Grisman, etc - but before I start buying CDs at random I would really appreciate a more defined list of essential CDs.

Any assistance would be grately appreciated.

thanks very much.

regards

[Walter Newton]

The first David Grisman Quintet album gets my vote!

[arbarnhart]

I will throw a slight curve at you. My current favorite band has mandolin and it has a primary place in pretty much every tune they play (I don't think they have recorded a song without it). Their mandolin player is good, but won't make many "great" lists. It's the Yonder Mountain String Band and the mandolinist is Jeff Austin. I actually prefer their live stuff to the more recent studio release, but the studio release sold very well. They are all over the map stylistically, but the mando is always providing the percussive beat (no drummer) and somr good general rhythms and solos. I also play Rich DelGrosso's "Get Your Nose Outta My Bizness" CD quite a bit. He is a blues mandolin player.I like some of the old bluegrass standards from a number of bands and Dawg and Bush are among the top recent players but I am sure others who know that ground better will cover it.

[red7flag]

For a Grisman Bluegrass album, I would suggest "Home is Where the Heart It" a really solid 2 CD set. Has great guests like Doc Watson, Alan O'Bryant, you name it. That Grisman sound rings through out.
Tony

[cooper4205]

another good one is the two-disc bluegrass mandolin extravaganza (grisman, mccourry, bush, wakefield, skaggs, mcreynolds, etc.), and chatham county line (sp?) has a great mandolin player too (speed of the whiporwhill is their latest)

[carleshicks]

John Riescmans "Up in the Woods" is My fvorite mandolin album. also David Grismans Rounder album is great.

[reely989]

I would recommend any of these:
1. Manzanita(Tony Rice)- Grisman and Sam Bush both provide some great playing.
2. Not All Who Wander Are Lost (Chris Thile)- I realize some will disagree, but there is a ton of great mando content, most way over my head.
3. Drive (Bela Fleck)- Sam Bush does some great stuff, not just a ton of mando, but great stuff nonetheless.
4. Tales From the Acoustic Planet Volume 2 (Fleck)- same as above
5. David Grisman Quintet (David Grisman Quintet)- Amazing...
6. 20 Year Retrospective (David Grisman Quintet)- Great stuff by grisman, marshall, phillips, O'connor and others
7. 30 Year Retrospective (Mark O'Connor)- Done live with a four piece band, so mando has plenty of time to shine
8. Like Minds (Psychograss)- Great stuff by Mike Marshall
9. At Home and On the Range (Darol Anger and Mike Marshall)- Plenty of good stuff, not all mando though.
10. Live at the Charleston Music Hall (Ricky Skaggs)- Some good bluegrass mando here, though Skaggs isn't one of my favorites.

Those are just some. Not all of them feature mandolin dominantly, but when it is there, it is rock solid, great playing. Thile has some other albums out that are great, and the new Sam Bush album (Laps In Seven) is great also. Marshall has some good stuff, but some of it I was not so fond of. It is hard to give a good list of recommendations because everyone has different tastes. Try out a variety and then focus on the stuff you like.

[DryBones]

Michael Kerry - #The Rocky Road. Not Bluegrass, more of a Celtic flavor but just plain great mandolin.
Plus I would say Mike Compton and David Long - Stomp should be part of any collection.

[Daniel Nestlerode]

in no particular order:
1) David Grismman Quintet
2) Angel Eyes - Don Stiernberg & John Carlini
3) Into the Cauldron - Mike Marshall and Chris Thile
4) Tone Poets - Various Artists (Grisman produced)
5) Cantabile - Butch Baldassari and John Mock
6) Joe Craven - Django Latino
7) Garcia/Grisman - Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
8) Tone Poems - Grisman & Tony Rice
9) Live Duets - Chris Thile and Mike Marshall
10) Travellers - Baldassari, Reischman, Bullock

These are all CD's I own. I don't have Thile's new one or Mike Compton & David Long yet, so I may change my mind soon. I'm also noticing a distinct lack of Bluegrass on the list. If you feel that issome kind of slight, remove any one from the list and replace it with Ancient Tones by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Daniel

[Wadefox]

Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe

Kenny Baker was a fiddler in the Bluegrass Boys, and this is an album of instrumentals. The mandolinist on the album was . . . Bill Monroe. It's great.

[kvk]

For a Grisman Bluegrass album, I would suggest "Home is Where the Heart It" a really solid 2 CD set. Has great guests like Doc Watson, Alan O'Bryant, you name it. That Grisman sound rings through out.
Tony
I just listened to the snippets of many of the songs from this on the Rounder site. What I like about it is it isn't so absurdly fast that mere mortal would have no chance of playing the songs at the pace on the album. Really, some BG is just played rediculously fast now-a-days. I wanna be able to hear all the notes. I think I'll buy a copy of this one and actually try to play along with some of the songs.

[chirorehab]

My favorites have all been mentioned(QGQ first album,Manzanita, Drive), but I would add Bluegrass '96....Wayne Benson...All instrumental...

Also, Danny Roberts Mandolin Orchard is incredible,too!

Tony Rice's 58957:Bluegrass Guitar Collection is always in my cd changer, too! It has so many greats..Grisman, Bush, Lawson, Reischman & more...

[mfalkner]

chirorehab,

That Tony Rice Bluegrass CD is one of my top 5 all time. Jimmy Gaudreau's (sp?) solo on Jerusalem Ridge is very fine, and Norman Blake does some great old-time mando work on there also.

[luckylarue]

I'd add: Jacob de Bandolim - Original Recordings
Andy Statman - Flatbush Waltz

[clem]

Back to Back--Jethro Burns & Tiny Moore

01 Byte 10 Cordas--Hamilton de Hollanda (solo)

Brasilianos--Hamilton de Hollanda Quintet

David Grisman Quintet (1st album)

The Other Side--Chris Hillman (Eight Miles High on mando!)

Bye Bye Blues--Jethro Burns

Any CD by Evan Marshall

Appalachian Mandolin & Dulcimer--Butch Baldassari & David Schnaufer

Paul Glasse--One More Night

Bluegrass CD of your choice

Clem (+1 for Andy Statman! Amazing...)

[ben_wv]

I've been listening a lot to the Johnny Staats/Robert Shafer album "Pickin' Up Steam". #Some of it is "absurdly fast" as mentioned above, but it sounds to me like Staats never sacrifices tone or feel for speed. #Shafer's guitar is spectacular, too. #There are two songs (not from the same album)near the top of the MandolinCafe MP3 Page (http://www.mandolincafe.com/mp3/)

Also, I really like Sam Bush's "Glamour & Grits".

[AW Meyer]

Another vote for John Reischman's "Up in the Woods" -- really tasteful compositions and playing by top-notch musicians. I like Andy Leftwich's "Ride" -- more fine musicianship by a group of young virtuosos. In a more jazzy vein is David Grisman and Denny Zeitlin's mandolin/piano duets album "New River." The Creaking Tree String Quartet plays some interesting instrumentals, featuring Andrew Collins on mandolin.

[mandomadman]

Lots of good ones posted above. These four below have had the most profound influence and effect on me. All are instrumental CDs and from start to finish feature awe- inspiring mandolin.

Master of Bluegrass - Bill Monroe
Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza- Many of the greats are featured on this 2 disc set
David Grisman Quintet - Grisman
Into the Cauldron - Thile/Marshall

[Jim MacDaniel]

Here are my favorite ten from my own collection, with links, in no particular order, and sorted by genre (sort of):

Classical
1. Cantabile: Duets for Mandolin and Guitar, by Butch Baldassari (http://www.soundartrecordings.com/) & John Mock: a great collection of classics arranged for mandolin and guitar, from Bach to Satie
2. Delicatesse (http://www.brazmus.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?LNG=en-US&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=M+10150&Category_Code=10), by Raphael Rabello & Deo Rian: another nice collection of classics arranged for mandolin & guitar, include three different Chopin pieces which translate well to mandolin

Jazz and Gypsy
3. Gypsy Mandolin! (http://www.folkways.si.edu/search/AlbumDetails.aspx?ID=2440), by Howard Frye
4. Hot Dawg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002GD1/ref=m_art_pr_6/102-5216614-7294525?ie=UTF8), by David Grisman

Trad or Trad-inspired
5. A Mandolin Album (http://www.malgamu.com/htms/Pkelly.htm), by Paul Kelly: a nice collection of trad and new tunes -- as well one piece by Debussy -- from this excellent Irish mandolinist
6. A Whisky Kiss, from Scotland's Shooglenifty (http://www.shoogle.com), who in the past have refered to their music as "hypnofolkadelia"
7. New Celtic Mandolin, by Simon Mayor (http://www.mandolin.co.uk/)

Roots Rock / alt.country / Americana
8. Stomp Revival, by Bonepony (http://bonepony.com/): an all out, high-energy, mandolin-driven acoustic blast
9. Out to the Country (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/emmagibbs), by the Emma Gibbs Band: Jam Grass meets alt.country
10. Lost Diamond Angel, from alt.country pioneer Jimmy Ryan (http://jimmyryan.net/) (on mandolin, emando, and mandola)

Plus an honorable mention to The Klezmonauts' Oy to the World (http://www.oytotheworld.com), which includes 10 Christmas classics performed in the Klezmer style.

[Rick Crenshaw]

I second the votes for Reischman's "Up in the Woods", as well as almost any of the Jaybirds albums. Also, second the vote for Andy Leftwich's "Ride".

Check out J.P. Cormier's "x8" or Emory Lester and Mark Johnson's "Acoustic Rising". Or anything by Blueridge and Alan Bibey. Also, Butch Baldassari's "Old Town" and the Travellers CD are very good.

[GMatt]

I really like Not All Who Wander Are Lost... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif