View Full Version : Mike Marshall & Chris Thile (Again)
Soupy1957
Jun-21-2009, 1:53pm
Can't tell ME they didn't rehearse THIS one!! (I'm sure you've probably seen this before, but anyway):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afzl3A8o7vE
SternART
Jun-21-2009, 3:02pm
WOW.........those improvised solos are pretty darn outstanding.
Best Fisher's Hornpipe I've "ever" heard!:disbelief:
fishdawg40
Jun-21-2009, 3:34pm
Best Fisher's Hornpipe I've "ever" heard!:disbelief:
I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that Mr. Stern. There's great version of this tune on the Aereoplane Band Reunion cd. Speed kills. I think Thile's playing is impressive but it doesn't speak to me nor is it supposed to. I like groove and I don't think you can have groove going that fast.
SternART
Jun-21-2009, 5:23pm
cool with me Mr. fishdawg.......I dug the ideas they expressed in the improv.
& from my experience, that is a darn tough tune to take to take a break on
at "any" speed. Leaving the Bach-like repetitive patterns in the melody and
still having the solo express the melody is pretty heady stuff. I find the patterns
actually make it fun to let it rip & play fast on myself.
foldedpath
Jun-21-2009, 6:05pm
I like the improv lines, but the Irish player in me doesn't like the way they're flattening the groove, in order to play at that tempo.
Hornpipes are supposed to have some bounce and lift. It's a dance after all, which you can't do at this speed. Well, Irish 'trad Hornpipes anyway. I know this is a Bluegrass showcase take on it. Different approach, different worlds.
I'm not a big Thile fan (don't get me wrong: he's a virtuoso, but I'm not a fan of so many notes per phrase), but I'm amazed at how fluid his fingering is along the fretboard. I'm a bigger fan of Mike Marshall, but watching the two of them playing together here, Thile's fingering seems almost effortless.
OldSausage
Jun-21-2009, 6:22pm
This is clearly just a pair of stooges who happened to stumble into the studio by mistake and got handed mandolins by the cleaning staff as a joke.
jim_n_virginia
Jun-21-2009, 6:25pm
mere finger acrobatics ... thats all. :grin:
fishdawg40
Jun-21-2009, 6:27pm
This is clearly just a pair of stooges who happened to stumble into the studio by mistake and got handed mandolins by the cleaning staff as a joke.
Very funny!
sgarrity
Jun-21-2009, 6:39pm
While not exactly my cup of tea, I appreciate it for what it is....technical mastery of the mandolin.
Hal Loflin
Jun-21-2009, 7:03pm
So.........If you could play it just as they have on this video would you?
If not "just for fun"? I know I would. There are times when I play old traditional tunes the speed they should be, and even have played them very slow especially when learning and wanting clear notes. But I can tell ya I have flat busted loose on Whiskey Before Breakfast, Ragtime Annie, BlackBerry Blossom and on, and on, just for the fun of it.
"Give me a break, said the mandolin man to the fiddler"...
Greg H.
Jun-21-2009, 7:10pm
While I tend to agree with some of the previous comments. . . . at times it seems more a matter of Thile doing what he does almost as a case of showing all the things he could do (which admittedly is about 80-90 percent more than any of us mere mortals could do) what I'm waiting to see is Chris Thile when he's 30 or 35. . . .I'm waiting to see when he's the mandolin version of Itzhak Perlman. . .but able to move from classical to jazz to bluegrass and not feeling the need to do as much . but just do exactly what should be done. He's a master now, but I wait to see him step up to a still higher level.
While I tend to agree with some of the previous comments. . . . at times it seems more a matter of Thile doing what he does almost as a case of showing all the things he could do (which admittedly is about 80-90 percent more than any of us mere mortals could do) what I'm waiting to see is Chris Thile when he's 30 or 35. . . .I'm waiting to see when he's the mandolin version of Itzhak Perlman. . .but able to move from classical to jazz to bluegrass and not feeling the need to do as much . but just do exactly what should be done. He's a master now, but I wait to see him step up to a still higher level.
Remember that this video is already 5+ years old at this point. I think he's really matured as a musician in that time, and his current work with Punch Bros comes very close to what you're describing. His recent album with Edgar Meyer, while it featured some mind boggling technical work, never felt flashy or unnecessary, but exactly what was needed to serve some very complex music.
Soupy1957
Jun-22-2009, 3:10am
All that.........just from a simple posting of a video that impressed me..........lololol.
I guess I'd believe that during some portions of the video there WAS some improvisation, but it was so technically neatly woven, that I'd have to also believe that the two of them have been playing around with that arrangement together a few times before this was recorded.
Interesting point about the age of the video! I hadn't really considered that it could indeed be an older video. Based on Chris' appearance, I thought it to be FAIRLY recent, but I'll take your word for the "five years."
Still...............this is WAY beyond what I am now, as a mando player, and will EVER be.
Patrick Gunning
Jun-22-2009, 4:03am
Having heard many different versions of them playing this piece, I'll tell you that everything from 0:15 to 1:52 is improvised. Then again from 2:09 to 2:22. They had been playing with that arrangement for some time, it was on their earlier record "Into the Cauldron."
grassrootphilosopher
Jun-22-2009, 5:01am
Can't tell ME they didn't rehearse THIS one!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afzl3A8o7vE
Playing of this sort requires at least some dialogue between the musicians before playing the tune. A rehersal may not be necessary (among musicians of this caliber -like them or hate them-) but they will have had a little talk about the tune in general.
Technically great, slick as heck, gimme Monroe any day over what Marshal and Thile playes, but my hatīs off to the two anyway.
Phillip Tigue
Jun-24-2009, 12:24pm
Is it just me, or is Thile's picking face reaching Methaney levels?
allenhopkins
Jun-25-2009, 10:33am
Frank Proffitt on Earl Scruggs:
"I'd like to be able to play banjo like that -- and then not do it."
Wisdom of the ages.
Perry
Jun-25-2009, 10:56am
So.........If you could play it just as they have on this video would you?
My answer would be a resounding YES!!!
But if someone asked me if I could play just the way Compton does on one of his videos I would answer YES!!! Or Sam Bush or......
That's a really interesting question though. If you're playing reaches that high a level in that style can you actually back it off and get gritty and greasy like a Monroe/Compton? No lesser an accomplishment in my mind but totally different animals.
It would be interesting to hear Mike M. or Chris T. try and play like Monroe/Compton; not just the typical bluesy down strokes facimile of Monroe but really get the feel. Or is that equivalent to asking somebody like Pat Metheny to play some slide like Muddy Waters?
Or put another way if you've mastered one style can you effectively master a completely different style? Or are you too far gone to change it up so much?
John McGann
Jun-25-2009, 11:00am
Frank Proffitt on Earl Scruggs:
"I'd like to be able to play banjo like that -- and then not do it."
Wisdom of the ages.
Begrudgers have no season :))
Laird
Jun-25-2009, 12:00pm
[QUOTE=14strings;682919]That's a really interesting question though. If you're playing reaches that high a level in that style can you actually back it off and get gritty and greasy like a Monroe/Compton? No lesser an accomplishment in my mind but totally different animals.
QUOTE]
Laird
Jun-25-2009, 12:03pm
That's a really interesting question though. If you're playing reaches that high a level in that style can you actually back it off and get gritty and greasy like a Monroe/Compton? No lesser an accomplishment in my mind but totally different animals.
I've always been impressed by the way traditional bluegrass pickers will play a atraight-ahead solo, nothing fancy, then throw in a flourish on their way out that shows what they could have done if they were interested in showing off their abilities.
Ken_P
Jun-25-2009, 12:19pm
It would be interesting to hear Mike M. or Chris T. try and play like Monroe/Compton; not just the typical bluesy down strokes facimile of Monroe but really get the feel. Or is that equivalent to asking somebody like Pat Metheny to play some slide like Muddy Waters?
Or put another way if you've mastered one style can you effectively master a completely different style? Or are you too far gone to change it up so much?
I think a better question is why? I'd much rather hear someone play with their own unique style and ideas than try to imitate someone else. This isn't a judgement about Monroe vs Thile, but Chris does his own thing so well, why should he change? Similarly, why would Mike Compton want to play like Thile when he's so good at his own style?
To put it simply, there are many ways to play the mandolin, and I think there's room for all of them.
I was thinking more along the lines of if you were granted the newgrassy/jazz/classical talents of a Thile or Marshall but were really into hard core blues mandolin would you accept the grant and perhaps forever ruining you chances of being an authentic blues mandolin player? Sort of like being given the key but not wanting to open the door. It's very difficult to sound just like Carl Martin or Willie Hatcher:)
Or to expand on Hal's question if you could play just like they did on the video
is it even possible to play it any other way? I'm thinking once you get that agility under your fingers it's really hard not to use it.
OK I admit it I'm bored:whistling:
John Hill
Jun-25-2009, 6:01pm
I was at that show (Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour in Lexington, KY)...lots of notes...lots of jaws on the floor...
kmiller1610
Jun-25-2009, 6:17pm
[QUOTE=14strings;682919]That's a really interesting question though. If you're playing reaches that high a level in that style can you actually back it off and get gritty and greasy like a Monroe/Compton? No lesser an accomplishment in my mind but totally different animals.
QUOTE]
I think he already did that..... at the age of 12 (?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Thile#Awards_and_nominations
1997 - IBMA award for Album of the Year for True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe