Women with Mandolins

[journeybear]

... here is a picture of the lovely Ms. Begum and her eight-string double-strung Crafter mandolin.

Chacun à son goût!

[journeybear]

While searching through the Smithsonian Instution's website for any mandolins in their collection, on behalf
of another thread (f-style as american icon) -there is but one, Orville Wright's bowlback, on loan from the
San Diego Aerospace Museum - I found these artistic endeavors:

[mandolooter]

To quote Bill...she rocks! Different yes but not hard on my ears.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Milla, obamiconned...

[billkilpatrick]

was that meant to be "obamacloned?" ...

i know she poses with it but does anyone know if milla jovovich actually plays the mandolin?

[Jim MacDaniel]

Were it a real verb, I think its past tense would be obamiconned.

She actually does play according to this older thread, but unfortunately many of the links in it are no longer valid.

[billkilpatrick]

thanks jim ... the english language appears to be unflappable.

i - for one - would LOVE! to hear what she sounds like. any milla-MP3s out there?

[journeybear]

thanks jim ... the english language appears to be unflappable.

i - for one - would LOVE! to hear what she sounds like. any milla-MP3s out there?

From her official website:

"Milla performed live with Puscifer in Las Vegas on February 13, 2009 and will perform with them on April 4 and 5, 2009 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA!" This is the most amateurish video I have ever seen on a famous person's website. True, I haven't gone to that many, but I find it hard to believe this is the best footage they could find. You may need to take Dramamine an hour before watching. The best thing about it? The little pink dress she's wearing. Oh, and zero mandolin content - she's just singing.

I don't see any mention of mandolin. There are dozens of demos and clips going back years here and the more recent stuff is here. She seems to be very open to sharing her music. I am not going to sift through this for mandolin content - there are way too many songs, and based on what I've heard so far, I'm not optimistic there will be any MC, nor like what I will hear along the way. But if someone else wants to do so, knock yourself out! And let us know if you find any MC.

The best I could find is a brief interview segment with her and fashion designer Carmen Hawk, her partner in the Jovovich-Hawk fashion line, in which Carmen plays ukulele and Milla sings, "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" Can't seem to embed it.

[journeybear]

... i know she poses with it but does anyone know if milla jovovich actually plays the mandolin?

Funny thing about that - as much as she poses with the mandolin, and uses it in her music, and as many references as there are to her playing it (this over-the-top customer review of her one and only album, 1994's "The Divine Comedy," for instance: "Wow, who could've guessed that Milla Jovovich was such an artistic, multi-talented individual! Not only can she model and act, she's a singer, wonderful mandolin player and composed all the lyrics of this delightful -11 track- masterpiece."), I haven't found any pictures of her actually playing it nor quotes from her about playing it.

What I have found are:

the musicians credited for playing mandolin on her album -
Geoffrey Richardson--acoustic guitar, bamboo flute, pennywhistle, mandolin, violin, viola, kalimba
Eric Bazilian--guitar, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, bouzouki
Dean Parks--guitar, mandolin
(Eric is from The Hooters, of course);

Chris Brenner played keyboard, mandolin, and melodian in her touring band;

a charming excerpt from the LA Times' 1994 review of her album by James Ryan: "If she were an instrument, she'd be a mandolin. Or maybe a mandola. "It's a little deeper", explains Milla Jovovich ..."

the two pictures I'm posting here (I believe they've shown up here before, but since this subject has come up again, this is easier than making curious viewers search for them), one of which was recently and quite cleverly Obamiconned;

her actual name: Milica Natasha Jovovic;

and that's it. Hate to burst anyone's bubble, but it doesn't look too likely that she actually plays mandolin - not in public anyway. If that were true, it would be a lot easier to find something to support that assertion, and there would be more than just the four images that have been posted here.

She does pose well with it though. Much as Fred Astaire viewed his job as making his dance partner look good, including a hat rack!

[Michael Cameron]

Little pink dress,little pink dress........

[Django Fret]

Little pink dress,little pink dress........

You mean this one???

[Michael Cameron]

Whoa.

That's the one.

Madame Butterfly?

Didn't she play with "The Cocoons"?

She plays a Weber ,IIRC. Or, a Gibson with a Weber decal.

Saska?

[Bill Snyder]

Oh never mind.

[Django Fret]

[QUOTE=Michael Cameron;650450]Whoa.

That's the one.

Madame Butterfly?



Speaking of Butterfly, here are some of Maria Butterfly with a couple of her mandolins.

[Michael Cameron]

Well,she's Irish then.(?)

That's obviously a Weber(possibly with some sort of decal).

[man dough nollij]

Well,she's Irish then.(?)

That's obviously a Weber(possibly with some sort of decal).

Looks like a Breedlove FF to me...

[journeybear]

Madame Butterfly?

Is joke, yes? It's Maria Butterly. Irish lass now based in LA. Excerpt from her bio page:

Award winner Maria Butterly, originally from Laytown, Co Meath, songstress has been living in Los Angeles for several years and has just released her second album titled ‘Nashvillain Days’. Regarded as “one of Ireland’s most talented singer -songwriters” quotes Ireland AM (TV3) where she recently performed live, Maria has become a hit with the music press. Her original style of music is opening the door to a Celtic Country craze, the singer is influenced by the likes of Eva Cassidy and Joni Mitchell and Alison Krauss, hence her beautiful four octave vocal range and her highly skilled guitar & mandolin playing. She also recently appeared on RTE ‘Seoige & O’Shea’ tv show. Her acoustic album titled ‘Its Just Me’ which features seven tracks that Butterly self arranged, performed and produced received raving reviews by the Evening Herald quoting her songs ‘So Beautiful' and 'Shut Me Out ‘ as ‘Blockbusters!’

Good choices for influences. Wonder if there is a genuine Celtic Country craze in progress, and where ...

[Django Fret]

Is joke, yes? It's Maria Butterly. Wonder if there is a genuine Celtic Country craze in progress, and where ...

Not sure about where that location might be but if you are in Ireland and happen to be into Celtic Metal, check out Bluehorses and space-mandolin playing Lizzie Prendergast.

[Jill McAuley]

Looking at their website, it seems they are in fact Welsh, with Lizzie herself listing herself as a "Welsh/Irish gothess..." apparently....

Cheers,
Jill

[jim simpson]

Mandolin by E. James Combra spotted on Ebay. I suspect that the photo of the young lady is not the player/seller but I could be wrong.

[Ransome]

Not sure if this was posted, but I was reading on AmericanaRoots.com and came across some SXSW shots. One jumped out at me...



Carrie Rodriguez at Antones

[journeybear]

...came across some SXSW shots. One jumped out at me ...

Well, if you're new to the Café and trying to make a good impression and thought posting a picture of Carrie Rodriguez with her MandoBird was the way to go ... Well, you're right! Very nice, and welcome to the Café!

As far as I'm concerned, she could be the "poster girl" for the MandoBird.

Here are a few more:

[Keith Owen]

Carrie is a fantastic singer and fiddler too. If you get a chance to go see her, go!

[journeybear]

I missed her a couple of years ago when she was opening for Lucinda Williams. Did catch her on Austin City Limits a few months back. First time I ever saw her was in a video with Chip Taylor - the guy who wrote "Wild Thing" (incidentally, the opener the first time I saw Lucinda, keeping the crowd waiting while he stretched his set well over an hour ) - called "Keep Your Hat On, Jenny. Here's a live duo version; they have the original video at CMT, which is a bit more fun, set in an Old West bordello.

[journeybear]

While searching for women other than Carrie Rodriguez playing mandolins, I came upon some curious artistic renderings:

1) from the Po Lin monastery;

2) from the waxworks exhibit at Warwick Castle;

3) from a museum in Volterra, Italy, a mandolin carved from alabaster by Giorgio Pecchioni. It's got eight tuning pegs and even strings on it, but with that short poorly intonated fretboard and presumably unresonant top, it probably looks a lot nicer than it sounds.