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Hey guys! I posted over in the jazz forum as well, but I thought I would throw the videos up here.

I'm putting out a duo new record on May 5th with the incredibly talented Mike Gurrola on bass. Here is a live take of the record's title track!

Here is this week's cover!

It's a mandolin/guitar arrangement of the title theme from one of my favorite games as a kid. I always dug the minimalistic tendency of this soundtrack.

In other news! I just finished recording a jazz record with bassist Michael Gurrola. I'll be posting some material from it as soon as we put a video together.

Time for some progressive jazz mando coming at you from Jason Bailey on a sweet Heiden F5 mandolin. Hear Jason play through a cool tune called "Unity Village" composed by jazz guitarist guru Pat Metheny.



Jason Bailey is at the forefront of the creative acoustic music scene in Birmingham, AL. He is always reimagining the role of the mandolin, drawing from such musical styles as jazz, bluegrass, Celtic, and more. You can hear Jason ...

Throughout 2017 I’m really excited to be using this weekly Mandolin Monday video format as a way of connecting with and featuring other mandolinists. I'll still be making videos, but I’m also having some of my mandolin friends make videos of their own solo mandolin arrangements to feature here on my Cafe blog. And what better way to start the new year off than with the inimitable Joe K Walsh on his amazing new Nugget mando.



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Here's a rendition of one of my favorite Christmas tunes--and I just happened to find this amazing bass player, Missy Raines, to join me It's been a privilege getting to play music with Missy over the past couple years. She's a wonderful person and musician, and I'm so grateful for my time with her and the rest of her band The New Hip. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!



Thanks so much for watching! If you liked the video, ...

Letting loose with this dissonant and spunky jazz blues by the great Thelonious Monk. One of my favorite quotes: "A note can be small as a pin or as big as the world, it depends on your imagination" ~ Monk.



You can now get a tab/notation transcription for this video, and all of my other personal solo Mandolin Mondays arrangements on my Patreon site here: https://www.patreon.com/davidbenedictmandolin

Happy ...

For a very special Mandolin Monday, I had the great jazz mandolinist Don Stiernberg help me out with an impromptu duo jam on this Cole Porter classic, "Night and Day." We both happened to be at the Swannanoa Gathering in NC, this past week, and Don was incredibly kind to reprise this tune from his amazing record Swing 220. Don is a huge inspiration--his fearless playing and expansive imagination is always so fresh. And his gorgeous two point Nugget mandolin is pretty incomparable too! ...

I recently cooked up this chord melody arrangement of the great jazz waltz, "Skating in Central Park" by John Lewis. I first heard the tune off of the Bill Evans and Jim Hall duo record, Undercurrent. Both the tune and the record have become fast favorites. It was fun trying out some false harmonics with this one.



You can now get a tab/notation transcription for this video, and all of my other personal solo Mandolin ...

Trying to channel my inner Don Stiernberg this week for this jazzy Randy Newman piece, "You've Got a Friend in Me," made famous by Pixar's Toy Story. Had to break out my "groove face" towards the middle there...



You can now get a tab/notation transcription for this video, and all of my other personal solo Mandolin Mondays arrangements on my Patreon site here: https://www.patreon.com/davidbenedictmandolin ...