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Dancing Wolf Records has announced the release of J.S. Bach - Suites For Mandolin, Vol. One, by Robin Bullock.

Since their rediscovery in the late 19th century by legendary cellist Pablo Casals, Bach's Suites for Solo Cello have been celebrated as unquestioned masterpieces of the Baroque era, in the repertoire of ...

A continuation of the Scott Wright video collection entrusted to the Mandolin Cafe for publication, Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys were captured in concert in Boulder, Colorado's Chautauqua Park in June, 1986.

On the bill for the evening, Norman and Nancy Blake also make an appearance as the warm-up act, though only two of their numbers appear in Video 1.
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Berlin, Germany — To mark the 250th anniversary of the death of Georg Philipp Telemann, Berlin Classics has announced the release of Telemandolin, a new recording from Alon Sariel.

Telemandolin is a diverse compilation of remarkable works by the great German composer. Together with his ensemble Concerto Foscari, Alon Sariel plays repertoire that has never been heard before ...

The date was February 19, 1986. Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys had traveled to Denver, Colorado for a concert in what was the arena for the Denver Nuggets NBA basketball team.

Make no mistake about it, Monroe was in fine form that day as the band kicked off the concert with "Uncle Pen."

This never before published footage was captured by videojournalist Scott Wright as part of the Wright Collection, a series of events surrounding Bill Monroe in February, 1986.

A lifelong bluegrass musician and fan, Wright felt Monroe's appearance in Denver was historically significant and captured and kept the videos until entrusting them to the Mandolin Cafe this year for publication.

The videos include a nice warm-up session in what ...

Titusville, Fla. — Gold Tone has announced the creation of a new mobile application called Loop 2 Learn.

Probably the most effective way to learn new music is by hearing and seeing it played on video. Most musicians have used You Tube videos or videos shot from our mobile devices.

How does L2L help learn from videos?

1. Any section of a video may be looped by choosing your start and end points. The loop then will play continually.
2. Once a loop is made the

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Fenton, Mo. — Mel Bay Publications has announced the publication of J. S. Bach Mandolin Duets in print and eBook format by John Holenko.

These mandolin duet arrangements of the music of J. S. Bach are drawn from several sources. Most are ...

Phoenix area based mandolinist Billy Parker has announced the release of his new recording of mostly original instrumentals entitled Mandoclectic.

13 tracks in all, the disc is a unique and exciting collection of original mandolin pieces spanning genres from old-timey ...

Nashville-based Jenni Lyn Gardner is best known as the mandolinist for Boston bluegrass queens Della Mae. But she's been playing since childhood and went pro in her teens. At age nine, precocious and pretty, she played a tune backstage with Bill Monroe, who pronounced, "Little girl, one day you are going to be a star."

She joined Della Mae in 2009, relocating from South Carolina to Massachusetts. Her deeply rhythmic playing anchored an early e.p. and three full albums, but recently the band went on hiatus (while still performing the occasional show), leaving time for other pursuits. While Gardner—who, along with other band members, headed to Tennessee after too many Northeast winters—is still considering some type of future release with her Palmetto Bluegrass Band side project, she used this opportunity to craft a solo debut disc, Burn Another Candle, under the moniker Jenni Lyn.
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Fenton, Mo. — The 100 — Techniques & Exercises for Mandolinists is the title of a new release from Marilynn Mair on Mel Bay in the form of book or eBook, with online audio accessible with purchase.

Mair lays out a mandolinist's essential discoveries and theories ...

February 19, 1986, Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys had traveled to Denver, Colorado for a performance. For two lifelong fans — radio personality Dave Higgs and videojournalist Scott Wright — it would be their first opportunity to interview the man whose music they'd listened to most of their lives.

Learning that Monroe was about to be reunited with his famed mandolin that had been badly damaged in an act of vandalism, the two made plans to travel to Nashville the following week to video Monroe being reunited at the Gibson factory with his July 9, 1923 Lloyd Loar mandolin. In the process ...

Fairfax, Calif. — Peghead Nation, home of roots music instruction, gear, news and more is partnering with the Mandolin Cafe to offer visitors a first month free, or $20 off an annual subscription, when they sign up for any course on PegheadNation.com. ...

Bellows Falls, Vt. — The Festival of Mandolin Chamber Music is proud to present, from Russia, two masters of traditional Russian music: Aleksei Aleksandrov and Ekaterina Skliar.

They will be teaching workshops and coaching ensembles ...

Athens, Greece — Athenian Mandolinata "Nikolaos Lavdas" has announced the release of double CD entitled Greek Rhapsody (Rapsodia Ellenica) in collaboration with Orchestra di mandolini e chitarre "Citta di Brescia," under the baton of Italian composer and conductor Claudio Mandonico.

The CD is a tribute to historical Athenian Mandolinata and its conductor ...

Fenton, Mo. — Mel Bay Publications, Inc. has announced the release of Parking Lot Picker's Play-Along: Mandolin, a new resource from multi-instrumentalist Dix Bruce.

The best way to learn an instrument is to play it as often as you can with other musicians.

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February 25, 1986 shortly after Bill Monroe was reunited with his July 9, 1923 Lloyd Loar signed Gibson F-5 mandolin (serial #73987) post-repair, photojournalist Scott Wright and Dave Higgs captured the following Charlie Derrington interview at the Gibson factory where the work on the mandolin was performed.

As with other videos from the Scott Wright collection, this is the first public viewing and due to the important historical nature of the video it has been left ...

Surprise, Ariz. — The Mandolin Store in conjunction with the Mandolin Cafe will be giving away an Eastman MD415-GD to one lucky winner in the near future.

Registration for a chance to win will commence from a link on the Mandolin Cafe on May 28 with a single random winner being selected Friday, June 2 at 9:30 a.m. Central Time.

The giveaway is open to all visitors to the Mandolin Cafe regardless of location.

The new Eastman MD415-GD is individually hand-crafted using time-honored methods & premium hand-carved solid tonewoods with solid Spruce Top, solid Mahogany back & sides.

Ebony fingerboard & adjustable ebony bridge. F-style body with an F-holes for warm, ringing tones & excellent sound projection.

The Mandolin Store's Dennis Vance told us, "The Mandolin Store is proud once again to be the #1 dealer of Eastman Mandolins in the world and we wanted to celebrate our relationship with Eastman and the Mandolin Cafe by giving away a model we're excited to offer."
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Though Tim Connell didn't come from a musical family, his interest in music was quite voracious, even from an early age. Connell began classical piano lessons at seven, which included music theory. He taught himself guitar in middle school and by the time he made it to high school, he played piano in the jazz band, bass in the musical theater orchestra, and guitar in a garage band.

He went on to earn his Masters Degree in Music Education from the New England Conservatory of Music. Music has been his life.

I first saw Tim Connell in a YouTube video, which was him playing solo jazz on his mandolin. I looked up his website and saw that he lived in Portland, Oregon, which is where I live. My first chance to hear him live was during a happy hour set of choro music he was playing with Mike Burdette on guitar in a downtown Portland hotel. From the beginning, it was obvious that Connell is talented, energetic, and somewhat humble.
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Portland, Or. — Tim Connell has announced the release of MandAlone, 10 New Arrangements for Solo Mandolin.

Coinciding with the release of the recording is a companion book of transcriptions set in standard notation and tablature, all carefully transcribed by Connell.

After years of collaboration with the likes of guitarist Eric Skye and with his own Latin and gypsy-jazz ensembles, Tim's debut solo album is literally ...

Fenton, Mo. — Mel Bay Publications, Inc. has announced the release of Playford for Mandolin, 121 Tunes from the Playford Dancing Masters by John Goodin.

From 1651 to 1728 John Playford, his son Henry, and John Young published multiple ...