Mike Hoffman is a contemporary mandolin player from Branchville, New Jersey. He plays (or played) in the band, The Little Brothers, doing primarily pre-WW II blues. Little Brothers is composed of Hoffman and a couple, Frankie and Kim Basile, of Hopewell, N.J. (None of these folks is named "Little"; Kim looks more like a sister than brother; and I have no idea whether the men are brothers, let alone whether they are little brothers to anyone.). They released at least two CD's, "Walked All the Way Back Home," in 2010, and "Mama's Angel Child"in 2011, on Doggone Records, whose website seems inactive. Their appearances include a performance with R.Crumb at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn, and a gig at Sighisoara Blues Festival in Transylvania, Romania in 2011 -- anyone been to that one? I don't know if The Little Brothers are still together.
Hoffman's influences include Yank Rachell, Frank Wakefield, Charlie McCoy, Agim Colaku, and the Mississippi Sheiks. In the words of Bruce Nemerov, reviewing their CD, "Mama’s Angel Child": "Mike lurks in the background a lot. Though he’s not on all the tracks, when present his contribution is a subtle force of texture — a tremolo here, a rhythmic punch there, and especially the rollicking orchestral duets with the fiddle. He does get a few solos; the one in the Roll & Tumble child “The Girl I Love Got Long Curly Hair” is particularly nice. He seems content to be the guy who quietly adds the little touches that mean so much. Except when he plays his banjo-mandolin; then he loudly adds those touches."
Information from: Price, Robert. "Bringing the country blues to Transylvania," New Jersey Herald, Feb. 4, 2011,
https://www.njherald.com/article/201...CLE/302049987#
and Nemerov, Bruce, "Mama’s Angel Child: The Little Brothers" (review) [orig. on weeniecampbell.com?]
https://oldtimeparty.wordpress.com/c...ttle-brothers/
Here are a couple of the band's compelling and enjoyable interpretations of old blues tunes, with Mike Hoffman on banjo-mandolin.
For the first, if the links don't work, search YouTube for "Grind So Fine/ The Little Brothers".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySJhJu6FAhY
On the second, the photographer focuses on the guitar player during Hoffman's first solo, but the sound is clear. If the links don't work, search YouTube for "Honey Blues/ The Little Brothers".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF_XwUk2vIU
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