Recommend some players like simon mayor

[Caleb]

I’ve been trying to find some good mandolin music and have found that I like Simon Mayor’s style the best out of what I’ve found. #I’ve got some CDs by Thile, Even Marshall, and I’ve found some great classical/baroque stuff at my local library. #But I’d really like to find some stuff more the flavor of Simon Mayor. #Most American players have at least some Bluegrass in their playing, which at this point I’m really not interested in. #I guess what I like about Mayor’s style is that it seems much more international and sounds sort of old world to my ear. #Are there any other players like him out there that you can recommend? #Thanks….

[David Hanson]

The Dawg.

Dave H

[mrmando]

Evan Marshall, Carlo Aonzo, Andy Irvine, Mick Moloney, Dan Beimborn, Robin Bullock, Paul Kelly, Patrick Vaillant, Ashley Broder...

[Dagger Gordon]

Carlo Aonzo from Italy, perhaps. I think you might like 'Serenata' by him and guitarist Beppe Gambetta.
Certainly international and old world - even got some nice sound effects of Italy in between some tracks such as chestnut vendors calling, ship foghorns tooting etc.

Lovely playing. They've also made one with Grisman, actually, but I've not heard it.

Simon Mayor is from England, and I would say has a much smoother sound than most players from Scotland or Ireland. He sounds more classical, although he isn't classically trained as far as I know. I can't really think of that many others quite like him.

Possibly you might like some stuff by the Melonious Quartet from France. I would recommend 'Au Sud de la Mandoline' if you can find it. There's also an album of music by Satie which I haven't heard. #'Au Sud' is a slightly eccentric mix of stuff. It ranges from dance tunes from Provence, Brazilian, quite a few classical things, even a version of Kong Kong by Frank Zappa.

It definitely doesn't sound like bluegrass.

[PhilGE]

Jeff Midkiff is out of Chicago and plays it all.

Watch him perform live with an orchestra or watch him rip up #Sweet Georgia Brown with Curtis Jones.

-Phil (up early with a sick kid)

[mrmando]

Of course Simon has a bluegrass record, "Slim Panatella and the Mellow Virginians." But maybe I shouldn't mention it here.

If you like Simon's classical side, then you can always investigate other classical players like Gertrud Weyhofen, Alison Stephens, Marilynn Mair, Avi Avital, etc. ...

[adgefan]

Try Mando Lore by Andrew Collins and Brian Taheny. Sounds very Mayor-like in places.

[AlanN]

Ray Legere from Canada.

[Jon Hall]

Radim Zenkl is one of my favorite "world" players but if you can handle just a little of the U.S. style you should listen to Peter Ostroushko. Peter was born in the US to Ukrainian parents and has the sweetest tremelo I've ever heard.

[Wolfboy]

I'll second Dagger's recommendation of Carlo Aonzo and Beppe Gambetta's "Serenata," as well as Carlo's beautiful recording of Vivaldi mandolin concertos with his mandolin orchestra. http://www.aonzo.com/docs_en/products_en.htm#

Butch Baldassari too, particularly "Cantabile" and "Music of O'Carolan". http://www.soundartrecordings.com/allproducts.shtml

[Caleb]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I’m not sure why I forgot to mention Baldassari’s O’Carolan CD. I’ve had it for a few weeks and really love it. I really do appreciate all the input here, this will keep me busy on Google and iTunes for a while.

Regarding Evan Marshall --- I just got his Mandolin Magic CD, and while the playing is phenomenal, I didn’t realize that it was basically an album of covers made into mandolin tunes. Again, the playing is exceptional, but it’s almost novelty like, which I’m not that fond of. I’ll give his other CDs a chance and hopefully they are made up of more original material.

Speaking of the Dawg, I have his CD “The Pizza Tapes” and haven’t really been able to get into it that much. I’m really not sure why but it really didn’t click with me. I guess I’m still honing my taste and I’m still not entirely sure what I’m looking for. I guess at this point it would be safe to get more of Mayor’s stuff and go from there.

[MandoSquirrel]

I don't know if you'll find much "original" by Evan M, he's primarily a player/arranger. Which is a form of originality. I wouldn't call his "covers", as he's not reproducing anything like the Beatles' or McLean's versions, but an arrangement for HIS mandolin style.

[Dan Krhla]

one thing I do when I am checking out artists I like looking for similar stuff is go to amazon and look at the "others who bought this also bought : list. Make sure you go to amazon.co.uk fro simon stuff. Here is the link to small island: here, search his other albums out there and see what they recommend. They have a pretty cool algorithm for finding similar stuff so check all his albums. Another amazon bonus is you may get to 'preview' some of the suggestions to see it it's really going to be your cup of tea....

NFI, YMMV

[Caleb]

I don't know if you'll find much "original" by Evan M, he's primarily a player/arranger. Which is a form of originality. I wouldn't call his "covers", as he's not reproducing anything like the Beatles' or McLean's versions, but an arrangement for HIS mandolin style.

Agreed, that is a form of originality itself. You said it better than I. I was just hoping for something different, that's all. No harm, no foul.

[foldedpath]

Another recommendation for Radim Zenkl. He's a "world music/alternative/jazz/new acoustic" player (whatever that means) who covers a lot of stylistic ground, with a very nice touch on the instrument.

Maybe start with the "Restless Joy" album, then "Czech it Out" after that, if you like it. Both albums have one or two bluegrass-flavored tunes, but the rest are very different. He's on iTunes if you want audio previews of the tracks.

[Caleb]

Thanks again. You guys rock.

[Dagger Gordon]

Re San Rafael's John Reischman's suggestions:
I had considered mentioning The Bumpy Road by John Reischman and John Miller. It's not bluegrass at all (unlike quite a lot of his stuff, particularly with the Jaybirds). It's just mandolin and guitar duets with exceptionally nice tone and fluent playing. Not perhaps as 'old world' as you might be looking for but I think you'd like it.

[seanonabutton]

caterina lichtenberg

[Dagger Gordon]

There's a UK mandolin site you should look at.

www.mandolin.org.uk

There's an interview with Simon Mayor in the Interviews section, where he talks about his own playing and some of the players he admires.

[Jonathan Peck]

You might like Three Ring Circle. Andy Leftwich is quickly becoming one of my favorite mandolin playersSound Bites

You might also like Skip, Hop & Wobble featuring Jerry Douglas (dobro), Edgar Meyer (string bass), Mark O'Connor (fiddle), Bela Fleck (banjo) and Sam Bush (mandolin)

[Walter Newton]

Speaking of the Dawg, I have his CD “The Pizza Tapes” and haven’t really been able to get into it that much.

"The Pizza Tapes" is an official release of some home recordings of Grisman jamming with Tony Rice and Jerry Garcia that were bootlegged by Grateful Dead fans - it isn't necessarily representative of most of his stuff. If you want to try another Grisman CD I'd say go for the first Quintet album (not to say it'll sound like Simon Mayor though!)

[Brad Weiss]

Nobody's mentioned Mike Marshall... Not alot like Mayor, but certainly international.

[DSDarr]

Nobody's mentioned Mike Marshall... Not alot like Mayor, but certainly international.

Actually I'd say that Mike and Simon are similar in many ways -- both very clean, nimble pickers, and who have a very classical style at times. Clearly Mike has a lot of bluegrass in his playing, when he wants to, but he is obviously quite adept at many styles....

-David

[Wolfboy]

You might also like Skip, Hop & Wobble featuring Jerry Douglas (dobro), Edgar Meyer (string bass), Mark O'Connor (fiddle), Bela Fleck (banjo) and Sam Bush (mandolin)

Just to clarify: from the lineup, it sounds like you're referring to "The Telluride Sessions", a one-off album by that combination of musicians under the name Strength in Numbers. "Skip Hop and Wobble" was an album by Russ Barenberg (guitar), Jerry Douglas (dobro) and Edgar Meyer (bass), joined on two tracks by Sam Bush (mando). Both great albums, well worth having, and as far as I know both in print on CD.

[kevincoffey]

Those melonious boys play some nasty lookin' mandolins!!!

Kevin Coffey

http://www.meloniousquartet.com/melonious.htm