Saw Thile at the Newman Center at Denver University a few weeks back. Probably seats around 800 or so and great acoustics. I did not hear much yawning going on. Amazed me how an individual and a mandolin could keep an entire audience totally absorbed for close to two hours. Personally, one of the top three musical experiences in my lifetime (lots of shows, lots of genres). I poached a "talk with the artist" session before the concert. A hundred or so folks for that session and Thile fielded all sorts of questions. Very interesting and thoughtful responses. Someone asked about his Loar as well. I doubt if a big percentage of folks in room pick mando but still seemed interested in learning a bit about his latest axe. Other big take aways for me personally: gave me a greater appreciation of the tone and power of that Loar; humility as I try to fumble through a few passage of Bach and listen to Thile completely crush it; and his advice to try observe life as a musician (even if you are an amateur). In a nutshell, I would highly recommend catching his solo show even if Bach does not float your boat.
Not a review (yet) but nice profile of Chris in today's New York Times.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Interesting, the NY Times article indicates that he is engaged to actress Claire Coffee. She play Adalind on "Grimm."
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1309643/
I'll be seeing him in Princeton, NJ this Thursday night, if any of you are around, look for me (I'm 6'3" and scruffy, not too hard to spot even in a crowd)
If I call my guitar my "axe," does that mean my mandolin is my hatchet?
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Amazing concert tonight at Zankel Hall (Carnegie) in New York City. He played pretty much non-stop for close to 2 hours, an amazing joy ride thru multiple genres touching on Bach throughout, some bluegrass, some originals tunes and pieces and all Thile all the way. I was pleased to be in the second row center with a perfect view of it all. His tone on his Loar is to die for esp the upper register with sweetness and each note a jewel.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I was in the mezzanine overhanging stage left, and my view was almost as good. Sound, of course, was wonderful. Zankel Hall might be my favorite venue in New York. Chris was amazing as always. It seemed to me he was playing a few different instruments at times. He ranged from fast aggressive picking to incredible delicacy with ease.
I really get his approach to Bach now. With the acoustics in the hall, it was amazing how much he was using the natural sustain of the instrument to get the most out of the more polyphonic passages. Beautifully done.
I was at Zankel Hall too, with a friend from the NY Phil. The sound was just terrific, as I knew it would be, with Chris playing into what looked like a Neumann u87 or something similar. But again, I think at least 50% of the sound where I was sitting came directly from the mandolin. My friend who has seen CT play quite a few times observed, 'I think that Bach has made him a better player.' She feels that his overwhelming mastery of his instrument is obvious, but particularly was impressed by the nuance he was able to pull off with his right hand.
The show had enormous variety and lots of stage banter. It was a lot of fun, and I bought the LP. On the subway ride home, I read the terrific liner notes by Jeremy Denk the pianist who just won his own MacArthur fellowship. It felt so old-school to be reading REAL liner notes on a REAL LP.
By the way, I agree with Jim that Steve Smith did a terrific job with his profile of Thile in the NY Times >>HERE<<.
2.5 hours until show time in Philly tonight! My duaghter had to march in the town Halloween Parade so now my son and I are going.
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
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Just following up: Dude, he was in Ann Arbor, just down the road from Kalamazoo. You folks on Long Island might not be so interested in the larger world but I'd be quite confident that the majority of the folks attending his show in Michigan would love to know more about his Loar, it's manufacture by the Gibson Co. etc.
You may be standing by your comment but you are standing alone. Really alone. Your assumptions are groundless. And no doubt incorrect.
Mick
Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
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Differences of opinion are one thing, but don't make this personal. I am interested in the world outside, which is why I say with some confidence that most concert goers wouldn't be particularly interested in the provenance of the instrument, they just like the way it sounds and the guy who's playing it. If you disagree fine. If I'm wrong, so be it. I was just trying to point out that forums like this can get very insular, which makes it easy to forget that not everyone is as passionate about this stuff as we are.
I thought the same thing last night. Not necessarily in his technique, but his improvisations were clearly very influenced by Bach - very clear harmonic structure and lots of implied counterpoint.
Like all great musicians, playing Bach only gives him a deeper understanding of his craft.
Matt--see you in Princeton tonight. I'll be the only guy with a purple shirt and purple tie.
The show last night was so much fun. He played for a solid two hours with a mix of Bach, stuff pt1, Bach, Stuff pt2, Bach, Stuff Pt3, Bach, encore. On stage he's a mix of David Tennant and Jim Carrey - charming, witty, and clever. The stuff parts covered everything from his own stuff from various projects to Fiona Apple to the Louvin Brothers to a required Civil War song (Richmond is a Hard Road).
Unless you like to hear tunes just played straight, this show is a must see. Bachtoberfest! His improv would get far afield and then circle back and boom, you were back on the melody and it all made sense.
The best thing as far as I was concerned was Chris was having as much fun up there doing it as we were mouths agape watching him go.
He even made fun of himself quite a bit... "I'll play you a song, on the mandolin... there will be too many notes (insane shred) but there's not too many folks who can play too many notes (second insane shred) on mandolin...." in a song about a second date.
He didn't talk about the Loar, I think the people there who are interested in his instrument probably know and his other stories were more interesting than a provenance lesson (at least to me). He made that mandolin sound like everything from a chimey music box, to a shredding master, to the sweetest voice you've ever heard, to a drum kit.
What a joy to have been able to expereince him live.
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
+ Give Blood, Save a Life +
I thought about this when watching Chris Tuesday night in NYC. I don't think he made any pretense of bridging to the classical world. He was enjoying playing and performing and entertaining. Bach is music and he truly enjoys playing it and the impression I got is that he could care less what classical critics would say. His demeanor on stage was the polar opposite of the standard classical players, who rarely if ever talk to the audience or explain the music and certainly do not bop to the music or even smile much on stage.
His playing of Bach and stuff was all top notch but Bach is music and that is what he was playing. Great stuff in any case.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I was at the Philly show last night too - and echo everything Jamie said.
There are few musicians with his range of genres, inventiveness, technical skill, expressiveness and charm as a performer. Listening to him, his affinity for Bach made total sense - it clearly informs all of his playing and his imagination and composition. He was poised and engaging and thoroughly entertaining. I was also reminded that he is a very good and expressive singer and songwriter. The audience (Kimmel Center Perelman Theater) was absolutely rapt.
But beyond the analytical --
I found my eyes were watering through most of the first half. Didn't feel like allergies. Not crying. Really, the best I can describe it is it felt like when you're standing in a strong wind and the eyes involuntarily water. I found the performance blow your hair back and make your eyes water POWERFUL.
Awed.
Karen Escovitz
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Last night in Philly was, as others mentioned, awesome!! (to say the least)
I think people were mesmerized by him.
For those of you who can't make it to any of these solo shows....here's the blow by blow as best as I can recall....
In case you're not aware yet of the way these solo shows are going...here it is.....the Bach lays the framework for the set list...which was no short set....I didn't check my watch, but it was long enough to be thoroughly satisfied....heck, I was thoroughly satisfied after the opener!
Well, really the G minor Sonata BWV 1001 lays the framework and within the set list he also includes the complete B minor Partita.
There was unfortunately nothing from the A minor Sonata.
I. Opening Segment (medley)
G minor Adagio > Louvin Brother's "Broadminded" > Selections from third movement of "The Blind Leaving the Blind" > Rabbit in a Log (followed by thunderous applause of course) A personal highlight was the crowd singing the second part (Michael Dave's part) of their duo song Rabbit in a Log
II & III. (the exact order is escaping me but something like this) G minor Fuga Allegro > "Stay Away" (from How to Grow a Woman from the Ground) > "Fast As You Can" by Fiona Apple (Thile's friend) "Here and Heaven" (the duet with Aoife O'Donovan from The Goat Rodeo Sessions > a new Thile composition "Daughter of Eden" > G minor Siciliana > B minor Partita (straight through in it's entirety) The Corrente Double Presto just melted the fretboard...he did play this at a significantly softer volume level in order to achieve the speed.
And somewhere in there was also "Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel" (Civil War song)
IV. G minor Presto > ENCORE = new original song, very funny "Lots of Folks/Lots of Notes"
Hope you enjoy it....and if any one can correct my order of songs....feel free to copy/paste/rearrange into correct order. Thanks.
Looking forward to doing it again in a few hours in Princeton!
Last edited by Traveling Tracks; Oct-24-2013 at 11:53am. Reason: forgot one!
Collings MF
Oh, and I must add and echo others in that he has obviously been ridiculously amazing for many years...but if you can believe it, I think he is even better!! Just jaw-dropping astonishment.
And tech specs.....he was not "plugged in" but he stood in front of a large diaphragm cardioid condenser such as a U87 or similar and it captured and reinforced both his voice and his mandolin. Did anyone in the audience notice what was attached to the back of the instrument? It was like a tone guard or something and then there was another thing attached which looked like it could be part of an amplification system maybe for Punch Brothers shows. Curious. And the sound was great, not too much reinforcement, very natural...hats off to Dave Sinko....whom I did speak with following the show. Funny thing is he sat in the audience and "mixed" (controls levels, eq, etc) from an iPad which was controlling the console in the booth. Good times.
Collings MF
I think the program was pretty much the same in the New York concert.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
This was my view 20 minutes before he came out. The place filled up while I edited the photo. The Perlman Theater in the Kimmel center is great (the whole facility is). I was in the stage left first balcony side corner. The sound was great. He has a tone guard and the other white square thing on the back was???? I have no idea.
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
+ Give Blood, Save a Life +
My Friday night (tomorrow) opened up, and I scored tickets to see Chris at Koerner Hall (Royal Conservatory of Music) in Toronto. Glad to see him bringing the show north of the border, and grateful that I get the chance to see him in this mode. I listened to him and Nickel Creek do an acoustic version of "When You Come Back Down" at the brilliant auditorium at Goshen College, and if that's any indication of what tomorrow night will be like - Koerner is an amazing acousitc facility - I know that my mind will be blown for weeks.
The bonus is that rather than coming down hard from seeing Thile on Friday, I'm road-tripping Saturday to catch a Dailey and Vincent show. Now if I can just score a mandolin experience - without having to play one on my own - on Sunday, I'll have had the perfect weekend.
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