Customer Reviews

Appalachian Journey

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Seldom does a sequel live up to the advance billing suggested by its predecessor. All too often, sequels (most particularly in publishing and in the cinema) represent little more than a form of pernicious milking of "what worked the first time around."

On the other hand, sequels occasionally do exceed the expectations set out by their forbears. Such is the case with Appalachian Journey, where Messsrs. Ma, Meyer and O'Connor do manage to top themselves, in significant ways, regarding what they did in the earlier Appalachia Waltz. The reason is not particularly hard to find: familiarity breeds ease and comfort. At risk of implying that "practice makes perfect," it is nonetheless a fact that Meyer and O'Connor, in this sequel, have found better ways to incorporate Ma's remarkable talents - non-improvisational though they may be - into the fabric of the music.

The outcome to my ears is measureably better than in Appalachia Waltz. These guys are in a groove now, and there are are fewer "set pieces" written primarily to explore how these three stringed instruments might coalesce into a new style of string trio writing (and less recycling of material heard elsewhere, and earlier, such as interpolations from O'Connor's Fiddle Concerto), and more exploration into the true strengths of Meyer's and O'Connor's compositional skills, which are considerable indeed.

Over time (and, I might add, a rather short period at that), it has become simple for me to identify, by style, which are from the pen of Meyer and which from O'Connor. Put simply, Meyer's have his by-now-well-known rhythmic challenges, and O'Connor's are altogether more lyrical. (The writer of the booklet notes would have us believe that Meyer's compositional style looks back at the folk and chamber music of Bartok and Kodaly; I hear instead Janacek.)

The skill level is high indeed; Caprice for Three pretty well establishes that these three can play up a fury. And I think that the jazz-inflected playing of O'Connor on Cloverfoot Reel is a welcome peek into a style of O'Connor's playing that I for one would want to hear more of. Alison Krauss and James Taylor make meaningful contributions as well. (The choice of Foster songs is indeed interesting. Taylor, here, repeats a song - Hard Times Come No More - that Willie Nelson sang on Darol Anger's Heritage album of a few years back, an occurrence that I find to be more than just coincidence.)

If I could find fault with this trio at all, it would be in the fact that Yo-Yo simply doesn't "smoke" the way that Edgar and Mark do. In this respect, a collaboration including Edgar and Mark and a cellist who can truly improvise could be revelatory. Three such cellists come to mind: David Darling, Eric Friedlander, and Eugene Friesen. Now, Eugene can really smoke! And that would make an interesting project for this particular fan of Friesen, Meyer and O'Connor!

The booklet notes are helpful. Just concentrate, if you can, on the quotes by the three of them, and avoid the hyperbole in the booket writer's notes. It's a real stretch to call this the classical music of the future. It's subgenre entertainment. But great entertainment.

Bob Zeidler

The liner notes of this album boldy declare, "This is the new face of classical music." I have no problem with that. This string ensembel makes compellingly beautiful music. Meyer and O'Connor handle most of the writing on this recording. The lone exceptions are the traditional "Fisher's Hornpipe," on which Alison Krauss guests on violin, and two Stephen Foster songs: "Hard Times Come Again No More," with James Taylor on guitar and vocal, and "Slumber My Darling," with Krauss on vocal. In addition, Taylor contributes the instrumental "Benjamin" on which he also plays guitar. This music is at its core hauntingly beautiful, but difficult to categorize. I appreciate the analogy used in the liner notes when trying to explain the seemingly diverse, yet unifying elements contained in the music on this CD. It is like "the enormous fields of mushrooms found in the American Midwest, which botanists have now determined are in fact a single organism." While there appear to be many diverse influences at work here, maybe the simple truth is that this is all part of a common bond we call music. At any rate, this is an enjoyable and engaging album. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Mark O'Connor is one of the world's most brilliant improvising fiddlers and Edgar Meyer an exceptionally accomplished bassist and composer who moves seamlessly among the varied musical worlds of bluegrass, classical, folk and country. They team up again with Yo-Yo Ma, a classical cellist who has spent the last several years working to broaden his musical horizons (a duet album with Stephane Grapelli, an album of Piazolla's tango music, a collaboration with Bobby McFerrin). In their first teaming, APPALACHIAN WALTZ, the mixture of Ma's technique with Meyer and O'Connor's improvising and composing abilities produced fabulous results: almost a new genre of music, "classical folkgrass." In this endeavor, the three go to the well again but don't find quite the same high level of magic. It's hard to complain very strenuously -- these are, after all, three of the finest musicians that we have. As James Agee said of the Marx Brothers, "the worst they ever made is better than most things I can think of." The same is true here. But there is still a nagging disappointment in this outing. Some of the performances seem a little rushed, unpolished, some of the arrangements a little strained. While there are moments of beauty, excitement and truly thrilling collaborative playing (Meyer's 1B truly rocks!), this sounds almost like an off-the-cuff jam session than a thought-out collaboration.

Musically speaking, my tastes are wide-ranging and very eclectic but my first love is country and my second is pop. I enjoy listening to classical music occasionally but have never really got into it. However, I am always on the look out for something different and when I found this in my recommendations I was intrigued, because although classical music and country music both evolved from folk music, they did so at different times and in completely different ways. On the face of it, blending them together might seem impossible. This album, while essentially classical, has definite country influences. Some might say Celtic rather than country, but I think their previous album, Appalachia Waltz (which I also own) has a much stronger Celtic feel to it than this one.

Mark O'Connor originally made his name as a Nashville session musician playing the fiddle but gave that up to pursue a career as a violinist. Of course, the fiddle and the violin are actually the same instrument but the style of playing is very different. Mark teamed up with Edgar Mayer (bass) and Yo-Yo Ma (cello) to record this album. The album is mainly instrumental, but there are two songs, one featuring James Taylor (Hard times come again no more, on which he also plays guitar) and the other featuring Alison Krauss (Slumber my darling). James also plays guitar on Benjamin. Alison plays violin on Fisher's hornpipe, but not on Slumber my darling. No other instruments are used anywhere on the album. Stephen Foster wrote the two songs. The other tunes were all either traditional or written by one of the performers.

I'm not sure who this music is primarily aimed at - it may be too country for classical fans and too classical for country fans - but if, like me, you are looking for something different, give this a listen.

Having read an encouraging review in my local paper, I decided to buy this recording. I usually don't trust the critic's opinion, but man am I glad that I trusted him this time. This CD is a beautiful blend of waltzes, hornpipes, love songs, and for celtic fans like myself, reels. The reels are actually the main reason why I bought this album. I am always looking for musicians who have the guts to add something unique to celtic music, and this CD certainly does that. Hearing these 3 fine musicians play reels in an almost classical form is a crossover between the two genres (classical and celtic) that you do not find everyday. I was also pleasantly surprised by the voice of James Taylor on the third track, "Hard Times Come Again No More". The chorus and melody are actually quite simple, but Taylor single-handedly makes it the standout track on this album. All and all this album is perfect for everybody, whether you like classical music, celtic music, or anything in between. It is truly a unique experience.

I purchased the album "Appalachia Journey" because I liked the first one "Appalachia Waltz" so well. I made an excellent choice, for this is a very beautiful album. The song "Hard Times Come Again No More" is very good, and James Taylor does an exceelent job, as does Ms. Krauss. But the real accolades should go to the Meyer-O'Connor-Ma trio, for they are magnificent. They blend together as if they had been playing all their lives. This album is an excellent purchase to anyone who loves music.

I loved Appalachia Waltz, and was afraid this album would inevitably disappoint me. However, the album really is a marvelous continuation of these three artists first collaboration. And, arguably, they seem to artistically understand each other and work together even better now. I've listed to this album every day for two weeks, and I seem to never grow tired of it. The music is so rich and expressive, it gives me a sense of being in a world where all I have to focus on is the sun setting and the grass growing. The vocals with Krauss and Taylor are also superb. In short, I love this album, and plan to give it to many friends as a gift.

Two Grammy Awards (Producer Of The Year, Classical for Steven Epstein; and Best Classical Crossover Album) are a fitting tribute to this outstanding album by three of the most gifted string players and their distinguished guest artists.While this may be considered a "crossover" album, it falls in the classical tradition of composers like Dvorak, Gershwin and Copland, and even Stephen Foster himself, who freely borrowed from various folk traditions. I like to think of this as chamber music for a new generation, with its collection of several relatively short and diverse pieces. While other reviewers here have mentioned bluegrass influences, I personally think the Celtic influence is more strongly apparent, as in "Fisher's Hornpipe" and "Emily's Reel."The addition of James Taylor and Alison Krauss is a stroke of genius. Their voices blend so well with the string trio that it's listening like a string quartet. Taylor's simple whistling and quiet guitar on his piece "Benjamin," make for a soothing lullaby.While I unsuccessfully looked for the title of a video that Ma, Meyer and O'Connor did around the time of their first venture together, I discovered that there's a new video based on this album. If it's anything like the first video (which I checked out of our local library), it will give a very nice personal view of these virtuoso musicians, as they visit, rehearse and perform together.Anyway, I love this album, as well as the first one, "Appalachian Waltz." If you like this one, it would also be worth listening to Edgar Meyer's other classical recordings, as well as Mark O'Connor's "Fiddle Concerto." Another recent discovery for me is Yo-yo Ma's 1997 album, "Soul of the Tango," which I think many "Appalachian" listeners would also enjoy.

The Copeland-esque beginning gives this an immediately familiar, sprightly tone. The album is uneven, however, featuring brilliant play as well as some songs that seem too simple and pedestrian. Especially in the first song and the last 8 cuts, the album features a rich interplay between violin, bass, and cello, and blends masterfully elements of American folk music, classical, and jazz. As the liner notes state, the trio "appeals to an audience that might not stop to consider whether the music is `classical' or not."

Although I enjoyed track 1 ("1B"), I'm glad that the album departs from this Copeland sound on most of the other songs. Track 2 is a slow rolling country ballad, not very exciting, but the violin solo is effective. James Taylor is in fine voice on Track 3, although, again, no real new ground is broken. "Indecision" features huge bended notes and a varying pace; a ripping violin solo to adds to the excitement. "Limerock" is a traditional song, arranged by O'Connor and Meyer, and the Celtic-like sounds are quick and bright. "Fisher's Hornpipe," another traditional, is fairly bland although there are interesting voicings on the cello. For my tastes, "Benjamin" (track 6) sounds too much like vintage James Taylor (complete with country-boy whistling); good if you love Taylor, otherwise not. It's just a little too mellow and unoriginal.

"Duet for Cello and Bass" is one of the highlights of the album; the dissonance and complexity add a little more challenge to a cut that's just as easily digested as the others. It's both thoughtful and dramatic, and one wishes for more of this sound. Both tracks 9 and 10 are very satisfying reels, and track 11 builds to a brilliant synthesis of classical and "folk" sounds. There is more complexity here, as the instrumentalists play simultaneous threads of music. The last four songs are rich with emotion, especially "Second Time Around" and "Vistas." In fact, the entire second half of the album is excellent, and in those songs the band reaches the sublime.

This CD is excellent; it's exciting, poignant, moving, surprising and more. Ma's cello is rich with feeling; O'Connor's violin (sound and technique) is thrilling; and Meyer's bass is unlike any you've ever heard. Add to this Taylor's and Krauss' vocals (Stephen Foster's music and lyrics, can you believe it!), not to mention Krauss' violin work with O'Connor, and you have a collection of music you will listen to forever and share with your friends.