Customer Reviews

Thirty-Year Retrospective: Live

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I listen to this incredible two-disc recording, I'm getting to re-live one of the most incredible "Nashville" experiences I have ever had: being in the audience while it was being recorded. At the time, I knew (as all in the audience did) that I was witnessing a unique musical moment for the four artists on stage. Listening to the CD reaffirms that belief. On stage that evening (and the two preceding it) Mark O'Connor, Chris Thile, Bryan Sutton and Byron House came as close as four artists can to perfection. This recording, taken from those three live performances, seems as close to the actual performance as I can imagine a recording being. In over three hours of playing what must have been a million notes of music, there were (at least on the evening I attended) no false starts, no thuds, no blemishes. Yet with this near technical perfection, the music is as textured and nuanced as one is likely to experience in any genre of music (many of which are explored throughout these CDs).

The unamplified concert was held in the new (and acoustically inspiring, at least to my layman's ears) Ingram Performance Hall at Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music. While this is Mark O'Connor's CD -- a celebration of his 30-year (so far) of multiple-genre-defining fiddling career, this CD is a showcase for the virtuosity of the three other artists: Bryan Sutton is the best guitar picker in a city of guitar pickers. Byron House on bass provides an inspired foundation for this recording.

And Chris Thile. How does one begin to describe his talent? Otherworldly? Godlike? On a stage with three other titans of acoustical music, Chris Thile transformed his mandolin into something beyond magical. Chris Thile reminds me of the basketball player Pete Maravich (hair and all). In the way Pistol Pete redefined what ball handling is all about, Chris Thile is in the process of changing the way the world perceives the mandolin. His name should be Chris Thrillee.

(Just listen to the cut, "Stone From Which the Arch was Made," for an example of both Bryan's & Chris's youthful potential and seasoned mastery of their instruments.)

Two ninety-minute sets left the audience exhausted but the musicians appeared energized, even joyful. After listening to this recording on the day it finally (a year and a half later) is released, one can still feel their joy.

Let me just start off by saying that of the many CDs I've added to my bluegrass/newgrass collection over the past few years, this is the first one that moved me so much that I had to write a review! Oddly enough, I wasn't at all familiar with Mr. O'Connor's work when I purchased this CD - I pretty much just saw the words "Chris Thile" and that was enough for me! However, it didn't take more than one listen for me to add Mark O'Connor to my list of favorite musicians in this genre. I was absolutely blown away by the intricacies of the solos and the wide range of sounds on this CD. From more traditional sounding bluegrass numbers to bluesy/jazzy swing numbers to classical sounding pieces, there is never a dull moment. The timing of the musicians is dead on - at times they are so in synch with one another that it's scary to imagine there are actually 8 hands in perfect coordination with one another. I've basically been listening to it every few days for months now, and there is so much going on musically in each song that every time you listen you can focus on new layers to the music that you haven't noticed yet. The only drawback from purchasing this CD is the lightening of my wallet as I set out to purchase the solo projects from each of the 4 musicians featured here!

Playing Time - 76:17 (disc one), 76:27 (disc two)-- Technical acoustic proficiency at its finest! There are few superlatives available to describe this two-CD celebration of Mark O'Connor's first 30 years in the music business. The words "bardacious" and "splendiculous" come to mind. This album's music is almost too sweet for words. The Grammy Award winner and master of many styles and moods assembled three other instrumental wizards, Chris Thile, Bryan Sutton and Bryon House, for a series of three phenomenal unamplified concerts on July 3-5, 2002 at Ingram Hall at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. They were history in the making and provided a great overview of O'Connor's fiddling interests in swing, Texas style, jazz, classical, bluegrass and newgrass. With the exception of O'Connor's concertos for violin and orchestra, nearly every genre that O'Connor has recorded is nicely represented. On a 2.5-hour project like this, we must also recognize the excellent recording engineers (Gary Paczosa, Marshall Morgan, Thomas Johnson, and Adam Beard) for their important contributions. The outcome is phenomenally clean and balanced, although one can't help but wonder and speculate how the project might have turned out differently in a recording studio. Would the sound been even better? Would the energy from live performance been sorely missed? Would some tracks have introduced guest banjo, dobro or other virtuoso players?

There are times that one might think that O'Connor or his fiddle are bewitched, especially as the program moves from such diverse offerings as "Jesse Polka" to "Swingin' on the `Ville" to "Send Rainbows." The hot picking definitely calls an occasional whoop or shout in glee, but the audience does practice considerable restraint and respect to the live recording process. I am always cautious and a bit apprehensive about tracks that span more than seven minutes. O'Connor offers six cuts that fit this criteria, with the 12-minute "Soft Gyrations" greatly exceeding the others. The violinist and composer demonstrates his mastery of arranging and incorporating dynamics to take us on musical journeys wrought with imagery and fantasy. It should also be emphasized that all songs, with the exception of four from the public domain, one from Bill Monroe, and one apiece in collaboration with Edgar Meyer and Sam Bush, were composed and arranged by O'Connor. This is another indication that Mark is irrefutably one of the very best all-around musicians' musician who garners the highest respect from his peers and colleagues.

The musical genius of Mark O'Connor is so ably supplemented by equally impressive playing of Thile, Sutton and House. Thile's lyrical, fluid picking really shines on "Caprice No. 4 in D Major" and "Macedonia," while Sutton's most technically impressive number might well be their concert's first half closer "Stone From Which the Arch was Made," although it's difficult to single out any particular piece. Tune into House's solid foundation on the bass, and also take note of his bowing technique on the reflective "Song of the Liberty Bell."

Mark O'Connor, Chris Thile, Bryan Sutton and Byron House come as close to perfection as four musicians can humanly accomplish in live performance. The acoustic all-star quartet not only celebrate Mark O'Connor's music, but they are individually in a class of their own. Their instrumental music is simply out of this world, and it is clearly right up to the high-water mark! (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

Some of the other reviewers have provided far more detailed praises for this collection, offering praises to each song. Each song clearly deserves each such praise, & more. For my part, I am most thrilled to find Mr. O'Connor, whose playing I have followed for decades, returning to his roots. I have certainly enjoyed his classical work, but I find I lack the ability to appreciate that work sufficiently. For me, there will never be an album (do we still call them albums?) better than The Telluride Sessions, with Mr. O'Connor, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, & Jerry Douglas. This album ranks with that one - and it is all live, recorded with minimal production. The artists who accompany him here - Byron House, Brian Sutton and especially the amazing Chris Thile - are (and this borders on heresy for me) equally tremendous with that earlier gang. What a joy to hear Mark play "Bowl of Bula" or "Bowtie" again. Songs from his more "new-agey" phase (Elysian Woods) sound better with the more straightforward, newgrassy arrangements (see, eg, "October Impressions" & "Flight Home" and compare them to the originals. The one never-recorded piece, "On a June Day," is also magnificent.
Welcome home, Mark. Even if it is only for a brief look back. It reminds all of just how rich and diverse your musical legacy is.

THIRTY YEAR RETROSPECTIVE is so much more than just a standard greatest hits collection. The violinist Mark O'Connor decided to rerecord two discs worth of his material in front of a live audience. The music is performed exquisitely, and the sound is superb. O'Connor is accompanied by mandolin, guitar, and bass.
Listening to this CD got me thinking about how valuable genre-busting performers like O'Connor are. The music here crosses from bluegrass to country to jazz to some kind of new, sublime hybrid (music from the APPALACHIAN JOURNEY) albums.
If you're a newcomer to O'Connor, you'll certainly want to hear more after this. If you're an old fan, you'll find this music joyous. Essential and Highly Recommended

As noted in the liner notes and elsewhere, this was recorded "live" from microphones set up at an "unamplified" concert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. In other words, the mics were set up to record, but what the audience at these concerts heard was "live" and TOTALLY "unplugged". As Mark notes himself in his liner notes, the crowd was very respectfully quiet - no coughing, sneezing, crinkling of papers, etc.

My brother and I live 3 states apart and deliberately bought this 2 CD set separately, determined to "make up our own minds". After listening separately, we got back together to "compare notes". We were both in agreement: This crowd had more self-restraint than a Bishop, because there were SEVERAL times when we were agreed that it would have been nigh impossible to hold back a loud and appreciative hoop or holler.

This music is magical. The slower-tempo tunes like "Midnight Interlude" are absolutely SOARING in their tone and melody, and the more up-tempo things remind me of a Slam Dunk contest I watched a few years ago between Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan. THAT crowd (at Jordan's "home" Chicago stadium) went absolutely crazy as Jordan and Wilkins dunked in ever-escalating versions of "can you top this"? My cap is off to this respectful Vanderbilt crowd.

Will there be more recordings like this? We can only hope. The TRUTH is that Mr. O'Connor COULD have recorded an album like this years ago with.... say.... Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Sam Bush, etc. But the truth is also that Mark's musical genius was somewhat unrealized on these particular compositions while he lacked musical partners who could keep up with him(with only a couple of exceptions these are all Mark O'Connor tunes). This is that fantasy album - the one where Mark O'Connor fiddles as good as he can, yet is matched in his virtuosity by Sutton on guitar and Thile on mandolin. Byron House is a completely logical choice to anchor this quartet on bass.

Mr. O'Connor is the "old man" among this group in his early 40s - I pray these musical magicians thrill us for ages.

Even if you've listened to bluegrass and newgrass for decades as I have, be prepared to be astonished by this live recording. Instead of threatening to take over the show as O'Connor so often does even in the company of elite musicians what you hear here is three virtuosos pushing each other to seemingly impossible heights.

The more you've heard of these player's predecessors and peers the more you'll appreciate this phenomenal recording. Astonishing, inspiring, thrilling.

Magic graced the Martha Rivers Ingram Center for the Performing Arts, Blair School of Music, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville when a stage full of music virtuoso's got together to record a retrospective of Mark O'Connor's life long work. Chris Thile on Mandolin, Bryan Sutton on Guitar, Byron House on Bass and Mark O'Connor on Fiddle; each a genius on their chosen instrument, each an innovator and improviser, and each critically acclaimed and without comparisons. Recorded live on July 3, 4, & 5th because schedules were impossible to coordinate with the career challenges to juggle between these "in high demand" musicians.

Mark O'Connor is a gifted composer whose body of work span across a wide berth of genres from Classical, to Jazz, to Swing, to Bluegrass all often blended together in unique compositions. He is considered on par with some of the most venerated composers known and one of the most influential talents of this generation.

Mark hand picked the musicians featured here on this CD because of his admiration of their musical virtuosity. Furthermore, the project differed from prior collections of Mark's work which overdubbed each of the instruments played by mark. As an ensemble, Mark believed Thile, House and Sutton's command of the music and playing styles meshed with his own. These guys are brilliant in lending their innovative interpretation of O'Connor's work. Each piece in the collection is intricately woven together which is amazing when you consider it was recorded live and unrehearsed.

My favorite cut is Macedonia which is one of the pieces I heard performed live by these same four musicians at Merlefest 2004. After hearing that set, I simply had to have this CD and it is one of my most played CDs. Each listen reveals new depth with amazing call and answer trades between the musicians. Leads exchange frequently between the instruments while the others support the melody without intrusion on the lead. Furthermore, egos were left behind so no one musician is vying to musically out do the others but rather all play as a cohesive unit.

Believe the accolades, this is acoustic instrumental music at its finest. Mark O'Connor has assembled an acoustic music dream team, able to interpret with skill and daring the various styles he has traversed over the course of his stellar career. The recording quality is outstanding allowing the instruments' characteristics and the flawless techniques of Byron House (bass), Bryan Sutton (guitar) and Chris Thile (mandolin) to positively glisten. Combining extraordinary musical accompishment with superbly crafted tunes, both original and traditional, this is a set to savour. Recommended without reservation.

I'm no huge fan of bluegrass in general, or fiddle specifically, but I was introduced to Mark O'Connor probably 20 years ago when he had an album that was mostly guitar and mandolin. ("Meanings Of" which I've been trying to find but apparently was never put on CD.) I have "Elysian Forest", but only truly liked the non-fiddle pieces, and "New Nashville Cats", where I started appreciating the fiddle, particularly the more jazzy arrangements.

With that background, I've found this set to be some of the most beautiful music I think I've ever heard. I'm not sure what style I'd call it, but I don't much care. Yes, it's clearly virtuosic, but not being a performer myself, that's not primarily what I notice. These pieces and their performance simply move me with their emotion. It's the joy expressed here that I find especially invigorating, both the exuberant joy in the tempo and energy of the faster pieces and the quiet, contemplative joy in the soaring melodies of the slower ones. I think it's especially those melodies that made me fall in love with this music.