Into the Cauldron

Mike Marshall and Chris Thile

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 13, 2003)
• Original Release Date: May 13, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B00008YJHY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,730 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Listening to Into the Cauldron, a collection of mandolin duets by Mike Marshall and Chris Thile, can be a frustrating experience--in the best possible way. It's definitely not the playing. Marshall, a veteran of such seminal acoustic bands as the David Grisman Quintet, and Thile, the mandolin wunderkind of Nickel Creek, sound better than ever. No, the problem is in the variety of styles on display. After hearing Marshall and Thile dance across the strings on "Fisher's Hornpipe," you'll wish this CD was a collection of fiddle tunes. When they trade licks on "Scrapple from the Apple," you long for more bop tunes. Their too-brief version of one of Bach's Goldberg Variations only whets your appetite for a mandolin version of the complete composition. And the duo's original tunes seamlessly blend elements from all of these styles, and more, as if mixing James Brown's rhythms, Bill Monroe's melodies, and Stravinsky's harmonies is the most natural thing in the world. Listening to Into the Cauldron is frustrating because it's only one CD, and Marshall and Thile obviously have more than enough musical ideas to fill a dozen more. --Michael Simmons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words can't describe it - Mandolin Fans.... just go GET it!, August 22, 2003

By	Mark J. Fowler "Let's Play Two!" (Okinawa, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I have been absolutely playing the spots off of this CD.... I'm becoming addicted. I won't repeat what others have written about the credentials of Mike Marshall and Chris Thile - they're two mandolin virtuosos FAR beyond any who ever recorded to my knowledge and let's leave it at that.

The whole dad-gummed thing is almost painfully good, but here are a few highlights...

Charlie Parker's Scrapple From the Apple - they play so cool and funky.... you know how you hear a good jazz player diddlin' around and you think "Man, I'd like to hear this guy just cut LOOSE on something?" Well.... this song is these two cut LOOSE at their cool, funky, jazzy best.

Fisher's Hornpipe - Alison Krauss also plays this on the Mark O'Connor, Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer CD Appalachian Waltz..... BUT with all due respect to those four fine musicians (and I love MOC, Yo Yo, Alison, etc).... You've just got to hear this recording to believe it - you remember that album Marshall and Darol Anger did 20 years ago, The Duo? Well, THIS album, and this cut in particular is like Marshall has been practicing for 20 years and waiting for someone who could keep up.... and along comes The Kid (the family nickname for the prodigiously talented barely 20-something Chris Thile) with his mandolin loaded for BEAR.

Their Fisher's Hornpipe isn't just good, it isn't just hot.... it absolutely crackles with sizzling intensity. They alternately glide gracefully along the strings, then put in mind-teasing syncopy then play sizzling, raging passages.... the only thing that comes to mind to compare is Eric Johnson' Masterpiece "Cliffs of Dover".

I agree with others who have said that this recording just whets your appetite for the potpourri of styles that Mike and Chris are absolute masters of. Classical? Check out the Goldberg Variations.

How good can a recording of two guys playing mandolins be?

This good.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Masterful and innovative, but with a few flaws, December 16, 2003

By	Kim A Miller (Windsor, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This CD is a collection of original works and covers by diverse artists. The styles include classical, jazz, celtic and unique variations on progressive acoustic forms. Once you've sorted out who is playing (Chris on the left, Mike on the right), you begin to recognize the elegant, frenetic and a bit more subdued playing of Chris Thile and the louder, less precise and some would argue fuller tones of Mike Marshall. Many of the compositions are exceptional. However, the acoustics feel a bit distant as if you were in a room with too many echoes to be optimal for acoustic listening. I felt there was too much strumming, but this is a slight gripe. Also, in the interest (apparently) of trying everything you can do with mandolins, there is an excessive amount of banging and thudding. Some of this works. Some of it seems like noise. Overall, there is a lot of genius to enjoy on this progressive acoustic collection.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the Hands of the Masters..., August 5, 2003

By	Ted Eschliman "From the JazzMando Research La... (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Genius meets genius. No other way to describe it, and the unbelievable result of its "sum being greater than its parts" will leave virtually every mandolinist recovering from bruises on the jaw from hitting the floor. The rendition of "Scrapple from the Apple" itself is enough to own this CD. If their isn't a Grammy nomination in the hopper on this, their truly is no justice.