– Butch Baldassari, Mandolin Magazine (USA)
Marilynn Mair has always had the keen ability to balance classical mandolin traditions and repertoire, while constantly breaking new musical ground… So it is with ‘Leave Something Unexplained’. Mair teams with Adam Larrabee on classical guitar for the title track and the Villa Lobos classic ‘Bachianas Brasilieras’. Both pieces showcase a high level of ensemble playing, dynamics, and overall musicality. But perhaps when Larrabee plays mandocello we hear a more groundbreaking sound. ‘From Tregian’s Ground,’ along with ‘A Waltz for Evelyn Hinrichsen,’ certainly some of the nicest tracks on the CD, reveal a very intimate reading for this under-recorded instrumental format. Read More
CD review: Leave Something Unexplained
– Jim Macnie, The Providence Phoenix (USA)
Smudging the lines between folk and classical is an intrepid endeavor. On Marilynn Mair’s shimmering new CD, Leave Something Unexplained (QORQ), there’s a formalism in play that doesn’t feel formal at all. Mair’s a superb mandolin player who has previously brought the instrument to unexpected places, so it’s not shocking to realize she has ideas about creatively positioning it. But from Villa-Lobos laments to Bach’s ‘Adagio’ she makes the disc’s broad curatorial choice all sound like they belonged together in the first place.