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 Leave Something Unexplained
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Songs List & Audio Samples
Reviews Mair Travels by Mandolin to Brazil and Brilliance "I'm one of those people who gets 'good ideas'," says Marilynn Mair, her voice making the quotation marks obvious. "And when I get a 'good idea' I have to do it." That's why the mandolinist is one of the busiest musicians in Rhode Island, and why she performs in three different combos on her latest disc, Leave Something Unexplained. Mair performs in duo format with Boston-based guitarist Adam Larrabee; with Brazilian Paulo Sa and Czech Radim Zenkl in her group Mandolin World Summit; and with her seven-piece acoustic group Enigmatica. And on all the tracks her commitment to the Baroque, classical, and Brazilian shines through, whether it be complex harmonies and unisons with Larrabee, the precision of Bach with Enigmatica, or the romanticism of her work with Sa and Zenkl. Some of the pieces are original. So we get the swing feel of "East of Here," written on Cape Cod after Hurricane Ophelia; the Caribbeanism of "Champagne/Diablo" and the sprawling "And She Has Flown," written in memory of a departed friend. Her first mandolin repertoire was Baroque music, "where they don't define the instruments." Since then she's had to arrange lots of pieces for the mandolin that weren't originally written for it. "I can hear them on the instrument. I arrange alot of pieces because I'm interested in alot of different kinds of music. I don't just want to play what's there. I want to play what's in my heart." Jim Macnie writes in "The Providence Phoenix": 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 dusc's broad curatorial choice all sound like they belonged together in the first place." |
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"Leave Something Unexplained" sends Marilynn's music into new territories and forges new musical alliances along the way. There are duets with frequent partner Adam Larrabee on guitar and mandocello, and duos and trios with musical friends Paulo Sa and Radim Zenkl. Enigmatica adds a Bach tune, and Marilynn plays some solos, adding bass, percussion, and some of her own tunes to the mix. This is Marilynn's most personal CD ever, and showcases the breadth of her musical interpretation and the delightful freshness of her musical vision.