Marilynn on Mandolin #24 ~ Sept/Oct 2007

The #24 means that I’ve been sending out newsletters for 4 years now. Thanks for your interest in my music and your support of my projects for all that time.

AUGUST IN RIO

I went back to Rio for the last 3 weeks in August to see if all that I had begun in March through May would still be there. It was. And by returning it seemed I became part of the choro community, not just a visitor. Highlights of the trip included playing in a concert w/ Luiz Simas at the fabulous Cecilia Mirelles Hall, going back to EPM at UniRio for 3 Saturdays, returning to lessons w/ Joel Nascimento, playing w/ my band gua no Feijao and working on my new choro “Siga em Frente” (Go Straight Ahead) with them, playing in a new way cool roda in Laranjaras on Sunday mornings, going to the sessions @ Trapiche, hearing the great “Brasieirinhos” concert @ Canaco, and just being back in my old Urca neighborhood again. I’ll be returning for New Year’s Eve, but in the meantime there’s manuscripts to edit, recordings to analyze, choro to learn. I sent home 6 blogs w/ pics while I was in Rio. Some are up on my webpage now, the rest soon will be. Check them out!

THE COMPLETE MANDOLINIST

is completed! I finished checking the last proofs in Rio in August and the book has now gone to “blue line,” the last step before publication. Thanks to Jacque Russom, Enigmatica mandolinist and editor-par-excellence, for double-checking everything at every step along the way. I don’t have an exact publication date yet, but it will be very soon. It’s been 3+ years in the making & I’ll be so glad when I can finally hold it in my hands.

COMING SOON

I’m giving a concert September 23 @ Roger Williams University to present some of the musical results of my Brazilian sabbatical. It’s @ 2:00 in the Performing Arts Center, and I’ll be playing with my AMGuSS colleagues — Ralph Costanza, Bob Martel, and Bob Sullivan. I’m premiering a couple of new original compositions inspired by my stay in Rio, and new arrangements of music I discovered there this spring. I’m also showing a half-hour of my slides of Rio at 1:30, before the concert begins. Admission is free. The poster is attached — hope to see some of you there!

The last week-end in September I’m teaching and performing with NEME at the Cape Cod Festival of Mandolins. Check here for more information or to register. Carlo Aonza is this year’s guest artist, and NEME is playing a series of concerts with him after Cape Cod, in Boston, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island during the first week of October. We’ll be at Berklee College of Music in Boston on Tuesday, Oct. 2; in Peterborough NH on Friday, Oct. 5; and at the Blackstone River Theater in RI on Saturday, Oct. 6th.

NEW CD

The NEME debut CD, “Sip a Little New” is out, and is very cool! It mixes jazz, classical and world music with original tunes and arrangements by all of us. Everyone I’ve played it for has given it 2 thumbs up. My “East of Here” is on the CD, arranged for the quartet by our mandocellist, Mitch, and I arranged Joel’s “Ginga do Mane” for the group. August Watters, our fearless leader has got the CD for sale online.

AND ALSO

October 5th & 6th my daughter Brinsley’s dance company, “Three Dances” will be in town to perform for RI composer Steve Jobe’s “Music For Three Hurdy-Gurdies”. More info @ pictures here. It should be amazing!

The next issue of “MARILYNN ON MANDOLIN” will be out in November.

It’s a beautiful fall day here in New England. Hope all is well w/ you and yours and your mandolin, and that your music is looking sunny as well.
beijos,
mm

Posted October 18th, 2007. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.
  • “Smudging the lines between folk and classical is an intrepid endeavor… Mair’s a superb mandolin player who has brought the instrument to unexpected places…”

    – Jim Macnie, The Providence Phoenix (USA)

    Bring a talented ensemble of gifted musicians together playing some of the great concertos and chamber music pieces of the 1700s, present the extraordinary classical mandolinist Marilynn Mair front and center, and you have a rare combination of the right musicians performing the right music at the right time.

    – David McCarty, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    “Marilynn Mair has always had the keen ability to balance classical mandolin traditions and repertoire, while constantly breaking new musical ground…a superb and versatile mandolinist and composer.”

    – – Butch Baldassari, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    “Marilynn Mair performs Brazilian mandolin music… she plays the mandolin as an instrument for all occasions.”
    – Vaughn Watson, The Providence Journal (USA)

    “A sparkling concert… absolutely brilliant!”

    – Guitar Magazine (England)

    “Mair is unstoppable… capable of evoking any landscape, past or present, you’d care to conjure.”

    – Mike Caito, Providence Phoenix (USA)

    “The final repeat of the melody transmitted a strong feeling of peace and tenderness that escaped no one in the audience. It is this sensitivity and subtleness that characterized the overall performance.”

    – Brian Hodel, Guitar Review (USA)

    “A lovely concert! We estimate your spell-bound and enthusiastic audience at close to 1800 people…”

    – Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors (USA)

    Marilynn Mair on mandolin…touches the deepest and most engaging reaches of the ancient and passionate ‘Latin soul’.

    – Carlos Agudelo, Billboard Magazine

    “Mair displays an exceptionally gifted approach to this music, using her formidable mandolin technique with grace and sensitivity… It’s the next best thing to a trip to Rio.”

    – David McCarty, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    “Stepping back to the 18th-century masterworks gave her the opportunity to highlight her technique with a fresh light… her playing is thoughtful, vibrant and a delight to listen to.”

    — Terence Pender, Mandolin Quarterly (USA)

    “Marilynn Mair acquits herself very well indeed, a most accomplished player, able to deal with the many intricacies the repertoire demands of her.”

    – Chris Kilvington, Classical Guitar (England)

    “A brilliant concert from beginning to end…The performance was extraordinary.”
    – La Rioja (Spain)

    “Marilynn Mair lives up to her reputation as an excellent mandolinist, with clear tone, a beautiful tremolo, and creative expressiveness.”

    – Zupfmusik Magazin (Germany)

    “Marilynn Mair é uma bandolinista americana de formação erudita”

    — Paulo Eduardo Neves, Agenda do Samba Choro (Brasil)

    “Mair travels by mandolin to Brazil and brilliance… her commitment to the music shines through.”

    – Rick Massimo, The Providence Journal

    “She’s a fabulous player with a wonderfully clear and lyrical sound.”

    – The Ottawa Citizen (Canada)