Diary of a Fiddler

Diary of a Fiddler

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Following on the heels of Jam, his exciting and impulsive jazz-heavy collaboration with Mike Marshall, the veteran new-acoustic fiddler releases this diverse and always compelling compilation. Culled from three years' worth of unreleased material, Diary showcases a wide range of viol-family-only settings--everywhere from Anger's Oakland studio to the National Music Foundation theater of Lenox, Massachusetts, to "Cabin 48" in Tennessee's Montgomery Bell State Park--and sidemen--everyone from bluegrass standouts to Scottish and Irish legends to old-time specialists to unclassifiables like himself. The song selection is equally as eclectic: traditional fiddle tunes; covers of Monk, Hendrix, and the Beatles; spontaneous improvisations. This amalgam of styles, sounds, and moods, with its tinges of Celtic, Cajun, country, classical, jazz, and blues, gives more insight into Darol Anger's musical universe than any bio ever could. --Marc Greilsamer

Tracks:

Melt The Teakettle
Lee Highway Blues
Les Barres De La Prison
Banish Misfortune
John Henry
A Little Help From My Friends
Voodoo Chile
Bemsha Swing
Tone Guys' Boogie
Aran Boat Song
Working On A Building Medley
Willow Garden Fantasy
Carroll County Suite: Where'd You Say You From?
Carroll County Suite: Blues
Celtic Blues

Amazon.com

Following on the heels of Jam, his exciting and impulsive jazz-heavy collaboration with Mike Marshall, the veteran new-acoustic fiddler releases this diverse and always compelling compilation. Culled from three years' worth of unreleased material, Diary showcases a wide range of viol-family-only settings--everywhere from Anger's Oakland studio to the National Music Foundation theater of Lenox, Massachusetts, to "Cabin 48" in Tennessee's Montgomery Bell State Park--and sidemen--everyone from bluegrass standouts to Scottish and Irish legends to old-time specialists to unclassifiables like himself. The song selection is equally as eclectic: traditional fiddle tunes; covers of Monk, Hendrix, and the Beatles; spontaneous improvisations. This amalgam of styles, sounds, and moods, with its tinges of Celtic, Cajun, country, classical, jazz, and blues, gives more insight into Darol Anger's musical universe than any bio ever could. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

Don't be mislead...........2004-05-05

...by the fact that I rated this album four stars rather than five. Knowing Darol, and how he's always striving to do better, he'll come out with something far more fabulous than this. In which case, it'll have to be dubbed Album of the Universe. Because, Diary of a Fiddler is definitely Album of the Fiddle World.
You just can't go wrong with this CD. It covers old (John Henry) made new, worn out (Banish Misfortune) revived, and even a Beatles song, tottering on the edge of trite (With a Little Help From My Friends) repackaged with such depth and emotion, I think he struck oil while playing it.
Good stuff, Darol, and the rest of your fiddlers, everyone of them--way cool. Thanks! Merci!

From Monk to Hendrix to Ireland.......2000-04-29

On this cd Darol Anger presents musics from such a wide range of styles that the album as a whole easily could have come across as choppy and disjointed but that isn't the case. I think it has to do with the caliber of the musicians involved. Even though there is music from Thelonious Monk, traditional American and Celtic styles, and the Beatles, all the players have such strong personal statements to make that the tunes become a product of the musicians personalities rather than just "a jazz tune" followed by "a Celtic tune" followed by a "a rock tune", etc...

Maybe the name has influenced me but every time I listen to LES BARRES DE LA PRISON I picture two Mississippi prison inmates taking a break from sun-baked hard labor and leaning against fence posts while playing this tune. No, I don't know why prison inmates would have fiddles but that's okay because I also know they couldn't play this well even if they did.

Throughout this cd Darol plays great rhythmic support to the lead fiddlists from the various tracks, his "rhythm fiddle" playing makes the solo's from the likes of Natalie MacMaster, Vassar Clements, and Stuart Duncan all the more interesting. Don't worry though, Darol also finds time to get his own leads in as well.

ARAN BOAT SONG has one of the prettiest melodies I've ever heard, this is definitely a song that could be the soundtrack to your melancholy dreams.

The Most Modern Record I've Heard So Far.......1999-08-26

I took a shot at this record, buying it at Down Home Records in El Cerrito, Ca. I don't know where else anyone would find it, but then I may underestimate the huge fan base of Mr. Anger, whom I'd never previously encountered. Anyway...it's great. It's enlightening. I've always thought the line between bluegrass and jazz was primarily cultural conditioning, and this record makes that case. Of the more noteworthy covers, the Hendrix "Voodoo Chile" shows that, in retrospect, a lot of the great rock guitarists were really fiddlers, using overtones and crashing chords to build the fist-pumping effects that thrilled us babyboomers. But what really thrills me are the seeming improvs, such as the first cut, where a kind of moody bluegrass line morphs into an almost unstructured jazz duet. Bluegrass fans should give this a chance, but so should jazz violin fans, and fans of pathbreakers like Moby. This is the most modern record I've ever heard. Bring on Y2K!

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