Darol Anger released an all-fiddle recording on Compass Records July 22, 1999, featuring septets, trios, and duets with the likes of Vassar Clements, Natalie MacMaster, Martin Hayes, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, John Hartford, Bruce Molsky, Matt Glaser, Richard Greene, Alisdair Fraser, and others.
Entitled Diary Of A Fiddler, it samples some of the most exciting moments from a 3 year period – late 1996 to early 1999 – in the musical life of Darol Anger. Produced and conceived by Anger, most of the performances on this recording are fiddle duets. There are also two trios with cello, and one rather historic septet: The Nashville Lumberyard, an unprecedented gathering of seven of the most influential fiddlers playing at the end of this century; a three generation span encompassing a sizable chunk of the history of the American String Band.
Dr. Billy Taylor called Darol Anger "The quintessential improvising violinist". Anger's unique talents qualify him supremely to go one-on-one with some of the most prominent and innovative fiddlers of our time. Anger makes brilliant use of his ingenious self-invented techniques of accompaniment, which he developed with his groups: the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Montreux Band and Psychograss with Mike Marshall, and the original David Grisman Quintet. Each piece is uncannily tailored to the talent and style of the particular fiddler. A startling panoply of instrumental techniques and textures make it easy to forget that most of the time one is listening to only two players! This fountain of tonal and rhythmic invention remind us that for long periods in history, one fiddle, alone, would spark an entire room full of dancers, night after night.
Anger's uncanny musical sympathy makes each piece a mini-symphony, spiced with unexpected repertoire choices which highlight his partners' technical and emotional strengths. The structure range from tightly voiced song forms to mercurial fantasias which range far from the theme and back, from jazz grooves to driving breakdowns to ethereal and piquant textures worthy of a Debussy or Gorecki.
Diary Of A Fiddler, taken as a whole, is a deep and unforgettable manifesto on the range and breadth of fiddling today. And as Anger says, "I wish I had the space to include some of my other favorite fiddlers who didn't make it on this recording. There are at least ten, and those are just the ones I know about. I can't help thinking about volume two". The project had its inspiration in the jam sessions and performances at Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Camp in Tennesee, Alisdair Fraser's fiddle camp in northern California, Matt Glaser's String Fling at Berklee College in Boston. and Jay Unger's Ashokan. These fiddle camps are a relatively recent phemomenon which surpasses even the Internet in promoting communication and musical development among fiddlers and other musicians.
For more information, please contact Shari Lacy at Compass Records, 800-757-2277.
Liner notes
Darol Anger has transformed the world of the violin during the last 20 years, armed with his extraordinary creativity, amazing chops, and above all, his benevolent spirit. I have to warn you, I'm not an objective observer in these matters, and in the interests of full disclosure, I must say that I'm madly in love with Darol , and always have been- in the highest Platonic sense, of course. I think it's safe to say that Darol has made more substantive contributions to the rhythmic world of the violin than anyone since the revolutionary Stuff Smith. Furthermore, Darol sees all music, and specifically American music as an "open sky", to quote Pharoah Sanders. On this beautiful album you can hear Darol have wonderful conversations with a variety of the world's greatest fiddler/violinists (as well as a couple of schmegeggies. ) You can see that for Darol all of this music is connected — it's all living, breathing, creative, alive, and dancing. Welcome to Darol's wonderful world of the fiddle — dig it, 'cause you'll never be the same. Matt Glaser
- Melt The Teakettle (D. Anger) Natalie MacMaster & Darol Anger (BV)
- Banish Misfortune (trad., arr: Anger) Martin Hayes & Darol Anger (BV)
- Lee Highway Blues Stuart Duncan and Darol Anger (BV)
- Voodoo Chile (Jimi Hendrix, arr: Anger) Bruce Molsky & Darol Anger (BV)
- A Little Help From My Friends (Lennon/McCartney, arr: Anger) Martin Hayes & Darol Anger
- John Henry (trad., arr: Anger) The Nashville Lumberyard (Darol Anger (BV), Vassar Clements, Sam Bush, Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan, John Hartford, Matt Glaser)
- Moonlight Waltz (Bill Monroe) Stuart Duncan and Darol Anger (BV and 2nd fiddle)
- Aran Boat Song Alasdair Fraser & Darol Anger
- Thelonius Monk Medley: Halloween/Bemsha Swing (Thelonius Monk) Darol Anger (BV), Richard Greene and Buell Neidlinger (cello)
- Working On A Building Medley (trad.arr:Anger/Glaser) Improvised onstage at Humboldt State University, California with Matt Glaser
- Willow Garden Fantasy (trad.arr:Anger/Greene/Kott) Darol Anger, Richard Greene and Michael Kott (cello)
- Tone Guys' Boogie (Anger-Clements) Vassar Clements & Darol Anger (BV)
- Carroll County Suite: 1. Blues (trad., arr. Anger/Duncan) 2. Where'd You Say You From? (Anger/Duncan) 3. Git Up (trad., arr. Anger/Duncan) Stuart Duncan and Darol Anger (BV)
- Medley: Celtic Groove (trad., arr: Anger/Dreissen/Kassel) Improvised onstage at the New American Music Foundation Main Theatre, Lenox, Massachussetts, with Hanneke Kassel, Casey Dreissen, and Darol Anger (BV)
