Transcendent
Music Movement Presents: Goat Rodeo Sessions
Once again, we have discovered musical
genius. Before I proceed, allow me to
briefly reintroduce this blog to ensure that this album review is put in
perspective. The Transcendent Music
Movement has set out to preserve and promote music that is transcendent through
this blog and other means. The music we
promote transcends any status quo, resists any sense of mediocrity, and
challenges your musical understanding.
With that said, the Transcendent Music Movement is pleased to present
Goat Rodeo Sessions.
Goat Rodeo
I am sure you are asking what in the
world is Goat Rodeo Sessions? It is the
title of the album that was collectively composed, performed and recorded by
four legendary musicians. This enigma of
an album title actually has a relevant and applicable meaning. First, session
most likely describes their meetings for composing and recording; but of more
interest, what is a goat rodeo? A goat
rodeo basically describes a situation that is so chaotic that it would require
some sort of miracle or unlikely coincidence to restore order. I formulated that definition from listening
to their description during their interview on their iTunes deluxe album.
In that interview the musicians, who I will introduce later, explain why
they consider their collaborative album to be a goat rodeo. Mandolin player
Chris Thile is quoted in the interview reading an Urban Dictionary definition, which says “a goat rodeo is about the
most polite term used by aviation people and others in higher risk situations
to describe a scenario that requires about 100 things to go right at once if
you intend to walk away from it”. Let’s
meet the band.
The Band
Yo-Yo Ma is a classically trained cellist who
is famous for being one of the best selling classical artists in the
world. He has performed for eight U.S.
presidents to include the 56th Presidential Inauguration, invited by
Barrack Obama. I could tell you more,
but I think you get it. He is an
incredible musician.
Stuart Duncan is a Country, American, and Bluegrass
fiddle player. Duncan is known to be
America’s favorite fiddler player as described on the Nashville bluegrass
Band’s website. Even if he is not
recognized by name his superior fiddle skills are gaining him increasing
personal notoriety. He also plays the mandolin and banjo on a few
tracks on the album.
Edger Myer is a recording artist for the Sony
Classical recording label along with Yo-Yo Ma.
He performs music of the classical, pop, country and folk
persuasion. Myer’s website outlines a
recent claim by San Diego Magazine that recognizes him as, “the best bassist
alive”.
Chris Thile is a spectacular mandolin player who
has been raved about since he was 12 when he released his first solo album and
was called a child prodigy. Just like
the rest of his band mates on Goat Rodeo Sessions, Thile has been the recipient
of many awards. Thile performs mostly
country and bluegrass with two award winning bands, Nickel Creek
and the Punch
Brothers.
Aoife
O'Donovan also joins the band to record vocals on two
selections. O'Donovan is a folk and bluegrass vocalist who is an up
and coming star. She sings with a band she started called Crooked Still.
They plan to release their first full length album in 2012. She
also performs with other artists and has a solo career as well.
Goat Rodeo Sessions
These
unique musical backgrounds alone, alludes to why they consider their work to be
a goat rodeo. This is a group of
artists, who were highly unlikely to share a stage and perform together as a
band. In almost any interview the
members of this unprecedented quartet rave on and on about the magical
experience they had creating music together.
They always seem to acknowledge their unorthodox mix of styles and
instruments, which explains clearly why they named their album Goat Rodeo
Sessions. Mandolinist Chris Thile is
quoted saying, “I think it's the kind of thing that
maybe classical music listeners will think is bluegrass and bluegrass listeners
will think it's classical. Hopefully it lands in the nebulous zone where it
can't really be named," in a 2011 Billboardbiz.com interview with Gary Graff. These
individuals, who are each spectacular in their own right, took the goat rodeo that was them creating an
album and ingeniously merged their unique individual talents to form a
marvelous creation.
The masterpiece that they created is
packed with scores of incredible complexities with melodies stemming from
bluegrass to classical - all the while avoiding any definitive
classification. There are even dollops
of folk, funk and pop interwoven meticulously throughout the album. This unimaginable fusion of musicians and
instruments produced one of the most unique and clever albums that I have ever
heard. These artists who are incredible
as individual musicians managed to successfully collaborate to create an entire
album that oozes excitement and epitomizes TRANSCENDENT MUSIC.
