Barry Mitterhoff

Based out of a small town in New Jersey, Barry Mitterhoff is a mandolinist who absolutely refuses to be pigeonholed into one style, despite the ease with which a writer in this sort of database can click on a key that says bluegrass. Of course, like just about every mandolinist around, Mitterhoff got into bluegrass music and has played his share of it. He became closely associated with banjoist Tony Trischka, who helped take that genre just about as far out as it has ever gone, thus forever associating Mitterhoff with the progressive bluegrass movement and even beyond that, the avant-garde bluegrass movement. He is most certainly being watched by "the bluegrass police," as described by his fellow mandolinist Jimmy Gaudreau, also not a player who liked to do things the way they are supposed to be done in bluegrass. Mitterhoff has become involved in several different styles that are firmly outside the bluegrass camp, working regularly with a klezmer group and through his good sight-reading abilities becoming drawn into both theater and film music. In the film You've Got Mail, it is also a case of "you've got Mitterhoff," as this is one of the Hollywood soundtracks he appears on. And despite whatever connections he has with progressive or avant-garde music of any persuasion, he is also a respected player in the old-time music field, having maintained a long-standing relationship with the wonderful Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens. Meanwhile, he is studying the choro music of Brazil.

Junior high and high school were where the young Mitterhoff began developing enthusiastic interests relating to music. The relationship with one of his closest playing associates, guitarist Danny Weiss, stretches all the way to 1963, and the two began playing music together when they were juniors in high school. By then, it was the late '60s and rock had taken over everything. Mitterhoff introduced his friend to bluegrass as Weiss was still in rock-out mode. As for the mandolin, it was put into Mitterhoff's hands for the first time by his aunt Sylvia Reuben, who played the instrument in the Workman's Circle Orchestra, a 15-piece mandolin group in Newark, NJ. She had taken up mandolin as a teenager. When she heard of her nephew's budding music interests, at that point mostly confined to the guitar like many a teen with rock in his head, she offered him the mandolin and he began to fool around on it. Coincidentally, a guitar teacher named Bob Appelbaum Mitterhoff had recently hooked up with turned out to also play the mandolin and banjo. It was this teacher who played Mitterhoff his first bluegrass mandolin records, and they had a strong effect on him. Weiss, Mitterhoff, and another friend began getting together to play folk, blues, and bluegrass. The friends were also drawn toward country blues and jug band music, and it wasn't until he went away to college that Mitterhoff joined his first out and out bluegrass band. Yet his open-minded attitude was beginning to be forged even then, and instead of narrowing his attention on the "yee-haw!" crowd, he also took in much musical input of a swinging nature from the fine jazz guitarist Ted Dunbar, who was on the music faculty at his college.

Skyline cut its first album in 1977. The band originally consisted of Mitterhoff, Trischka, Weiss plus bassist Larry Cohen (no relation to the low-budget filmmaker), and a female vocalist, first Dede Wyland and then later Rachel Kalem. The band toured and recorded intensely for almost 12 years, including European as well as American barn-storming. In 1989, the band officially called it quits, but in the late '90s, they began working again whenever appropriate, averaging about ten gigs a year. These two different levels of band commitment have had quite a contrasting effect on Mitterhoff's personal life. When the initial decade or more of almost constant touring and involvement with Skyline ended, the mandolinist began expanding his music career so that he might become known as a versatile mandolinist ready to deal with jobs in a wide variety of styles. That way, he felt he could stay put more often in the New Jersey/New York area without going broke. The idea has worked for the most part, the major drawback seeming to be the parking violations that even a relatively unburdened mandolinist unloading his car has to deal with in the Big Apple. Although the Skyline lifestyle wasn't missed, there was no desire to cut connections with the players. Weiss, Cohen, and Mitterhoff continued to play together, forming the group Silk City when they added violinist Marty Laster. This group has recorded several CDs and remains the main outlet for Mitterhoff as a bandleader.

Unlike their earlier, more intense Skyline experience, the Silk City band makes much less demand on the players' time, leaving room for a great deal of freelancing. If the opening description of Mitterhoff's versatility was impressive, bear in mind that was severely edited for purposes of coherency. In reality, this mandolinist has even more projects going on. In the '90s, Mitterhoff's bluegrass activity included touring the U.S. and Europe with the bluegrass singer, banjoist, and bandleader Lynn Morris, whose music is more on the traditional side. He also worked with a Nashville bluegrass singer named Chris Jones, as well as with the previously mentioned Hazel Dickens. He also maintains a relationship with the interesting Tex Logan, a Texas bluegrass musician who is also a theoretical mathematician. Mitterhoff has crossed paths several times with this character, even backing him up with the college bluegrass band the first time it ever got on-stage. In the late '70s, Mitterhoff sometimes worked in a band Logan put together with guitarist and singer Peter Rowan. When Logan relocated to New Jersey a decade later, it was only natural that Mitterhoff resumed a relationship with him. Recording documentation of this collaboration is not so easy to find, consisting solely of an obscure record made and released in England.

Then there is the so-called "New York thing," in other words, professional work in whatever settings an experienced player is able to get his foot in the door of. This includes off-Broadway plays, jingles, and films. On Broadway itself, Mitterhoff was a sub on +Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Accordion player Dominic Cortese became a valued associate in the film world. A man who has worked on so many soundtracks that he can't even remember what half of them were, Cortese recommended Mitterhoff to the producers of the gangster comedy Mickey Blue Eyes and other big budget projects have followed. Mandolin picking done for the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack wound up on the cutting room floor, unfortunately.

Another great influence and presence on the New York music scene is Italian music, not exactly the style a typical bluegrass picker decides to get involved in. Picking on some tomato sauce commercials actually merged the mandolinist's activities as a session player with his interest in Italian mandolin music, but his playing in this genre is by no means limited to hawking pasta seasonings. He has worked with the group Friti e Latzi, led by Emilise Allesandri, and performing music selected from the early 20th century Italian vaudeville circuit. He also performed on a CD by Neapolitan singer Mary Mancini. These projects by no means represent the end of Mitterhoff's involvement with ethnic music. He has played in a Phillipine mandolin orchestra, done some Brazilian concerts with David Rumpler, and joined the West End Klezmorium, with which he played for six years. And in a move that no doubt greatly pleases his aunt, he has played off and on with the New York Mandolin Symphonette. He also performs with a chamber music group named the Abaca String Band. This group might not play frequently, but the gigs they do are high profile, including a performance at the White House, Alice Tully Hall, andMetropolitan Museum of Art.

In the late '90s, Mitterhoff recorded the Mandolin X 4 project with upcoming mandolinist Todd Collins. Silk City released a new CD in 2000, entitled Time. Along with his performing and recording activities, he also is active as a mandolin teacher and is usually involved with writing arrangements and compositions for ensembles he plays in, this work involving a predictably wide range of material in many genres. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

Q1

Q - I caught your show with Jorma at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa a few weeks back and enjoyed the two of you very much. You both seemed to play off each other quite well in spite of Jorma's bout of the flu. Tell us, how did you get the gig and how much rehearsal went into the preparation before taking it out on the road? I am aware of Sam Bush's contribution to Jorma's latest album. Did you try to emulate any of Sam's material from the album at least as a point of departure early in the preparation process?

PS - what's up with the New York Mandolin Orchestra these days?

A - Thanks for the nice comments about the Tampa show. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about doing those shows completely instrumentally(Atlanta, the night befor was also a non-singing show). After all, approx 4/5 of Jorma's music is vocal music and he's a great singer and lyricist. My approach at those shows was, in order to give the songs some structure, to play the vocal melody whenever there was supposed to be singing going on befor breaking into our solos. It was challenging trying to keep the two sections distinct from each other. Jorma and I agreed that the mandolin is a great melody instrument and can really sing.

I was really lucky to get the job w/Jorma. I was teaching at a bluegrass camp in England-The Sore Fingers Summer School almost exactly one year ago. I was having lunch with the Dobro instructor, Sally Van Meter who mentioned to me that she was going to be doing some playing with Jorma that summer and that he was looking for a mandolin player. I e-mailed him and told him who I was and who I had played with and the next thing I know he was asking me to do some dates w/him and Sally.

Jorma and his wife Vanessa Kaukonen flew Sally and me to their guitar camp, The Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio for two days of rehearsal and then we started playing two weeks later. There was really minimal rehearsal compared to other bands I 've worked with but since June, we've done over 60 dates and that's really the best way to learn new material. This past January, RCA re-released one of Jorma's first solo albums, "Quah" and we spent some time working up some of his great originals from that album.

As far as Sam Bush is concerned, what can I say? He is my idol. I think he is as important to my generation of mandolinists as Bill Monroe was to his. I've been inspired by his playing since the first time I heard the New Grass Revival in 1972 at the Berryville, Va Bluegrass Festival. His energy and positive persona are almost equal to his musicianship. Sorry, I'm gushing. When Jorma sent me a pre-release copy of 'Blue Country Heart', his CD with Sam, Jerry Douglas, Byron House and Bela Fleck, I wondered how much Jorma wanted to recreate the sound, breaks et al, in our live shows. He told me befor the first rehearsal that we should play it our own way and not worry about keeping everything the same. As a matter of fact he said that even the 'boys' and Jorma himself had a hard time remembering all the arrangements as they appeared on the CD. That being said, I have used some of Sam's licks (Thanks, Sam!) simply because they seemed so perfect in feeling and style that I just wanted to cop his sound. Just a quick word about the 'Blue Country Heart' CD. It was recorded live with no overdubs. Not only did this make for a great old-time feel and groove on the tunes but I think if also affords us a different look at these great players. There might be fewer hot licks than we might expect from that line-up but the playing is in the pocket and totally appropriate in creating a groove and a band sound. Check it out.

Q2

Q - I had the pleasure of seeing you play for the first time this year at Wintergrass, in Tacoma, WA. I'm from the SF Bay area, do you get to the Bay Area ever? I don't recall you playing recently in the mando centric Bay Area. In watching you play as part of Hazel Dickens band, I noticed how easy you make it look, you have evolved a style of control and the least movement required to make the instrument sing. I'm hoping to see you with Jarma Kaukonen here in the Bay Area some day. Have you enjoyed playing the acoustic blues with Jarma, he is a local legend here in the SF Bay Area, from his playing in both Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.

A - Let me start by saying what an honor it is for me to be the 'guest of the week'.

I have had the chance to play in SF a few times in the last few years. Hazel Dickens played at the Bluegrass First Class Festival in 2000-2001 in Golden Gate Park. I believe we'll be playing again in October 2003. This past summer it broke my heart to have to pass on playing Petaluma, SF (the Fillmore!) Santa Cruz with Jorma Kaukonen Blue Country. (my sub, on mandolin, was G.E. Smith) At this moment, Jorma has no scheduled gigs with this band in the Bay area.

As far as making it look easy and playing with control, I have to say it goes show by show. In general, I try to to psyche myself into a relaxed state when I play. That's not alway easy. At the Wintergrass show you mentioned, it seemed like the stars were in line. The sound on stage was good and the band felt comfortable. Playing with Hazel Dickens is a real treat. I've played wtih her off and on for over 25 years so I feel like I really know her material. She is a great songwriter, always has really strong players in her band and she plays straight ahead traditional bluegrass. I take my role as a sideman very seriously in that I try to match the style of the artist with my mandolin playing. I've played alot of progressive acoustic music over the years with Bottle Hill, Peter Rowan Tex Logan, Tony Trischka Skyline and Silk City, so it's really fun and a challenge when I get to play it straight.

Having said that, there are some trickier sides to the freelance sideman role. First off, the Hazel Dickens group only plays periodically so its never like stepping on stage with a band that plays together 2 or 3 nights a week every week of the year. As I alluded to before. I try to play in a traditional style and minimize the hotlick factor. Its easy to cross the good taste line when playing real traditonal music.I know, I've done it.

The second part of your question concerned playing with Jorma Kaukonen. I've been playing in his group since last June. It's a truly great experience. We've been playing mostly songs from Jorma's 'Blue Country Heart' album. That music is country blues so it came fairly naturally for me, playing songs like 'Big River Blues' and 'Just Because'. We also have worked up a number of songs from Hot Tuna and even 2 from the Jefferson Airplane. Those were a little more of a stretch for me but we do them in a folky/traditional style. Two of the most important elements of Jorma's music are the blues and improvising(jamming). Of course I've played the blues from Bill Monroe's tunes to Charlie Parker's over the years so I was familiar with the concept but it's been an enjoyable challenge playing tunes like Uncle Sam's Blues and How Long Blues every night on tour. I have to say that Jorma is a great musical partner. He loves to play, he totally encourages the people in the band and gives us lots of space to play. Getting into the 'Blues' as opposed to getting the blues is something every player should do.

Q3

Q - Barry, I bought your "Silk City" CD a couple of months ago and it has become one of my all-time favorite CDs. I have just about worn it out. Tell us how that CD came about and who plays on it with you. The Wizard of Oz medley is great. Who are the two male voices? Great singers.

A - I recorded Silk City in the last year we toured as Tony Trischka & Skyline. We recorded 3 albums for Bruce Kaplan & Flying Fish Records (Late to Work, Stranded in the Moonlight & Skyline Drive) and recorded what was to become our last (Fire of Grace) simultaneously with my mandolin album, Silk City. We began recording my album in February, 1988 and it came out around September 1 of that year. At the time, Skyline was doing around 120-150 dates a year and Bruce Kaplan gave me the go-ahead to record. The idea behind the project was to show that the mandolin could do it all: traditional bluegrass, original progressive bluegrass, swing, classical music, ethnic music etc. We recorded it in Hoboken, NJ and the album was named for another great old city in NJ that had seen better days. Paterson was known as the 'Silk City' because of the silk mills there dating back to the late 18th century. My wife, Stephanie, and I lived in a renovated mill that was built around 1805 and I was inspired by the city's multi-ethnic past and present. The album's sense of tradition and innovation was informed by the city and the other musicians, artists and dancers we met in our designated artist housing. Unfortunately, when the LP (remember those) was turned into a CD we lost a beautiful graphic of the mills done by illustrator, Sue Trusdell.

Playing on the album are Tony Trischka, Larry Cohen(my co-producer), Danny Weiss, Matt Glaser, Marty Cutler, Joe Selly, Stuart Duncan, Kenny Kosek, Mark Hembree, Evan Stover and many others. It was a real production.

The Wizard of Oz medley has proved to be the most popular piece on the album and when I play live today. Like many baby boomers, I was a big fan of the movie and especially the score by 'Yip' Harburg & Harold Arlen. We put the piece together when Danny Weiss & Larry Cohen and I would do extra-curricular gigs during Skyline's existence. It was modeled after an old-fashioned, 'and-then-I-wrote' cabaret-style medley playing the songs from the film. The second piece in the medley is a version of the instrumental cue written to accompany Margaret Dumont either as Miss Gulch or the Wicked Witch. Larry Cohen was invaluable in helping to arrange this piece for mandolin, guitar & bass for our live shows. When we got into the studio, Larry re-orchestrated the medley, adding a 2nd guitar, piano, clarinet, trumpet, violin and recorder. Those non-folk instruments really helped create the old-time movie vibe. The medley ends with a vocal version of 'If I Only Had a Brain/Heart/Nerve'. In concert I sing the scarecrow, Danny Weiss the tin woodsman & Larry the cowardly lion. On the album, my part is sung by the amazing singer, John Gorka and the part of Dorothy is sung by Rachel Kalem, a member of Skyline for our last year and 4th album. We even did the Chipmunks thing by recording the Munchkins at slow speed, overdubbing many times and then speeding it up to get the same effect they got in the film. It was a lot of fun in the studio.

Q4

Q - Could you tell us a bit about your mandolin? I understand it is set up in a non-standard fashion.

Tell us the history of that great 40's Gibson F5 you have used for so long. Do you know any history of when and how you got it or from whom the original owner was. Yours is joined at the body at a different fret so tell us about that oddity. Also what kind of strings and picks you are using these days. Do you have any other mandolins you use?

A - I play a 40's Gibson F-5. Unfortunately, I know nothing about the life of this great instrument befor I got it. I do remember that I bought it from Henry Heckler in 1979. I believe Henry was a transplanted New Yorker who was living in Buchannon, VA near Roanoke. I ran into him at bluegrass festivals in the '70's in Virginia and North Carolina. If my memory serves me well, he offered the F-5 to me years before I bought it at a lower price but in retrospect the money I paid seems insignificant compared to today's prices and considering how much I've played it in nearly 24 years.

When I received the mandolin, it was in mint condition and I took it to a friend, Arthur Rose to help me set it up. That was when I realized that the neck was attached to the body at the 16th fret instead of the 15th. It meant that for the intonation to be right I had to place the bridge closer to the fingerboard than the standard placement which is at the mid-point of the f-holes. It took a little getting used to but since then I've seen a few other F-5's from this period where the neck was attached at odd places. In Tom's listing of F-5's, mine is always one of the last. It just barely made it's pre-war classification.

I use GHS strings, either PF 250's or PF 270's and when I play my F-5 I use the oval shaped black Gibson heavy picks. I usually use the rounded edge as opposed to the point. On the rare occasion that I play instruments with lower action(my roundback, tenor banjo or tenor guitar) I use a lighter pick so I don't overplay.

Q5

Q - I remember seeing you and admiring your playing back in the '80s with Skyline and wonder if you have some stories to tell from those days. That had to be an interesting group to work with.

A - I'm glad you got to see Skyline. In addition to being a fun band and some of my closest friends in the world, Skyline is the group that established my approach to playing music. We really put in time trying to come up with an orchestrated and arranged style that has stuck with me.. The band was uncompromising in many ways and I guess you could say . we were ahead of our time. Due to Tony Trischka's influence, we did quite a bit of original music, Tony being one of the most prolific tunewriters I ever played music with. Combining his originality and seat of the pants high energy playing with Larry Cohen's arranging skills and background in classical, rock and jazz, the band was always pushing the envelope with our approach and arrangements. It was also a luxury having two lead singers in Danny Weiss, Dede Wyland or Rachel Kalem. It was hot picking with adventurous arrangements yet great singing with lyrical content always at the top of our concerns. I sound like a publicist.

As far as war stories, I'm afraid that might have to wait until we can sit down with the appropriate refreshment and let the tales start to flow. Suffice to say, we played all over Europe, Japan, Czechoslovakia and about 25 states in this country and had amazing times together, good and bad over about an 8 1/2 year period. With our fellow bands on the circuit, Newgrass Revival, Hot Rize, Trapezoid and others we made lasting friendships, some recordings and almost made a living.

Q6

Q - Any specific jazz or western swing method books that you can reccommend? 2) When you accompany somebody, Jorma for example, what is your method for coming up with ideas? For example do you try and translate previously recorded guitar or bass lines to mando? Do you learn the melody and try and weave that into standard mando techniques like double-stops, tremelo etc. Any other back-up techniques that you can share?

A - As far as jazz books, I worked out of some books by my jazz teacher at Rutgers, Ted Dunbar. He really had a great approach to learning and hearing chords. Unfortunately, he published the books himself and has since passed away so I'm sure how available the books are or where to find them.

For Western Swing or Texas Fiddling, I like Stacey Philips fiddle books, Western Swing Fiddle, Contest Fiddling and the Mark O'Connor Transcriptions from Weiser.Pete Martin has put out a book of Texas Fiddling for Mandolin and Tiny Moore put out a book of transcribed solos with some good western swing tunes.

You could also find books of the guys who influenced the Western Swing players i.e. Django Reinhardt or a book of Charlie Christian solos transcribed by Dan Fox.

Q7

Q - In my earlier question where I mentioned seeing you at Wintergrass with Hazel Dickens, you answered how it was nice to play very traditional as well as playing the more progressive acoustic music you've played with Bottle Hill, Peter Rowan; Tex Logan, Tony Trischka; Skyline and Silk City. What recordings are you on that you are most proud of? Are there any projects "in the can" or that you have coming up that we should be watching for. You know at Wintergrass I was hoping you might end up jamming with the DGQ, I would have liked the opportunity to see you stretch out a bit more than you could in Hazel's band. Every lick you played with her sounded so appropriate to the music, but I'm looking forward to hearing you live some day in a more progressive format.

A - I guess the recordings of mine that I like the most are my solo CD 'Silk City' and 'Ticket Back'-the Skyline retrospective, both on Flying Fish. Also my most recent band CD is more in the progressive acoustic style. We now call our trio, Silk City(named after my mando album-is this confusing enough?) We have a relatively new CD on Sliced Bread Records, a label out of Philadelphia. Our CD with them is entitled 'Time' and it has 4 mandolin tunes on it: a latin piece, an original, and two arrangements of classical pieces. There is also an obscure CD called Mandolin X 4 put out by Norman Levine and Plucked String Recordings. On there I recorded a choro, a Russian/Jewish march, a fiddletune and another latin piece called 'Velverde'. The other mandolin players are Terry Pender(mandolin & voice), Neil Gladd(classical) and the great Charlie Rappaport(Eastern European). There is also an out-of-print, cassette-only recording of an old group of mine, Calle/Strada/Strasse which had mandolin, English concertina & cello. That came out on Global Village Music and they might have a few more copies, I know I don't have any.

I love playing with David, I've only done it a few times but it's always fun and challenging. this Summer I did a bunch of shows called Jamgrass and I got to sit in w/Sam Bush and his great band. That was a thrilling yet daunting experience.

As far as stretching out, I guess I stretch the most with Jorma and Silk City.

Q8

Q - Barry, Tell us about that group you were with before Skyline? You did a recording with them and cut El Cumbanchero on it. I was always impressed with that northern group of pickers. Who were they and where are they now?

A - The band you asked about was Bottle Hill. I played mandolin with them from 1971-1977(yikes!) At first it was called the Bottle Hill Boys but as we discovered our progressive bluegrass mission we dropped the 'Boys'. We recorded 2 albums on the Biograph label and toured quite a bit in the Northeast. It was back in the days when bands could get a fair amount of work on college campuses and we did quite a few. Some of the musicians that passed through the band were Lew London(gtr & bjo), Walt Michael(gtr & ham dul), Rex Hunt(dobro), Harry Orlove(gtr & bjo), Bill(bjo, gtr).

I feel that the band was a little ahead of its time. We played a Charlie Parker tune, a piece with 2 mandolins and mandola, we messed around with some classical pieces, there's an excerpt from a Beethoven mandolin piece on our 2nd record.

We ventured out of our home territory for some Carlton Haney festivals and trips to North Carolina & Colorado. When I joined the the band I was playing a Gibson A-1 that my Dad bought for me for $50. I switched to a 3-point F-2 by the time we made our first recording but found my 1920 F-2 in Rochester, NY at Eldon Stutzman's in September, 1972. I played that one for seven years and I still have it.

Q9

A - In addition to the usual sources of inspiration i.e. Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, Andy Statman, Jacob do Bandolim and many more, I 've been vey fortunate to work with or play in bands with some of the most inspiring people.

The first night I ever played an entire evening of bluegrass music was with Tex Logan and Bottle Hill. Tex has had a profound impact on my music; his sense of the blues, mixing the traditional with the original, his love of fast tempi, jazz, old-time, swing. He had a real apreciation for scary lonesome sounds on fiddle. I loved playing music w/him.

Bottle Hill had a revolving cast but I can say I learned alot from many of the guys and gal: Lew London, Walt Michael, David Jaffe, Joe Selly and the others. I tell students to try to get in playing situations with people better than you and that's always worked for me. I've learned so much from my Skyline buddies, Jorma Kaukonen, Hazel Dickens and even in the short tours of duty w/The Lynn Morris Band & Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. I've really been lucky.

I teach quite a bit and it's easy to get caught up with the less magical, more technical aspects of music making. I love it when my students pick up on the feeling and emotion of the music in addition to the technical stuff. You can't teach feeling.

When I get the chance to listen to music, my palette is varied. I'm likely to listen to classic bluegrass (Monroe, F&S) and I really love listenting to classical music. Brazilian & Italian music also gets a lot of airtime in my music room/office.

One of my favorite jobs and one of the hardest was playing mandolin in the orchestra pit of the Metropolitan Opera. I was asked to be one of two mandolinists in the pit for 'Moses & Aron' by Arnold Shoenberg. The music was in the 12-tone style and really challenging. the orchestra sounded like a recording the first time they tried a section but I didn't. James Levine was an intimidating figure but very warm as well, constantly complimenting the orchestra and rarely raising his voice. Sitting in the midst of the harps and percussion was very exciting and being part of an opera was truly rewarding. I heard that they're performing again in the 2003-2004 season. I hope I get the call.

I was with the NY Mandolin Orchestra in one version or another for about 20 years. I was the concertmaster for some of that time. They are definitely still together and they meet at a school on the lower east side of Manhattan. I believe they still play the same mix of classical and folk music with a little less pops than some other groups. I have had to pull back on some of my activities due to family responsibilities and work but I played I a double concerto with Marilyn Mair and the NYMO a few years back. I'm sure you can find them through their web-site or from Norman Levine & Plucked String. When I joined in 1976, not many of the bluegrass crowd or the younger generation of players (I was almost young then) were going the mandolin orchestra route. It truly great to see how much its grown with orchestras popping up around the country. I hope to return one day.

Q10

A - I also love playing klezmer music. I first started playing some tunes from the Kammen books in the late seventies with my street trio, Calle/Strada/Strasse made up of mandolin, cello & English Conertina. I got to see a couple of the Dave Tarras shows that ushered in the klezmer revival.

For a number of years I played w/Harold Seletsky & the West End Klezmorim. We have one CD on Global Village but I played more tenor banjo than mandolin with them. I met Margot through the klezmer scene beforE she got bitten by the bluegrass bug. Now she has learned about 20-30 Bill Monroe, fiddle and oldtime tunes on the clarinet and the Klezmer Mountain Boys play just what the name implies but we're not all boys. Now we have Marty Confurious, Kenny Kosek and Joe Selly in addition to Margot and me. We have a CD coming out this summer on Tradtional Crossroads.

I love playing Jewish music. I taught at Klez Kamp this past year and was amazed by how far the music is reaching and all the different influences playing a part(even bluegrass). I don't claim to be an authority on klezmer but my main inspiration has been the playing of Andy Statman. You should also check out Jeff Warschauer and Charlie Rappaport.