David Grisman has succeeded where others have failed... He has "liberated"the mandolin. Considered a negligible instrument, the mandolin was used exclusively to accompany folklore. During the last 12 years, David Grisman has introduced the public to all the tonal variations of this amazing string instrument.
Born in Hackensack, New- Jersey, David Grisman started playing the mandolin at 16. His eclectic Caste in music is evident in the evolution of his career. He plays Eric Dolphy, Edgar Varese, Doc Watson, Duke Ellington and Buddy Holly with equal verve. Jazz, classical, swing, gypsy are just some of the styles you will hear on July 8.
After short periods of cooperation (usually to make a record) with James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and others, David Grisman formed his own group in 1976. A year tater, he cut his first album for a small company, Kaleidoscope. Ifs success brought him an of fer for the soundtrack of the film "King of the Gypsies" which he recorded with Stéphane Grappelli. There followed a series of Grisman-Grappelli performances and recordings "Hot Dawd" published by A &M Records in 1979 was acclaimed by all the critics and con firmed Grisman as one of the best of the bluegrass artists.
Dresses like Elliott Ness and the Untouchables, the members of the big band Widespread Jazz Orchestra perform their own arrangements of the hits of Basie, Ellington, Hines and Calloway. "Widespread" successfully recreates the dance-hall atmospere of the '30s and '40s. Several North American tours and four records gave established the Widespread Jazz Orchestra as one of the best in the realm of swing.