Mark O'Connor 30 Years playing up a storm

It was only a couple of weeks back that I mentioned Mark O'Connor's latest treat for those of us who have been fans for more years than we dare to recall. I knew it was going to be good. Mark O Connor has been in my record, tape and CD collection for a long time. Now I know that many of you out there will be asking; What's a record? Well kids, back when myself and Mark were younger they had these big round plastic CDs that we bought and squeezed into shelves and occasionally take out and listen to on old fashioned record players.

Myself and Mr O'Connor have a lot in common. He has been making great music for the last 30 years and I have been listening to him for almost the same amount of time. So what does someone like Mark do to celebrate all this time in the business? It's simple really. He gathers a couple of his pals who happen to also be the finest musicians there are, plays a few concerts recording an hour and a ½ of the best of his own repertoire for the last 30 years, then sends me a copy of the CD.

I am very glad I got it too. From the opening notes this is inspired and brilliant stuff. It is certainly a reminder of just how much and how many kinds of music Mark has made over the years. There are pieces here from when he was a 12 year old competitor in fiddle contests to his sublime Appalachian Waltz. There are swing pieces from his Hot Swing Trio projects and melancholy airs that make you wish for a cabin in the hills.

His co-conspirators on this recording are Bryan Sutton who, in my opinion is one of the finest guitarists to come out of this or any other country. Then on bass there is Byron House who I have seen with many bands including Sam Bush and Nickel Creek and who is a brilliant bass player and all round good guy. Finally there is Chris Thile who in the few short years he has been in the business has inspired more youngsters to pick up a mandolin than anyone else I know. Chris is of course a member of Nickel Creek but despite being still in his early twenties shows not just the technical skills but the musical maturity it takes to play on such an important album.

I am not going to go into this 2 CD set track by track as I would gush on and on about each of them and people already question why I always seem to like what I write about. Well this album is proof that my answer is valid. There is so much good stuff to write about that I find no point in tearing anyone down by writing about the stuff I don't like. There aren't enough hours in the day or pages in my site to bring you the stuff I love without wasting my time telling you about stuff I don't have any time for.

If you are fans of acoustic instrumental music played at its best then buy this album and prove me right.

You'll be glad you did

Related sites

Mark O Connor http://www.markoconnor.com

Bryan Sutton http://www.bryansutton.com

Nickel Creek http://www.nickelcreek.com