The Mike Marshall Collection: Music for Mandolin, Fiddle, and Guitar

Is one of the most accomplished and versatile

acoustic musicians performing today, a master

of mandolin, guitar and violin whose playing is

as imaginative and adventurous as it is technically

thrilling. Able to swing gracefully from jazz to classical

to bluegrass to Latin styles, he puts his stamp

on everything he plays with an unusually potent

blend intellect, humor and emotion with a combination

of musical skill and versatility rare in the world

of American instrumentalists.

Now living in Oakland, California, Mike grew up in

Central Florida, where throughout his teens he

played and taught bluegrass mandolin, fiddle and

guitar. In 1979, at the age of 19, he was invited to

join the original David Grisman Quintet in the SF Bay

Area. That association quickly led to his recording

and touring with some of the top names in acoustic

music today including Tony Rice, Mark O’ Connor,

Stephane Grappelli, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer.

Mike has since played on hundreds of acoustic

music recordings both as a featured artist and sideman.

His 1982 CD, Gator Strut, is a classic example

of a new generation of bluegrass virtuoso instrumentalists

forging new directions in American instrumental

music.

Today Mike can be heard on the Car Talk soundtrack

recording every week on NPR along with Earl

Scruggs, David Grisman and Tony Rice. In addition

Mike composed and recorded the theme music for

the San Francisco based radio program Forum heard

daily on KQED radio.

One of his favorite CDs is a mandolin duet project

with Chris Thile from the group Nickel Creek, entitled

Into the Cauldron, on Sugar Hill records. This CD

was listed in the top ten of Amazon.com's favorite

recordings for 2003.

In 1983, Mike and violinist Darol Anger formed a

partnership and established the band Montreux with

pianist Barbara Higbie, bassist Michael Manring, and

steel-drum virtuoso Andy Narell. The group released

five recordings on the Windham Hill label and toured

extensively throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe

and Japan from 1984 to 1990.

In 1986, while still a member of Montreux, Mike

founded a classical quartet of mandolin family instruments

consisting of two mandolins, mandola and

mandocello. The Modern Mandolin Quartet released

four recordings for Windham Hill Records that redefined

the mandolin in a classical music setting. In

1995, the Quartet made its Carnegie Hall debut and,

in 1996, received a "Meet the Composer" grant from

the Lila Wallace Foundation.

Meanwhile, Mike had traveled to Brazil and began a

love affair with Brazilian choro music, a delightful

musical form that combines virtuosic instrumental

playing with rhythmically complex improvisations, not

unlike bluegrass or early swing music.

Mike embarked on an in-depth study of the style

that resulted in the CD, Brasil (Duets). This recording

showcases Mike at the top of his form as a

mandolinist and features many of his musical pals,

Andy Narell, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, bassist

Michael Manring, and keyboardist and flutist Jovino

Santos Neto.

Mike has continued to push the boundaries of

acoustic instrumental music. After tapping Fleck and

Meyer for the Brasil (Duets) project, he collaborated

with the two masters on a 1997 Sony Classical

release titled Uncommon Ritual. The album charted

on the Billboard Top Ten Classical Chart, where it

remained for more than three months, and the

ensemble opened the 1998 Chamber Music Series

at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Mike worked with

Meyer yet again on the 1999 Short Trip Home,

another Sony Classical recording with violin virtuoso

Joshua Bell and mandolin wizard Sam Bush.

Darol Anger also remains an important collaborator

for Mike. Together they have recorded under the

moniker “Psychograss” with guitarist David Grier,

banjo player Tony Trischka and bassist Todd Phillips.

In addition the two released several CDs on the

Compass Records label with their quartet as well as

a live duet CD entitled At Home and on the Range.

Mike has two holiday recordings to his credit: In

1998, he released Midnight Clear, a solo guitar

recording, and in 2000 he recorded A Christmas

Heritage with banjo player Alison Brown, Darol

Anger, mandolinist Tim O'Brien, Todd Phillips and

pianist-composer Phil Aaberg. That band, called New

Grange, also released an eponymous CD on

Compass Records.

As he does so engagingly in music, Mike also

applies his adventurous aesthetic to his two principal

hobbies: wine making and food. Already known as

one of the best cooks in the music business, he has

been trading guitar lessons for cooking lessons with

Cal Peternell, head chef at Berkeley's famed Chez

Panisse restaurant.

Back in the music realm, Mike released a second CD

with Chris Thile entitled Live Duets on Sugar Hill

Records, as well as a traditional Brazilian CD with

his group Choro Famoso and a CD with pianist

Jovino Santos Neto, entitled Serenata, featuring the

music of Hermeto Pascoal (Brazil's most important

musician/composer living today), on Mike’s own

label, Adventure Music.

Along the teaching front, Mike has created the

Mandolin Symposium along with fellow mandolinists

David Grisman and Chris Thile. The event is a weeklong

educational camp at the University California in

Santa Cruz where five of the greatest mandolinists

today teach over 150 mandolin students from around

the world.

New Words, a duo CD with Brazil’s bandolim master,

Hamilton de Holanda, was released on Adventure

Music, in October 2006. Mike is also working on further

recording collaborations with Darol Anger, and

the Swedish trio, Väsen. These latter two projects

are scheduled for release in 2007.

At this writing Mike Marshall continues to perform

regularly in duet settings with Darol Anger, Edgar

Meyer, Chris Thile and Hamilton de Holanda, as well

as with his groups Choro Famoso and Psychograss.