Tag: Adhyâropa Records

LISTEN: The Jacob Jolliff Band, “Los Angeles County Breakdown”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The Jacob Jolliff Band
Hometown: New York City, New York
Song: “Los Angeles County Breakdown”
Album: Instrumentals, Vol. 2: Mandolin Mysteries
Release Date: May 24, 2024
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “‘Los Angeles County Breakdown’ is the first tune we started arranging for Mandolin Mysteries. I taught it to the group while we were in LA, on the last show of our last tour before the lockdown in 2020. So I had these demos of us playing the working version that I listened to and was excited about for a couple years before we finally got the chance to finish the arrangement and perform it live. It’s a sprightly little number with a lot of different influences — I like that it features a nice section for the fiddle and guitar to stretch out on. Hope you enjoy it!” – Jacob Jolliff

Track Credits:

Jacob Jolliff – mandolin
George Jackson – fiddle
Myles Sloniker – bass
Ross Martin – guitar

Photo Credit: Aidan Grant

LISTEN: Mr Sun, “Shovasky’s Transmogrifatron” (from Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Mr Sun
Hometown: Portland, Maine / Nashville, Tennessee / Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Shovasky’s Transmogrifatron” (Ballet Snow Scene)
Album: Mr Sun Plays Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite
Release Date: December 1, 2023
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “Everybody’s familiar with the Nutcracker Suite, but there’s this really beautiful recording of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of it – it was a really joyful, playful reimagining of this classic piece… It was an easy idea to propose, not fully appreciating the amount of time it would take to do it. Luckily, everyone in the band brings a tremendous skill set to the project.” – Joe K. Walsh, mandolin

“They basically said, ‘We’re gonna take this essential seed of an idea, but we’re gonna play it like us.’ And we’re doing the same thing – we’re playing it like Mr Sun, without doing anything too verbatim. It’s all about being ourselves. That’s the impression you get from Ellington, and that’s a thing we very much are: Ourselves.” – Grant Gordy, guitar

“It sounds simple, ‘Let’s just play this big band arrangement with four stringed instruments.’ In practice it’s been a little more complicated!” – Aidan O’Donnell, bass

“Duke Ellington of course was volcanically creative. He was one of the most creative musicians ever. He was beyond category. Melody, harmony, and rhythm – if you can put those things together in a way that reaches people, it’s gonna be successful in a way that means something.” – Darol Anger, fiddle

Photo Credit: Dylan Ladds
Video Credit: Brian Carroll, Dos Gatos Filmworks

WATCH: Hildaland, “The Selkie of Sule Skerry”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Hildaland
Hometown: Portland, Maine
Song: “The Selkie of Sule Skerry”
Album: Sule Skerry
Release Date: October 25, 2023 (single); November 3, 2023 (album)
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “‘The Selkie of Sule Skerry’ is an old folk tale of which there are many versions. We love a rendition sung by Kris Drever in the band Fine Friday on their 2002 record, Gone Dancing. We took inspiration from this, wrote our own melody, and had a lot of fun with the arrangement. Ethan played both mandola and the electric mandocello on this one, we worked up a string arrangement together, and had Dan Klingsberg record some double bass for us, and Sam Kassirer laid down some synth.” – Louise Bichan

Photo Credit: Louise Bichan

WATCH: Hildaland, “Trains/Fin’s”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Hildaland
Hometown: Portland, Maine
Song: “Trains/Fin’s”
Album: Sule Skerry
Release Date: September 26, 2023 (single); November 3, 2023 (album)
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “This set is comprised of ‘Trains’ by Ethan Setiawan and ‘Fin’s Foley’ by Louise Bichan. We decided these tunes would fit well together as they’re both in three parts, and both about movement. It was an honor to get the great Neil Pearlman on the track on keyboard as well. Ethan says of the first tune, ‘”Trains” was written during some discussion with the great harpist Maeve Gilchrist about hornpipes. I tried to integrate some of the stylistic ups and downs, using arpeggios to create a melody rather than something linear.’ And Louise wrote “Fin’s Foley” for her brother, after a wheel mishap. I had forgotten all about the unofficial title until I came across the original sheet music while rummaging through things at my folks’ house: Rover’s Revenge!'” – Hildaland

Photo Credit: Louise Bichan

WATCH: George Jackson, “Alhaji”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: George Jackson
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Alhaji”
Album: George Jackson’s Local Trio
Release Date: July 18, 2023 (video); August 18, 2023 (album)
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “I feel a much stronger sense of identity with this record. In many ways, it’s still working with the concepts that I was getting at with Time and Place, trying to be a part of something with a long history while also trying to bring myself to the table as an outsider, but now there’s a lot more confidence in bringing together the different elements I’m interested in and continuing to form my voice with less fear of ‘doing it wrong.’

“(Banjoist Frank Evans) can go very deep in old-time as well as bluegrass music, and also has an interest and proficiency as an improviser and with jazz concepts. He just feels like such a natural fit for me musically. (Bassist Eli Broxham) has such a fearless spirit in the way that he approaches music.

“Fellow fiddle player John Mailander (Bruce Hornsby, Billy Strings) produced the record, collaborating closely with the trio to achieve this boundary-pushing vision. Something that I’m proud of with this record is that it doesn’t sound like music that has been made before — we were able to push old-time in genuinely new directions using arrangements, samples, and recording techniques.” – George Jackson

Photo Credit: Libby Danforth