Don Stiernberg: Mandoboppin!

An exciting impression of Don Stiernberg's musical inspiration

The mandolin presented in a fresh context

Jørgen Larsen

Some time ago we published a small review of mandolinist Don Stiernberg's CD from 2010 Swing 220 featuring a repertoire of swing standards performed in a string trio setting, which showcasted Stiernberg's amazing virtuosity as a jazz mandolinist. The new CD Mandoboppin!, released earlier this year adds further aspects to my impression of a highly gifted artist exploring and drawing inspiration from various branches of jazz in a most convincing way.

Don Stiernberg ( Publicity Photo, Don Stiernberg.com)

Mandoboppin! is produced by Stiernberg in co-work with engineer Steve Rashid and released at Stiernberg's own label Mando Traveler. The CD has twelve tracks, ten of them are selfpenned compositions by Stiernberg, the remaining two are jazz standards - The Very Thought of You and Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, both with added lyrics and vocal by Stiernberg. The setting of the performed music is a quintet. Don Stiernberg (mandolin and vocal) is accompanied by Andy Brown (guitar) and Jim Cox (string bass) of his current trio and the trio is extended to a quintet by pianist Larry Harris and Phil Gratteau on drums.

Don Stiernberg ( Publicity Photo, Don Stiernberg.com)



As mentioned, ten of the tracks on Mandoboppin! are compositions by Stiernberg - the tittle track is one of them and a nice example of be bop improvisation. There are hard swinging contributions like Donniebrook, Life Itself and Three Down Town, latin flavored tunes like Bix in Rio and Magnanimous, blues inspired pieces like Blues Santa Cruz and Short Sleeves in December and further the lyrical Questions And Answers and a waltz theme titled The Wacky Waltz. Together with the above mentioned jazz standards this repertoire on the CD gives the listener an exciting impression of Don Stiernberg's musical inspiration drawing from various branches of jazz, evrything performed excellently by the quintet. The mandolin is presented in a fresh context, and all the players contribute Expert improvisation and sensitive support.

Mandoboppin!: f.l.t.r. Andy Brown (g), Jim Cox (sb), Don Stiernberg (mandolin) (Source: YouTube still photo )

Earlier this year Don Stiernberg presented some of the repertoire on Mandoboppin! in a live performance at the Chicago based Mad Toast Live! feature. Below I'll insert the uploaded show on YouTube to give you an impression of a great artist on stage. Stiernberg is accompanied by guitarist Andy Brown and Jim Cox on string bass. Enjoy this performance of about 80 minutes.

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Jo
keepswinging@live.nl
Follow the Keep (it) Swinging blog at Facebook ( group Keep it Swinging), by e-mail or Twitter ( #keepitswinging) or ask for its free newsletter

The new CD Mandoboppin! by jazz mandolinist Don Stiernberg has twelve tracks showcasting Stiernberg's excellent chops both as a musician and as a composer of original tunes that draw inspiration from a broad field of jazz: be bop, swing, latin and contemporary interpretation of lyrical themes rooted in jazz. Don Stiernberg has chosen a quintet setting for the Mandoboppin! cd, his current trio featuring guitar and bass is here extended with piano and drums. The mandolin is presented in a fresh context, and the musicians alltogether contribute expert improvisation and sensitive support. Mandoboppin! is a highly recommended contribution to contemporary jazz.

Retrospect Keep Swinging (old) Oscar Aleman Choro Music Flexible Records Hit of the Week-Durium Friends of the Keep Swinging blog Keep Swinging Contributions

Don Stiernberg: Swing 220

Swing 220: Second to none 
Mandoline performances of swing standards
Jørgen Larsen
 

In American music tradition the mandolin generally is considered a 'folk' instrument designated for musicians excelling in country music and especially a branch of this comercially successfull genre usually labeled as 'bluegrass'. The bluegrass genre was established as a successfull acoustic stringband music by leading figures in the movement like mandolinist and singer Bill Monroe from the late 1940s and on. The bluegrass pioneers, like Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, obtained national attention at Nashville's Grand Old Opry and was soon a part of Nashville's popular country music industry that distributed records and live performance at Grand Old Opry through radio and TV broadcasts to large parts of the US.  




Jethro Burns
(source: paperbackswap.com)

Another leading mandolinist with roots in country music was Jethro Burns (1920-1989), who obtained fame as a radio-star in the Homer & Jethro comic duo-act and further developed and included a jazz approach to playing his instrument. According to info in the Wikipedia profile, "Burns was a highly-influential mandolin stylist, preferring clean single-note jazzy melodies and sophisticated chords over the dominant bluegrass stylings of Bill Monroe, and since he performed mostly in a country music setting, introduced many country mandolinists to sophisticated jazz harmonies and improvisational techniques, as well as standards from the songbooks of Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt and Cole Porter". From a live-TV performance, here is a fragment of Jethro Burns playing a jazz-standard, "The Lady is a Tramp".



The other accompanying mandolinist in the video fragment above is Don Stiernberg, a Chicago based musician and a protegé of Jethro Burns. Don Stiernberg co-produced Burns' last recordings for the Acoustic Disc label and participated as a member of Burns quartet. Stiernberg developed his own playing style on mandolin learning from Burns, here's an example of a solo-act performance of the jazz classic "Night And Day".



You may find more info on Don Stiernberg's career at his official website  including discography and reviews.

Don Stiernberg ( source: donstiernberg.com)

In 2010 Stiernberg recorded the CD 'Swing 220' for the Blue Night Records label . He is accompanied by guitarist Jeff Jenkins and bassist Rusty Holloway in a trio setting that performs fourteen tracks of swing standards, execellently executed. The title of the CD includes the acronym '220', which is internet-slang for the phrase 'Second to none'.

Don Stiernberg: Swing 220 (Blue Night Records)

As mentioned, the CD repertoire are swing-standards like "Topsy", “Night and Day,” “All of Me,” “Pennies From Heaven,” “Lady Be Good,” “Stardust,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “How High the Moon,” “Limehouse Blues,” a.o.

 The arrangements are by Stiernberg, who plays the lead melody on all tracks and they begin with a statement of the melody then the trio races off with solos for all. Stiernberg doubles on rhythm guitar in a handful of the tracks, but all guitar solos are played delightfully by Jeff Jenkins. The double bass solos by Rusty Holloway are delicate spots and his rhythm playing is solid as a rock. Stiernberg shines in elaborate and well excecuted solo improvisations of the melody keeping the standard of swing music as it should be performed. Here's the opening tune, "Topsy", from a live-performance by the trio.



The music on the Swing 220 CD is a fresh and alternative contribution to contemporary performance of swing jazz standards most often played by horns, the trio's skillful performance of the chosen repertoire underlines that an all-strings acoustic trio is able to blow fresh air into a classic jazz standard book of wellknown tunes, highly recommended. Enjoy another live-performance of the trio, the closing theme of the CD "After You've Gone".



The CD can be ordered at the Amazon website and CDBaby, to list some.
Get it, if you are a fan of great swing music and magnificent work by a string jazz trio!
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Jo
keepswinging@live.nl
Follow the Keep (it) Swinging blog at Facebook ( Keep it Swinging) or Twitter ( #keepitswinging) and ask its free newsletter.

In American music tradition the mandolin generally is considered a 'folk' instrument designated for musicians excelling in country music and especially a branch of this commercially successfull genre usually labeled as 'bluegrass'. Dan Stiernberg, however, prooverd that the instrument is also suitable for he swing idiom and released with his trio a few years ago a great album with jazz standards, thatshould be recommended, entitled Swing 220.


 Retrospect
Keep Swinging (old) Oscar Aleman Choro Music Flexible Records Hit of the Week-Durium Friends of the Keep Swinging blog Keep Swinging Contributions