Jazz Articles
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Don Stiernberg: Unseasonably Cool
by Jim Santella
Three acoustic string players with percussion make a fine jazz quartet: mandolin, guitar, bass and drums. A rarity in jazz circles, the mandolin has a voice higher than guitar. It's played in the same manner, except for the tremolos that are required to sustain notes. Don Stiernberg caresses a melody with light, fluid movements. The instrument requires that you keep moving. Stiernberg does so with agility, embellishing each melodic fragment to completion. His quartet swings as Django Reinhardt and Stéphane ...
read moreDon Stiernberg: About Time
by Jim Santella
Classic jazz in the Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli tradition serve to launch new record label Blue Night Records with positive vibrations. Jazz mandolinist Don Stiernberg proves to be the perfect choice, taking an all-acoustic lineup through tried and true standards and making it perfectly clear that these melodies never lose their shine. Samples from six tracks are available at http://www.bluenightrecords.com .
Stiernberg’s lead mandolin voice flows gently and easily. It’s the kind of acoustic session one could listen to ...
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