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Mark O'Connor

Hot Swing: Live In New York

OMAC Records

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Mark O'Connor at Berklee 2009-Gypsy Fantastic
Mark O'Connor Interview
1 Fascinating Rhythm  
2 Cherokee  
3 Anniversary  
4 Ain't Misbehavin'  
5 M & W Rag  
6 Funky Swing  
7 Fiddler Going Home  
8 Gypsy Fantastic  
9 Don't Get Around Much Anymore  
10 Tiger Rag  
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Working in the vein of his hero and mentor, French jazz violin virtuoso Stephane Grappelli, Mark O'Connor's final installment in his triology of hot swing trio releases, Live In New York, transcends tribute to become an engrossing and original record. The previous installments in the series, 2001's Hot Swing and 2003's In Full Swing, were both critical favorites The Chicago Tribune spoke for most when they said, "O'Connor and his group have brought this infectious art form to a new height, both technically and musically." Live In New York features O'Connor on violin, Frank Vignola on guitar, and Jon Burr on bass; it is out January 13th, 2009 on OMAC Records.

"The group began as a specific tribute to Django Reinhardt and my teacher and old boss Stephane Grappelli," explains O'Connor. "Then we built on that, much as 'gypsy jazz' grew through several stages of evolution, until we reached the broad range represented on Live In New York, encompassing influences of American culture in our ensemble playing, improvising, and composition."

These influences are most plain on "Fiddler Going Home", a piece written for departed jazz legend and frequent teacher at Mark O'Connor's string camps, Claude "Fiddler" Williams. O'Connor's long, plaintive notes are distinctly American, and conjure images of a long wagon train stretching into the sunset. His arrangement of the Gershwin standard "Fascinating Rhythm" is similarly inflected, adding a bit of the Old West to the Upper East Side. Original pieces like "Anniversary" and "Funky Swing" demonstrate the trio's willingness to push their sound into modern jazz and chamber music qualities.

There is plenty gypsy jazz-influenced playing on Live In New York, as well. Track after track finds O'Connor and his trio playing beautiful music as quickly as possible. "Tiger Rag" and O'Connor's tune "Gypsy Fantastic" are particular standouts in this regard

 

  • Mark and Maggie O'Connor brilliantly fuse Bach and bluegrass for Emory Chamber Music Society season opener / ARTS ATL
    Posted At: September 11, 2023
    ARTS ATL's JORDAN OWEN writes….A common question among musical laymen regards the difference between a fiddle and violin. They are, ultimately, simply two names for the same instrument, and the difference arises from the styles of music played — the violin is associated with the regal grandeur of classical music while the fiddle is a staple of bluegrass, country and Celtic, among other folk styles. That sty...

  • ONErpm signs Mark & Maggie OConnor / Music Row
    Posted At: April 27, 2023
    Mark and Maggie O'Connor have been existing in an uninterrupted musical collaboration since the day they met eight years ago in 2014. As they were perfecting the finer points of Mark’s American Classical violin duos, it got so good that they decided to get married. The next stage of their musical journey turned into a larger family collaboration for which they each took home a Grammy for playing bluegrass i...

  • Mark O'Connor will not be just fiddling around in Juneau / Juneau Empire Q&A
    Posted At: May 15, 2019

    Mark O'Connor, the three-time Grammy Award-winner will close out the 33rd annual Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival with the O'Connor Band at at Centennial Hall and will be part of a free jam on Friday, May 17 at TK Maguire's Lounge. The O'Connor Band which is a foot-tapping, twangy bluegrass outfit that includes O'Connor's son, wife and daughter-in-law. The 57-year-old virtuoso is an accomplished class...

  • Mark O'Connor and Friends set for Spokane's Fox Theatre / The Spokesman-Review
    Posted At: December 13, 2018

    Renowned violinist Mark O'Connor isn't shy about his love for Appalachian music. In fact, he's released a trilogy of albums featuring music inspired by the region. First, there was "Appalachia Waltz," with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer, in 1996. Then, the trio followed that up with "Appalachian Journey" in 2000, which went on to win the Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Album. In 2011, O'Connor released...

  • Mark O'Connor & Friends set for 'An Appalachian Christmas' at McDonald Theatre / Eugene Weekly
    Posted At: November 29, 2018

    A Northwesterner devoted to showcasing American musical traditions is violin deity Mark O'Connor, who's developed an entire music-ed curriculum that introduces American kids to music using our own folk traditions rather than centuries-old European pedagogy. Possibly the world's greatest fiddler, the Seattle-born star brings the sound of his popular "Appalachia Waltz" combo to holiday music Dec. 12 at Eug...

  • Symphony N.H. kicks off 18-19 season with Mark and Maggie O'Connor / Concord Monitor
    Posted At: September 27, 2018

    Symphony N.H. will begin its 2018-19 season "Celebrating Mozart" in Concord with guest conductor Scott Parkman and guest performers Grammy- and Country Music Award-winning violinist Mark O'Connor with Maggie O'Connor. The performance will be Sunday at the Concord City Auditorium at 3 p.m. There will also be a performance in Nashua at the Keefe Center for the Arts on Saturday at 8 p.m. Mark ...

  • Watch Mark O'Connor challenge Charlie Daniels in 'The Devil Comes Back to Georgia' feat. Johnny Cash / Wide Open Country
    Posted At: May 14, 2018

    The Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" represents more than a welcome change of pace on classic rock radio. It's also a modern answer to old folk tales and to the fiddle tunes that predate commercial recordings. These strong historic roots resounded with a broad audience, making the 1979 hit a globally-known benchmark for contemporary country music and Southern rock. In 1993, fid...

  • Mark O'Connor's 'Appalachian Christmas' will air Christmas Day on KWMR
    Posted At: December 21, 2017

    Mark O'Connor, famous bluegrass fiddler and respected American composer, leads the O'Connor Band and special guest Nancy Ives, principal cellist of the Oregon Symphony, in An Appalachian Christmas . Hear holiday favorites including "The Cherry Tree Carol," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Carol of the Bells," and more! Plus, Mark O'Connor talks about the importance of fiddling in the developme...

  • Grammy Award-winning O'Connor Band brings 'An Appalachian Christmas' back to UW's Meany Center / Seattle Times
    Posted At: December 14, 2017

    The Grammy Award-winning O'Connor Band( Maggie O'Connor, Mark O'Connor, Kate Lee O'Connor; Joe Smart, Forrest O'Connor and Geoff Saunders) is returning to Meany Center for the Performing Arts Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 16 and 17, for the group's second year in a row performing "An Appalachian Christmas." That's certainly been the lesson learned in 2017 by the O'Co...

  • WMOT Roots Radio puts on big musical tent at AmericanaFest
    Posted At: August 29, 2017

    Americana is celebrated as a big musical tent, and WMOT Roots Radio will embrace that by putting up a big musical tent at AmericanaFest 2017. The Yee-Haw Tent, with seating for 500 people and rigged for our signature quality sound and staging, will be centrally located at 6th Ave. S. and Peabody Street, just a block south of the Music City Center and an easy walk from the Americana Business Conference ho...

  • O'Connor Band will celebrate MOC's 56th birthday at The Newton Theatre / New Jersey Herald
    Posted At: July 30, 2017

    Unlike many professional musicians, Mark O'Connor did not grow up in a musical family. He was the odd man out, so to speak, in a family of dancers. Perhaps that's why the violin virtuoso has been having the time of his life for the last two years, performing and recording with the O'Connor Band, a Grammy-winning bluegrass and Americana unit that includes O'Connor's wife, son and daugh...

  • O'Connor Band set for Green Music Center's - Bluegrass Festival / Santa Rosa Press Democrat
    Posted At: July 7, 2017

    Not many musicians can claim collaborations with a roster as diverse as singer-songwriter James Taylor, classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, jazz bandleader Wynton Marsalis and banjo master Bela Fleck, but for violinist Mark O'Connor, that's just an excerpt from the top of his list. O'Connor has excelled in classical, country and jazz music for decades, but when he and his O'Connor Band appear Sunday June 9 at Ro...

  • O'Connor Band releases new recording - LIVE from PA's Sellersville Theater / Bluegrass Today
    Posted At: June 9, 2017

    The O'Connor Band is celebrating the release of their second album - O'Connor Band Live! A single performance by the group, led by fiddle superstar Mark O'Connor, captured at the Sellersville Theater in Pennsylvania, the disc contains 14 live tracks without overdubs, of the Grammy-winning group which also features Mark's wife, Maggie O'Connor on fiddle, his son, Forrest O'Connor, on mandolin and vocals, ...

  • MIM: string workshop for students presents - An Afternoon with Mark O'Connor
    Posted At: May 25, 2017

    String students are invited to participate in a special workshop led by Grammy-winning bluegrass artist Mark O'Connor on Thursday, June 8, 2017 between 1-5p at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix AZ. String pedagogue and founder of the O'Connor Method, O'Connor will offer insights into performance and playing techniques for student musicians at any level. Following the workshop, students w...

  • Who should win 'best bluegrass album' at 2017 Grammys? / The Boot
    Posted At: January 10, 2017

    The 2017 Grammy Awards are just around the corner, and every category is full of strong contenders. Who do you think should win Best Bluegrass Album this year?   Claire Lynch pays homage to Canadian songwriters on her 2016 album North By South, bringing in friends such as renowned banjo player Béla Fleck and dobro aficionado Jerry Douglas to help create the Grammy-nominated record. Consid...

  • Keeping it in the family with The O'Connor Band / WFAE Radio
    Posted At: January 6, 2017

    Grammy award winning violinist and composer Mark O'Connor has played with the likes of Dolly Parton, James Taylor, and Paul Simon, and he's never met a genre of music he didn't like. He even invented his own method for teaching the violin, named the O'Connor Method which focuses on teaching traditional Americana music. And he's currently the Charlotte Symphony's artist in residence. But in his latest pro...

  • O'Connor Band - Appalachian Christmas set for D.C. & Baltimore / Washington Post
    Posted At: December 16, 2016

    Spreading good cheer? The O'Connor Band has good reason. After all, nothing boosts a new group's spirits quite like a Grammy Award nomination. Led by violin virtuoso Mark O'Connor, the family ensemble was honored last week in the bluegrass category for its recent debut album, "Coming Home." The group received the news between stops on its "An Appalachian Christmas" tour, which arrives in Annapolis and Wa...

  • All Classical Portland presents Mark O'Connor & Friends - 'An Appalachian Christmas' / Oregon ArtsWatch
    Posted At: December 13, 2016

    World renowned violinist Mark O'Connor & Friends perform An Appalachian Christmas on Wednesday, December 14, at Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Presented by All Classical Portland and sponsored by Bob's Red Mill, this will be the fourth year of what has become an annual Portland tradition. The concert includes not only American music and familiar music of the Christmas season. Mus...

  • Rounder reissues classic Mark O'Connor albums / Bluegrass Today
    Posted At: September 14, 2016

    Four Time National Junior Fiddle Champion - Mark O'Connor In tandem with the release of Coming Home, their recent album for O'Connor Band, Rounder Records has reached back into the vault and issued digital re-releases of three Mark O'Connor albums from the 1970s. These were recorded and released as LPs while Mark was a pre-teen and teenager, running from just before he won the Grand Masters Fiddler C...

  • The O'Connor band. A unique family affair / The San Diego Union-Tribune
    Posted At: August 20, 2016

    Former Bonsall resident Mark O'Connor has been one of the violin world's most acclaimed artists since he was a teenager, thanks to his dazzling instrumental skills and ability to shine whether playing country, jazz, bluegrass or classical. He is, incidentally, one of the few musicians who has won Grammy Awards for both classical and country-music recordings. He is also a former member of Dixie Dregs, a b...

  • The O'Connor Band - Coming Home / Elmore Magazine review
    Posted At: August 6, 2016

    It seems to be all in the family lately, given the fact that talented spouses and siblings alike are all taking time to gather around the hearth and exchange their musical wares. A list of last names says it all, with the Wainwright Family, the Thompson Family and the Watkins Family all finding common purpose via their creative collaborations. Of course, family outings have been a tradition in country an...

  • Maggie Dixon wanted a music lesson with Mark O'Connor...and found a new life / Charlotte Observer
    Posted At: August 4, 2016

    Mark O'Connor did his best to dissuade Maggie Dixon, a Peabody Conservatory student with strong classical chops. But like a fairy tale heroine separating grains of sand from grains of gold, she passed his grueling test. And after one day of duetting with her, he invited her to Singapore to join him in a piece he re-orchestrated. Within six months, they married. Within 12 more, they were anchoring The O'C...

  • Mark O'Connor makes music a family enterprise / The Buffalo News
    Posted At: July 24, 2016

    When Fiddler Mark O'Connor was 12 he first performed on the stage of the Grand Ol' Opry. "I'll always vividly remember Roy Acuff introducing me to the crowd," he says now. When his family performed with him this time, it was different. But then country and roots music has been full of family bands for many, many decades. A family country band was, for instance, how the late, great jazz bass player Charli...

  • O'Connor Band premieres 'Always Do' on: The Boot
    Posted At: July 20, 2016

    The O'Connor Band are premiering their brand-new "Always Do" music video exclusively with The Boot. The simple clip features the bluegrass sextet performing the new single in a peaceful, picturesque forest - a perfect performance spot for a tune like "Always Do." Near the end of the "Always Do" video, as lead vocalist and fiddler Kate Lee sings "I'll make my way back to your front door," the O'Connor Ban...

  • Mark O'Connor Talks Method, American Music and Summer Camp / Classicalite
    Posted At: November 17, 2015

    Mark O'Connor has allotted himself the time and patience to craft an entire new perspective on American string education. A Grammy-winning composer and violin virtuoso, his ability to revolutionize an entire genre of performance teaching is unfettered. And he brings his methods to New York City for a summer camp program devoted specifically to his teachings this summer. The O'Connor method takes ...

  • Breckenridge CO National Repertory Orchestra honors America with Mark O'Connor
    Posted At: July 1, 2015

    Three days before the Fourth of July, Breckenridge's National Repertory Orchestra will honor America's natural beauty and proud musical traditions with its Wednesday, July 1, concert, "The Americana Symphony Project." Music by American composer and fiddle virtuoso Mark O'Connor will be set to the nature photography of Summit County's John Fielder. Both O'Connor and Fielder will be in ...

  • Mark O'Connor set to play 'Colorado Music Educators Association's conference' / Colorado Springs Gazette Q&A
    Posted At: January 26, 2015

    Thanks to a wish and a prayer and a bold phone call from Colorado American String Teachers Association (CASTA) president Nancy Allwein, one of the world's great violinists will be in Colorado Springs this week. Mark O'Connor will bring his "American" fiddle playing to the Colorado Music Educators Association's conference for a concert at The Broadmoor on Wednesday night with his wife, Ma...

  • Mark O' Connor and Friends join Alabama's Mobile Symphony Orchestra for: An Appalachian Christmas
    Posted At: November 29, 2014

    On Saturday, Dec. 13 and Sunday, Dec. 14, the category-defying violinist/musician Mark O' Connor will join the Mobile Symphony Orchestra for "An Appalachian Christmas at the Mobile Saenger Theatre. During the performance O'Connor will play several of his own compositions including: 'Appalachian Waltz' which was a major part of the soundtrack to the recent PBS Ken Burns series, "The Roosev...

  • Mark O'Connor once again visits NPR - Mountain Stage
    Posted At: October 20, 2014

    Mark O'Connor has been visiting Mountain Stage since 1988, during which time he's become one of America's most beloved and highly regarded violinists. O'Connor composed what has become the world's most-performed modern violin concerto and released nearly 40 albums, including Hot Swing, a tribute to legendary French jazz master (and O'Connor's longtime friend and mentor) Stepha...

  • O'Connor String Quartet plays Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
    Posted At: August 25, 2014

    Mark O'Connnor's O'Connor String Quartet performed with his O'Connor String Quartet to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival at the Lensic Performing Arts Ceter Friday 8/22. READ THE FULL Santa Fe New Mexican ARTICLE HERE...

  • Mark O'Connor's cherished violin, The Cooper, undergoes serious repair
    Posted At: April 14, 2014

    Grammy award winning violinist, Mark O'Connor, dropped his fiddle as he was getting ready to perform last week in Sioux Falls, SD. Not only did he have a concert to play, but it was also being recorded for public radio. The fall caused several major cracks in the body of his precious instrument and he knew right away the damage was severe. The first call he made was to his old friend in Portland...

  • Mark O'Connor and friends jam out in 'Jam Session'
    Posted At: March 7, 2010

    World-renowned acoustic musicians Mark O'Connor (violin), Chris Thile (mandolin), Frank Vignola (guitar), Bryan Sutton (guitar), Jon Burr (bass) and Byron House (bass) can captivate audiences with just their instruments. But for them, jamming is a meeting of musical minds and genres in communication, a perfect example of holistic American music. Their forthcoming CD 'Jam Session,&#...

  • Mark O'Connor continues his musical journey into the heart of America on: String Quartets No.'s 2 & 3
    Posted At: June 9, 2009

    Mark O'Connor continues his musical journey into the heart of America on his latest album, containing his String Quartets No.'s 2 & 3. Like all of O'Connor's work, each piece takes deep inspiration from the landscape and traditions of America to produce music that is both familiar and original. Masterfully played by O'Connor, Ida Kavafian, Paul Neubauer, and Matt Haimovi...

  • Mark O'Connor's 'Double Violin Concerto' prompts the kind of mid-performance applause usually heard in a jazz club
    Posted At: November 10, 2008

    When Mark O'Connor and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg premiered his Double Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times described the incredible evening: The Nutcracker Suite dancing through warm summer air, a double violin concerto that prompted the kind of mid-performance applause usually heard in a jazz club. The mood definitely was loo...
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