Tessa Lark, Jon Batiste, Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Edgar Meyer
Release Date: 05 May 2023
Label: First Hand Records
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 5060216348100
Description
The Stradgrass Sessions' is the long-awaited album from American violinist Tessa Lark. A recording in which Lark invited multi-Grammy award winners to join her on a recording of violin exploration through classical, folk and jazz.
The album also includes the premiere recording of John Corigliano's STOMP.
Featuring:
Jon Batiste piano – winner of five Grammy Awards in 2022 including Album of the Year for his album 'We Are'
Michael Cleveland fiddle – 2020 Grammy Award winner
Sierra Hull mandolin – 2017 Grammy Nomination for Best Folk Album
Edgar Meyer double bass – Winner of 5 Grammy Awards including Best Folk Album
'This album is a snapshot of the way I live in music. Diversely; organically; intimately; sometimes collaboratively, sometimes solitarily; always sincerely; and anywhere, be it a concert hall or home studio.
Stradgrass is the exploration of the violin's stylistic capabilities, through various American folk styles, from a Classical lens.
The word 'Stradgrass' first came about in 2015, from the novelty of performing Bluegrass on the Stradivari I was playing at the time: the 1683 ex-Gingold violin, on loan to me until 2018 as a result of my silver medal finish at the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Hearing Bluegrass played on a Strad is unusual, unfortunately, so I thought it warranted its own term. The word has caught on in the social media world and seems to succinctly encapsulate what one might partly expect from a recital of mine.
Stradgrass seems to be a type of musical exploration that is becoming more common within Classical violin training, and I hope this album will further encourage us all to continue that direction.' Tessa Lark
PRAISE FOR TESSA LARK
"Tessa Lark was the steely and impassioned soloist, racing around the fingerboard, clearly determined to tame her wild swan... And we were transported again with Lark's encore, an immaculate performance of Bach's Preludio from the Partita in E major" - The Times
"Violinist Tessa Lark brings us a smorgasbord of American folk styles, including some of her own compositions. […] She more than holds her own across the album. Her sound is bright, with no-nonsense attack and clarity of note. Sparing vibrato, combined with a gorgeously harmonic approach towards intonation, makes for a wonderful warmth on her Maggini of c.1600." – Gramophone
Featured on The Strad Podcast #82: Violinist Tessa Lark on The Stradgrass Sessions
"More solo music comes with Corigliano's Stomp, a virtuoso competition piece, moving between bluegrass and jazz, with added foot-stomps, and Lark projects the quirky style with aplomb." - BBC Music Magazine (Recording 5 STARS; Performance 4 STARS)
"Bluegrass is not my natural aesthetic home, but Lark won me over with her persuasive combinations, pointing up intersections with classical music that hadn't previously struck me." – The Arts Desk
Tracklisting
Noxwode, Conor Gricmanis
Tessa Lark, Jon Batiste, Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Edgar Meyer
David de Winter and The Brook Street Band
Alexander Baillie & Nigel Yandell
Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa; Alvaro Cassuto
The Flautadors Recorder Quartet
The Telling
Sarah Cahill
Woody Platt
Up Around The Sun
Rebecca Frazier
The McCormick Brothers
Alison Brown
The Po' Ramblin Boys
Hayseed Dixie
The Gibson Brothers
