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Mike Marshall and Darol Anger with Vasen [Digipak]

Mike Marshall (Guitar/Mandolin)
1 disc

1. Loke's Troubles
2. Skidskolten
3. Couscous
4. Timo's Jig
5. Penknife Killer - (Traditional Swedish)
6. Egypt
7. Yew Piney Mt. - (Traditional American)
8. Forslund
9. Misch Masch
10. Os Pintinhos - (Brazilian Choro)
Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 1039
Credits

Producer AoUF
Engineer
Personnel: Mike Marshall (mandolin); Mike Marshall ; Roger Tallroth (12-string guitar); Darol Anger (violin, baritone violin).
Additional personnel: Mikael Marin (violin); Olov Johansson (unknown instrument); Roger Tallroth, Vsen.
Audio Mixers: Mike Marshall ; David Luke.
Recording information: Emeryville Studios, Emeryville, CA.
Editor: Mike Marshall .
Photographer: Claudia Marcelloni.
The pairing of Americans -- mandolinist Mike Marshall and violinist Darol Anger -- and Swedes -- Vsen -- is a meeting of minds and styles. Both are well grounded in their native traditions, but also versed in original acoustic music. They show their breadth here, taking in traditional tunes from Sweden ("Penknife Killer") and the U.S. ("Yew Piney Mt."), along with several original pieces and a touch of Braziliana on "Os Pintinhos." There's style and wit in the music, as you'd expect from musicians this good. More interesting is the perfectly natural way they all mesh together and complement each other, finding a middle ground that's far more than a simple compromise. There's plenty of delicacy in a piece like "Forslund," but throughout the disc there's a very strong sense of melody, the stock in trade of everyone here. There's no need for anyone to be showy, and it's only at odd moments like the sly fiddle run on "Misch Masch" that you remember these are all virtuosos. So even though it doesn't particularly hew to any tradition, there's enough of a sense of the past to anchor this wonderful slice of new acoustic music. ~ Chris Nickson
Critic Reviews

Dirty Linen (p.40) - "Marshall's mandolin and Anger's violin join with Olov Johansson's nyckleharpa, Mikael Marin's five-string violino grande, and Roger TAllroth's 12-string guitars, and the result is a genre-blending celebration that obscures geographic borders."