MandoMorphosis
MandoMorphosis is a creative collaboration of mandolin players that joined forces to explore the boundaries of new acoustic music. The group’s first recording project, 2010, was released on CD to critical acclaim. (At one point that year the album broke into the top tier of the Jambands Radio Charts, surpassing artists such as Phish and Mark O’Connor.) A newly released coda recording, 2020, focuses on collective free improvisations with a series of previously unreleased pieces and extended jams from the archives.
MandoMorphosis has been described as a free-wheeling amalgam of acoustic roots music and exploratory jazz with a spontaneous energy rarely found in studio recordings.
The players include: Matt Sircely (Hot Club Sandwich member, National Public Radio contributor and collaborator with Danny Barnes, Jeff Scroggins and many others); Orville Johnson (teacher, performer, producer, vocalist and instrumentalist extraordinaire); Michael Connolly (instrumental wizard and recording engineer); and David Tiller (founding member of the world fusion band Taarka). Scott Schaffer (Spontanea, Edge City Collective) produced and participated in both projects. All are multi-instrumentalists; notable in these recordings are Johnson’s legendary dobro and Connolly’s fluent violin. Pete Frostic and Adam Larrabee also contributed to 2010, and cellist James Hoskins appears on 2020 as a special guest.
Here's what reviewers said about 2010 (see more below):
“This is one energized CD… a winning debut… a stunning collection of tunes… no matter where you find yourself in this recording, you’ll be amazed at the subtle musicality and virtuosic performances.”
-Hermon Joyner, Mandolin Magazine
"It's a varied blend of deliberate musical calculation and free-spirit mayhem, but the one thing you can count on with this crew is energy... they inject a fresh contemporary and occasionally abstract harmonic sensibility. Be prepared for mando departure..."
-Ted Eschliman, JazzMando
"A creative force to reckon with... a joy to listen to... refreshingly new."
-Jimmy Rae, Skope Magazine
Audio:
Right Brain Music Podcast episode
More Quotes:
"Intricate... energetic... intriguing... brilliant... I highly recommend 2010 for its varied musical styles and approaches, creativity and overall sound."
-Wildy Haskell, Wildy's World
“Each track feels like a different scene from a suspense film.”
-Chris Kornelis, Seattle Weekly
"The playing is unfailingly fine…"
-Henry Koretzky, Bluegrass Unlimited
"MandoMorphosis succeeds on many levels... [2010] crackles with energy and excitement… Highly recommended."
-Hermon Joyner, Audiophile Audition
"I want to be in this band."
-Scott Tichenor, Zen Master of Mandolin Cafe
Buy 2020 on Bandcamp.
Buy 2010 on Bandcamp.
“Inspiration, collective genius, spontaneity and a touch of bewitching magic… This is the kind of recording that seems to vaporize and enter the room through the crack of an opened door then fills the space before you while continuing to build with layer upon layer of audible color and complexity… MandoMorphosis 2010 is a musical journal filled with drama and romantic love, heartbreak, tragedy and redemption.”