Heroes [CASSETTE] [Import]

The tongue-in-cheek brief description above serves to point out that this "Heroes" album of Mark O'Connor is a series of duets between O'Connor and other famous fiddlers of every conceivable genre: blues, bluegrass, Cajun, Celtic, country, jazz, Texas-style; even classical (with Pinchas Zukerman) and Indian "raga-style" improvisations with Lakshminorayana Shankar. The fiddlers include (in addition to Zukerman and Shankar) Vassar Clements, Charlie Daniels, Stephane Grappelli, Doug Kershaw, Jean-Luc Ponty and, in a fitting tribute, Benny Thomasson (O'Connor's initial fiddling mentor), as well as three or four others.

I'm not going to question how it was that O'Connor succeeded in assembling this roster of famous fiddlers (all of whom played roles in his early development of style and repertoire, and who were hence his "heroes"), but just express my thanks that such a project was not only made possible but has seen the light of day in this recording. "Let us not look a gift horse in the mouth."

There isn't a track here that fails to have some phenomenal hot licks on it. Anyone who enjoys fiddling will find something (probably quite a bit) to go ga-ga over in these performances. I certainly enjoy the jazz duets with Grappelli, the echt-classical work with Zukerman, and the sweet tribute to Thomasson, who was to survive the birth of this project by barely a year after his session work. But, like most of O'Connor's projects along these lines, there are inevitably the "jaw-droppers," the tracks that cause one to ask "How'd they do that?" Here are my three favorites:

"New Country," with Jean-Luc Ponty: Simply awesome swapping of jazz-rock fusion hot riffs between Ponty and O'Connor, treasurable because Ponty almost never has been involved in projects with fellow fiddlers.

"The Devil Comes Back To Georgia," with Charlie Daniels: ALL the stops are pulled out on this one, with not only Mark and Charlie sawing away like crazy but with back-up vocals by the likes of Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt. Priceless.

"Nomad," with Lakshminorayana Shankar: A real success of an effort on Mark's part to realize an accurate "raga-style" extended improvisation, in duet with Shankar playing on his own invention of a double-necked violin to provide both melody and drone accompaniment. At eight minutes, this is by quite a bit the longest track on the album, but shorter than what a complete and authentic raga might take. I wouldn't have minded a bit had these two guys simply kept right on going.

Is there anything that Mark O'Connor cannot do? I tend to think not. As mentioned in the nice introductory notes by Matt Glaser, the Chairman of the String Department at the Berklee College of Music, "...it's a fiddle player's ultimate garden of delights." Amen, brother!

Bob Zeidler

Immerse yourself in the incredible genius of Mark O'Connor and his amazing chameleon-like creative ability to tease so many different moods and styles from his violin. If you like Cajun music - this is for you. If you like Western Swing - this is for you. If you like foot tapping fiddle with a Celtic slant - then this is for you! Classical? Jazz? Blues? Country Rock? Then yeah - you guessed it - this is for you! This is an absolutely fantastic album - a brilliant collection of melodies that bring together some of today's greatest violinists. Pure Genius.

I recently visited Nashville and went downtown to a huge record store there to ask the staff to recommend some fiddle music for me. (Who better to ask, and what better city, eh?) They picked out three cds: 'The Big Tiger Roars Again' by Benny Martin for 'traditional' fiddle, 'The World's Greatest Country Fiddlers: 36 Legendary Performers' (CMH, 1989, 36 cuts, wow) for an 'overview', and 'Heroes', this Mark O'Connor cd, for 'contemporary' fiddling. It's impossible to say which of the three is the best! I've come around to the opinion that one needs to own ALL THREE to really get it. Pure heaven.