MOC4 (Mark O’Connor Musik International, 2014)
American violin maestro Mark O’Connor has performed a wide range of musical genres in the past decades, from southern rock to fusion, classical and American roots music. On this occasion, Mark O’Connor turns to American-style fiddle music. It’s primarily a solo violin effort where O’Connor treats the listener to various musical genres such as jazz, bluegrass, cinematic Americana, Gypsy jazz, polka, waltz, classical, and rock.
On a few of the tracks, Mark O’Connor is joined by a new generation of talented American string musicians, including violinists Jeremy Kittel, Angella Ahn, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Tessa Lark, Brad Phillips, and Sara Caswell.
“Mark has been influential for so many of us string players,” said Jeremy Kittel.
“Playing a duo with him was very inspiring,” said Sara Caswell. “Recording [“St. Louis Blues”] with Mark was a thrill on many levels—the joy experienced in blending sound, style, rhythm, and feel, and the realization that this same collaborative excitement will soon be felt by countless young string players.”
Watch O’Connor and Kittel perform “Emily’s Reel”:
In June, O’Connor released the latest book in his revolutionary teaching program, ‘O’Connor Method Book IV.’ The method bases string-centric music education on American musical literature, diversity, creativity and improvisation in solo, band and orchestral settings as opposed to the rote study of mostly all European Baroque pieces emphasized in alternative programs. ‘O’Connor Method Book IV’ includes the sheet music for ‘MOC4’.
MOC4 is pure, unadulterated fiddle music.
‘MOC4’ Track Listing:
1. “Life Let Us Cherish”
2. “Hornpipes (Tin Wedding, Golden Eagle, Ostinelli’s)”
3. “Faded Love” (violin duo with Tessa Lark)
4. “Clarinet Polka”
5. “I’ll Fly Away”
6. “Jole Blon” (violin duo with Angella Ahn)
7. “Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars”
8. “Minor Swing”
9. “Take Five”
10. “St. Louis Blues” (violin duo with Sara Caswell)
11. “Mark’s Waltz”
12. “Canadian Tunes (McNabbs/Fourth Floor)”
13. “San Antonio Rose”
14. “Gold Rush” (violin duo with Brad Phillips)
15. “Beaumont Rag”
16. “Dawn Waltz”
17. “Tico-Tico no Fuba”
18. “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”
19. “Ashokan Farewell” (violin duo with Kelly Hall-Tompkins)
20. “Bach Partita No. 2 (Allemande)”
21. “Emily’s Reel” (violin duo with Jeremy Kittel)
22. “La Bamba”
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
