I keep coming back watching and leaving comments. He may be the best overall musician alive today. He understands theory that would make music majors say what? His ability to teach is something to watch. And using this performance as an example, he’s able to wildly at will intervie improve , time changes and signatures with ease I have never seen. He’s comfortable playing anything at ease. The part where he finger picks this is insane but it just shows his versatility. Quite simply he’s an absolute joy to watch what only a few can do.
Couldn't agree more. He is on an entirely different plane of existence. He's like the product of the perfect storm of a thousand factors all coming together. He's got musicality flowing constantly out of every pore on his body. I honestly don't think I've ever heard him actually miss a note (?) and I've binged on him a lot throughout the years. HE'S ALWAYS ON FIRE. Endless creativity, innovation, technique, song writing, energy, etc... the list goes on. Imagine how freeing it must be to pick up an instrument and say exactly what you want too. Complete domination over the fretboard and technical ability. That to me seems like the ultimate freedom
never have i seen such command of an instrument, any instrument. and such amazing improvisational skill, and musicality. this guy is a genius. oh , wait, i guess folks at McArthur Foundation figured that out
His improv skills are well beyond badass. Flawless technique and he probably has no idea what or where he’s going to do until a few seconds before he does it. The hours of practice he has put into the mandolin has to be in the high 5 figures
@@adamkeenan5707 Um no, there’s some stiff competition there: Newton, Einstein, Shakespeare, Da Vinci, Bach, Art Tatum, Sondheim, etc. Let’s just go with best mandolin player.
Herbert Wells They’re all well and good but apparently Einstein went to his grave regretfully never having learned ‘Rawhide’ on the mandolin so who’s the real winner sir?
@@adamkeenan5707 Einstein was an exceptional fiddle player, apparently. Just by placing his bow on the strings, he could clear a crowded room in 15 seconds! Not many of us could do that.
God gave our generation possibly the best mandolin player to date! What an excellent snap-shot of Thile's improvisational ability. Makes it sparkle like no other I've heard.
Oh Lordy... Play on Logan ! I love Thile, sometimes. I love Mike Compton ALL the time. Evèr hear the harp player from Blues Traveller ? Awesome talent, but( Lord forgive me ) too, too much except in doses that could be absorbed .
Thanks, Steve, for this flash of mandolin moonshine. Chris brought Olympus and Kentucky to Floyd, just uphill from Franklin County, down across the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a few miles from the Woods brothers shop in Stuart and even closer to the Floyd Country Store. What a joyous place, a crossroads of America, a Mecca of music. And what a fine musician!
Only chanced upon Chris Thile through being reminded of how I always listenened to Garrisson and all his amazing stories and auspicious guests.. Next Minute... The Pucnch Brothers and swathes of virtuosity (no less) coming out of all your hands...Many thanks..
How is it that Chris Thile doesn't have a signature Gibson mandolin yet? That'll blow new life in Gibson's Mandolin sales. Perhaps a mid priced simplified version would also be awesome for us less fortunate musicians who are unable to spend 4000+ dollars on an instrument :) .
If I'm not mistaken -- he had earlier said that anyone who brought him an unopened bottle of a fine whiskey (he named it, but I don't recall), would earn a special playing of a Bach Partita. I could be wrong, this may not the the time he did that. If one can drink normally, I agree with you -- no problem. It's only when the drug takes over, that it can ruin the voice (I believe). Don't believe we're seeing that here.
There's actually not a traditional reel in there... he starts with "Jessamyn's Reel," which is one of his his originals, and also plays the traditional "Rabbit In A Log."
Yeah, thanks bud.... i was just using the 3/4-4/4 time as an illustration... not meaning to apply it to the Reel. He changes things up so quickly i don't think any audience could follow him... if you get my drift.
@Stephen Bourassa Meh it's alright if it's a rock concert with a steady beat & loud drums. Bluegrass rhythm is hard enough for the musicians themselves to keep up with add the fact he's playing solo and chooses his own pace, I don't think he'd want the audience clapping along lol
+DJ Grumbles It's typical for mandolinists to rest their hand on the bridge to give a nice contact point. It makes it easier to be precise with your picking when your hand isn't floating over the instrument.
I think musicians have a very special ability to draw adrenaline to couple up with their God given talent. Probably not so much energy from coffee ☕ or they might have to play part of the concert from a different location! Comedians on the other hand might be better off sucking on chocolate covered coffee beans instead of drinking coffee 24/7 By the way, what's your secret Jerry?
OK I look at the comments and listened to him but I just dont get it. It sounds horrible to me, I do not know why but I think the high pitch is what I don't like.
Roxana Müller You can't hear anything Irish because there isn't any. He says the word "Irish" at the beginning because he misunderstood a request for "Jessamyn's Reel", a tune from his album "Deciever." He then goes into some improv and then into "Rabbit in a Log."
audiobyrne I think you are rite, I do not listen to mandolin. I fined the high pitch and ''pingie'' sound not to be pleasant to me. This is the nature of music, we all like different things. I am not saying anything bad about this video, I'm just saying I don't get it.
normally I would agree, but as a musician it can be really annoying, especially if you are playing something solo like this. it locks you into THEIR beat (because let's be real, the audience won't follow him and know what he'll do next) and he can't do the nuances and tempo changes he normally would without it being a big cluster cuss.
I was in a house band doing a touring show he was a featured artist on back in 2011. We were in a hotel bar in San Fransisco going in a circle playing songs and drinking. It gets around to him, and he played this very song and in very similar fashion. I jokingly said "now you're showing off". He just smirked and and said "but of course" and proceeded to play even crazier. He's a supremely cool very nice guy, who is also fully aware of how insanely godlike his playing is. God bless him.
+Joanne MacDonald You should, I've been blessed to play with/for a lot of incredible people both famous and unknown. As far as raw talent and technical skill, he is tops.
A traditional irish reel on mandolin would sound like this: th-cam.com/video/vzO9dMnTrLc/w-d-xo.html Of course this is too simple for Chris Thile. He puts his signature on everything he plays and you hardly recognise the original.
I was just imagining someone who wants to learn some tunes for a traditional irish session and clicks on this vid because it says "traditional irish reel" ...
He's insanely skilled, but when he does those long solos you lose track of the beat. He does his own thing and the "jig" part of it is lost. You can't dance to it.
ensemble88 that's the thing about seeing him solo. You kind of have to be along for the ride. But I do prefer him with nickel creek or punch brothers where the beat is always present.
I keep coming back watching and leaving comments. He may be the best overall musician alive today. He understands theory that would make music majors say what? His ability to teach is something to watch. And using this performance as an example, he’s able to wildly at will intervie improve , time changes and signatures with ease I have never seen. He’s comfortable playing anything at ease. The part where he finger picks this is insane but it just shows his versatility. Quite simply he’s an absolute joy to watch what only a few can do.
You will never see anyone master this instrument like this in your lifetime. Zero flaws in his technique and improv skills from another world.
Couldn't agree more. He is on an entirely different plane of existence. He's like the product of the perfect storm of a thousand factors all coming together. He's got musicality flowing constantly out of every pore on his body. I honestly don't think I've ever heard him actually miss a note (?) and I've binged on him a lot throughout the years. HE'S ALWAYS ON FIRE. Endless creativity, innovation, technique, song writing, energy, etc... the list goes on.
Imagine how freeing it must be to pick up an instrument and say exactly what you want too. Complete domination over the fretboard and technical ability. That to me seems like the ultimate freedom
I always want to listen to Chris Thile while studying, but then I just sit there mesmerized and never get anything done. Hanging on every single note.
never have i seen such command of an instrument, any instrument. and such amazing improvisational skill, and musicality. this guy is a genius. oh , wait, i guess folks at McArthur Foundation figured that out
You don’t listen to jazz, do you?
You haven’t heard Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, etc., etc.?
His improv skills are well beyond badass. Flawless technique and he probably has no idea what or where he’s going to do until a few seconds before he does it. The hours of practice he has put into the mandolin has to be in the high 5 figures
I think that he could be the best mandolin player of all time..
zachwbc best person anything of all time
Could be? Is! Unquestionably.
@@adamkeenan5707 Um no, there’s some stiff competition there: Newton, Einstein, Shakespeare, Da Vinci, Bach, Art Tatum, Sondheim, etc. Let’s just go with best mandolin player.
Herbert Wells They’re all well and good but apparently Einstein went to his grave regretfully never having learned ‘Rawhide’ on the mandolin so who’s the real winner sir?
@@adamkeenan5707 Einstein was an exceptional fiddle player, apparently. Just by placing his bow on the strings, he could clear a crowded room in 15 seconds! Not many of us could do that.
God gave our generation possibly the best mandolin player to date! What an excellent snap-shot of Thile's improvisational ability. Makes it sparkle like no other I've heard.
Sup, Bradley! Fancy seeing you here.
Yeah, T-Bone Burnett called Thile a "once-in-a-century" musician and compared him to Louis Armstrong.
haha happy to hear from you Logan. hope you're well brother
Reckon xxx
Logan Green Burnett naming himself after T-bone Walker is nothing short of pretentious.
I've never seen anyone deserve a swig more than that man.
So nice he lets the audience watch him while he practices scales....
It’s so much more than that if you know what to listen for.
Just realized its not even possible for a mandolinist to get more skilled than this. My dreams are dead....
Doesn't matter! Do it all for the love of the music.
Oh Lordy...
Play on Logan !
I love Thile, sometimes.
I love Mike Compton ALL the time.
Evèr hear the harp player from Blues Traveller ? Awesome talent, but( Lord forgive me ) too, too much except in doses that could be absorbed .
Thats was me who requested it and i said jessamyrs reel.he thought i said irish
This is so incredible.... i can't even.... what just happened.
In a class by himself. It must be lonely at times, but I am always left just amazed after hearing him.
Me too, utterly gobsmacked every time!
WONDERFUL SINGING , AND PHENOMENALLY PLAYED NOISE AS THE INSTRUMENTAL BREAK
Ok I'm totally mesmerized to say the least!! I just ordered a Loar mandolin, now I don't know whether to be super-inspired or use it as a boat oar
This guy is fucking off the charts and then some. Ultra badass
Thanks, Steve, for this flash of mandolin moonshine. Chris brought Olympus and Kentucky to Floyd, just uphill from Franklin County, down across the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a few miles from the Woods brothers shop in Stuart and even closer to the Floyd Country Store. What a joyous place, a crossroads of America, a Mecca of music. And what a fine musician!
I love how happy he is the whole time he plays :D
Only chanced upon Chris Thile through being reminded of how I always listenened to Garrisson and all his amazing stories and auspicious guests.. Next Minute...
The Pucnch Brothers and swathes of virtuosity (no less) coming out of all your hands...Many thanks..
This man inspires me to build my first F5 mandolin and hopefully I can play it with just an ounce of good as he's doing here.
You know it’s special when they don’t look like they are putting in any effort.
the best musician alive today. and he seems like a very nice fellow, too.
Amazing! Chris, you're one of my new musical heroes :P
like seeing paganini or Mozart...Can't be described
GOSH!! THIS GUY IS SUCH A GENIOUS!!!
He's coming to LA in July. Can't wait!
I love this guy... well you know what I mean!
I love this tune! Thile is a genuis!
6:32 Straight up Chet Atkins on a mandolin. Impossible.
Just makes me smile...Amazing!
Wow. Just wow.
Musical-Flipping-Genius!!!!!!!!!
How is it that Chris Thile doesn't have a signature Gibson mandolin yet? That'll blow new life in Gibson's Mandolin sales. Perhaps a mid priced simplified version would also be awesome for us less fortunate musicians who are unable to spend 4000+ dollars on an instrument :) .
+Sam Vermeulen It's because Chris is too busy playing a $200000 mandolin haha
Yeah, I heard that. Was that like Travis style on the mandolin? With a flat pick? This dude is sick.
Hi yes he is really feeling the music just watch him move
Might be good if "Jessamyn's Reel" were in the title.
WOW HE IS AMAZING
Very entertaining. Has a wild tremolo.
Somehow I keep going for a wrong note and I’ve watched it over 25 times.
Magic!
6:32 is just sick
Haha I love how he calls the crowd out for their off tempo clapping at the beginning. In a nice way of course
AH JAYSUS! THAT'S THE GOAT'S GENOLICKERS!
Well. That's just..fine.
Holy sheee it!
Lovely sound! An-mhaith! Ever coming to Belgium?
where is Belgium?
Oops! Maybe it was "where IN Belgium?" Sorry, I might have been drunk that night.
If I'm not mistaken -- he had earlier said that anyone who brought him an unopened bottle of a fine whiskey (he named it, but I don't recall), would earn a special playing of a Bach Partita. I could be wrong, this may not the the time he did that. If one can drink normally, I agree with you -- no problem. It's only when the drug takes over, that it can ruin the voice (I believe). Don't believe we're seeing that here.
For all the thumbs down, all I can say is
"Jealousy will get you nowhere"
He was playing in 4/4. It's because the clappers were speeding up.
Hey Stephen.... try playing in 3/4 time when people are clapping in 4/4..... he shushed them very nicely and they laughed in response.
There's actually not a traditional reel in there... he starts with "Jessamyn's Reel," which is one of his his originals, and also plays the traditional "Rabbit In A Log."
Yeah, thanks bud.... i was just using the 3/4-4/4 time as an illustration... not meaning to apply it to the Reel. He changes things up so quickly i don't think any audience could follow him... if you get my drift.
Wow! 6:40 all of a sudden I hear Doc Watson. blending technique
Ahoy!
I'm pretty sure this would be considered shredding
How can I learn that
What did he say at 0:45 sec?
"don't drag". friendly reminder to the crowd to stay on tempo when they clap :)
@Stephen Bourassa Meh it's alright if it's a rock concert with a steady beat & loud drums. Bluegrass rhythm is hard enough for the musicians themselves to keep up with add the fact he's playing solo and chooses his own pace, I don't think he'd want the audience clapping along lol
Does he rest his palm on the bridge? At least during the solo.
+DJ Grumbles It's typical for mandolinists to rest their hand on the bridge to give a nice contact point. It makes it easier to be precise with your picking when your hand isn't floating over the instrument.
Anyone know/recognize the song selections?
Jessamyn's Reel into Rabbit in a Log, with all kinds of crazy shit mixed in.
thee-lee
What really amazes me is he doesn't even look.
I love most of Chris Thile's stuff, but for Cryin' out loud, if the audience wants to clap along, deal with it!
I think he just asked them not to drag. Tempo
They were off time it could have messed him up if he wasn’t a demon that was born mastering the mandolin
like REALLY but with a TH instead of an R.
I think musicians have a very special ability to draw adrenaline to couple up with their God given talent. Probably not so much energy from coffee ☕ or they might have to play part of the concert from a different location! Comedians on the other hand might be better off sucking on chocolate covered coffee beans instead of drinking coffee 24/7 By the way, what's your secret Jerry?
Chick..Chick...Boom! He blew it up! Ok, Corny, but he did!
Chris? What's wrong with you... I love you.. And I definitely pooped my pants around 6:30...
If Art Tatum had been a hillbilly.
Playing like that I can forgive him for looking like a spacecat…
OK I look at the comments and listened to him but I just dont get it. It sounds horrible to me, I do not know why but I think the high pitch is what I don't like.
Don't blame it on the instrument or on the player - it's the amplification which is horrible here.
Me comment is: I cannot hear anything irish.
Roxana Müller You mean the recording is crap? eg sound quality? and this is not typical of Irish music?
Roxana Müller
You can't hear anything Irish because there isn't any. He says the word "Irish" at the beginning because he misunderstood a request for "Jessamyn's Reel", a tune from his album "Deciever." He then goes into some improv and then into "Rabbit in a Log."
I guess you haven't listened to much mandolin. It sounds fine and the playing is absolutely astounding if you know how to listen to mandolin.
audiobyrne I think you are rite, I do not listen to mandolin. I fined the high pitch and ''pingie'' sound not to be pleasant to me. This is the nature of music, we all like different things. I am not saying anything bad about this video, I'm just saying I don't get it.
I wonder why...
Sounds like Nickel Creek
Brilliant, yup. Irish?? Nope.
normally I would agree, but as a musician it can be really annoying, especially if you are playing something solo like this. it locks you into THEIR beat (because let's be real, the audience won't follow him and know what he'll do next) and he can't do the nuances and tempo changes he normally would without it being a big cluster cuss.
5 dislikes, all mistakes !
How many of you counted all the mistakes he made?
Zero
its his own original piece and it has many things that sound reel like but it isnt an actual traditional piece. its better... haaha
Haha, I think he just feels like showing off sometimes!
Show off. ;D
I was in a house band doing a touring show he was a featured artist on back in 2011. We were in a hotel bar in San Fransisco going in a circle playing songs and drinking. It gets around to him, and he played this very song and in very similar fashion. I jokingly said "now you're showing off". He just smirked and and said "but of course" and proceeded to play even crazier. He's a supremely cool very nice guy, who is also fully aware of how insanely godlike his playing is. God bless him.
Love your comment. I haven't (yet) had the privilege of seeing him in a live performance, but I'd sure like to see him someday. 😏
+Joanne MacDonald You should, I've been blessed to play with/for a lot of incredible people both famous and unknown. As far as raw talent and technical skill, he is tops.
A traditional irish reel on mandolin would sound like this:
th-cam.com/video/vzO9dMnTrLc/w-d-xo.html
Of course this is too simple for Chris Thile. He puts his signature on everything he plays
and you hardly recognise the original.
Lol #1: Who cares?
#2: Despite the title, this is not a traditional reel. It's written by Chris...
I was just imagining someone who wants to learn some tunes for a traditional irish session and clicks on this vid because it says "traditional irish reel" ...
Thomas Szejnmann True. The title is very misleading.
highly doubt it better
Ｉｔ’ｓ Ｎｏｔ Ｍｕｓｉｃ．Ｔｈｉｓ Ｉｓ Ｓｉｒｃｕｓ！！
Definitely not an Irish reel
=
He's insanely skilled, but when he does those long solos you lose track of the beat. He does his own thing and the "jig" part of it is lost. You can't dance to it.
ensemble88 that's the thing about seeing him solo. You kind of have to be along for the ride. But I do prefer him with nickel creek or punch brothers where the beat is always present.
Showoff :)