Adhyâropa Records announces the release of Jacob Jolliff’s Instrumentals Vol. 2: Mandolin Mysteries, the latest in the series of virtuosic romps by the rising acoustic music star. A follow up to his influential 2018 release, Instrumentals, Vol. 1, his latest edition of all original music shows the development in his compositional skill while retaining the fiery group playing that has marked his previous albums.
“There’s a theme running through the album that this could be music to accompany a mystery or dimestore book, hence the name,” Jolliff says. “Vera is named after a detective show, and The Art Heist Suite has a fun James Bond spy thriller feel to it.”
True to its title, the music on this album conveys a sense of fun, slinky peril behind every corner, relying less on the band’s considerable technical abilities than in previous ventures and instead focusing on Jolliff’s developing compositional acumen. Jolliff notes, “It’s different making a record now that I’m in my mid-30’s; I was 27 when the first Instrumentals album came out. When I listen back to my older music I can really hear the difference in my playing from then to now. At that age there’s still a sense that you have something to prove and that’s not a bad thing in your 20s – there’s a certain type of tune I would write back then that I still enjoy but these days there’s something else I’m trying to express through my writing and playing.”
In fact much of the music here wasn’t written on mandolin at all. “I wrote most of this album at the piano, which was a great way to open up new possibilities. I don’t really play piano that well, just well enough to pick out melodies, but in that creative space I was able to just focus on developing melodies rather than executing what I already know is technically possible on my primary instrument.”
Jolliff’s accomplices for this caper are George Jackson on fiddle, Ross Martin on guitar, and Myles Sloniker on bass. They more than hold their own next to Jolliff’s pyrotechnics, and in fact carve out unique supporting voices within Jolliff’s intricate textures. The thrilling duel between Jackson and Martin on ‘Los Angeles County Breakdown,’ like two cat burglars after the same prize, is an early album highlight. On the late-album burner ‘Silver Blaze’, Jackson holds strong against Jolliff’s barrage of notes and returns fire in kind. And Sloniker’s bass work is exemplary throughout, keeping the music rooted and delivering his own fusillade when called upon.
The album’s centerpiece, the three-movement Art Heist Suite, was originally written for FreshGrass as part of their Concerto Commissioning program. “It was a fun and new challenge to write a long-form piece like that, with several movements sharing melodic material. None of it was written down, everyone just memorized their parts and we let them develop individually and organically.” Jolliff’s solo on Mvt 1 is simply astounding; there just hasn’t been mandolin playing like it anywhere before and Jolliff can rightfully lay claim to being the state of the art.
“Most of the music was written in the past year, while we were touring constantly together. Lots of fun time in the car, staying up late jamming, dealing with sound issues and just being out on the road as a group, we developed a rhythm and cohesiveness you can really feel on the recording. We all listen well and have a good feel for what each other is doing. These musicians are a joy to play with and I think we’ve made something that people will enjoy listening to.”
Stream Instrumentals Vol. 2: Mandolin Mysteries on SoundCloud. Download codes and physical copies of the album are available upon request. For media requests, please contact Adhyâropa Records at adhyaroparecords@gmail.com.
BIO:
Jacob Jolliff is one of the country’s premier contemporary mandolinists. Jacob toured as a member of the beloved New England roots band, Joy Kills Sorrow, while attending Berklee School of Music on a full scholarship. In 2012, Jolliff won the National Mandolin Championship in Winfield, KS. A fixture of the national bluegrass community, he has collaborated and shared the stage with Darol Anger, Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury, Michael Daves, Tony Trischka, and David Grisman to name a few. When Joy Kills Sorrow disbanded in 2014, Jolliff got the call to join Yonder Mountain String Band and toured full time with them until the end of 2019. This last year, Jolliff released a new album with his group, The Jacob Jolliff Band, and also toured with Béla Fleck’s as part of My Bluegrass Heart.
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