Joseph Brent | |
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Background information | |
Born | Queens, New York | April 6, 1976
Genres | Classical, folk, jazz, bluegrass, experimental |
Instrument(s) | Mandolin, guitar, violin |
Labels | Adhyâropa Records, Sunnyside Records, Vienna Modern Masters, orlando records |
Website | josephbrent |
Joseph Frederick Brent (born April 6, 1976) is an American composer, mandolinist, multi-instrumentalist, [1] and teacher. He is known for his performances and arrangements of rock and indie songs, as well as his original compositions with the ensemble 9 Horses. [2] [3] He taught classical mandolin at Mannes College [4] and currently teaches at Bard College [5] .
Brent attended the Berklee College of Music, and studied the mandolin under Carlo Aonzo in Savona, Italy. [6] He also received instruction from Barry Mitterhoff [7] and Adam Steffey. [8]
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Brent is active as a sideman in several rock, jazz, bluegrass, [9] and folk ensembles, most notably with Regina Spektor, [10] Jewel, Kishi Bashi, [11] Gary Smulyan, [12] and various artists centered on the Brooklyn folk music scene.
Brent also records [13] [14] and has performed with symphony orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, [15] Chicago Symphony, [16] International Contemporary Ensemble, [17] nunc, [18] and the New World Symphony. [19] [20]
On October 16, 2015, Brent's improvising ensemble 9 Horses, featuring violinist Sara Caswell and bassist Shawn Conley released their debut album Perfectest Herald on Sunnyside Records, [21] and in 2016 were the winners of the 21CM LAUNCH: Emerging Artists Competition. [22]
In 2022 Brent founded Adhyâropa Records along with 9 Horses bandmate Andrew Ryan. In addition to releasing Omegah and subsequent material by 9 Horses and its associated members, Adhyâropa has also released albums by Sam Sadigursky, Mr Sun, Jacob Jolliff, and others. [23]
Brent has published two books of mandolin pedagogy, Scales and Arpeggios for Mandolin and Orchestral and Chamber Excerpts for Mandolin, and his book of transcriptions of the lute music of John Dowland for two mandolins, conceived with Alon Sariel, was published in 2015 by paladino music. [24]
In 2008, Brent collaborated with Nova Scotia-based luthier Brian Dean to design a grand concert mandolin he named 'Pähkinä', which is Finnish for 'nut', a reference to the walnut top of the instrument. Among the instrument's many distinctive features are the walnut/maple/spruce wood combination, a zero fret, a semi-lute construction with minimal bracing, a built-in tone guard with a sound pressure relief hole cut into the back, and ornate f-holes which reach around the sides of the instrument. [25] Dean has since built a 10-string version of this model nicknamed 'Kumí', which is currently Brent's primary acoustic instrument. [26] In 2016, Vermont-based luthier Adam Buchwald built him a 5-string, fanned fret electric mandolin. [27]
Year | Artist | Album | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Rob Giles | Straight Down a Crooked Road | violin, string arrangements [29] |
2002 | Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt | Roadside (original cast recording) | mandolin, violin, guitar, banjo [30] |
2003 | Eric Stuart Band | BombShellShocked | violin |
2006 | Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris | 2006 off-Broadway revival cast recording | mandolin, violin [31] |
2008 | Lindsay Katt | Picking Out Boxes | violin |
2010 | Regina Spektor | Live In London | violin |
Joseph Stein & Stan Daniels | Enter Laughing (Original Cast Recording) | violin [32] | |
2012 | Bryan Dunn | Sweetheart of the Music Hall | mandolin, vocals |
Miller & Tysen | Fugitive Songs | mandolin, violin | |
2013 | Kishi Bashi | 7" Box Set | violin |
Erin McKeown | MANIFESTRA | violin, piano, string arrangements [33] | |
Kelli Rae Powell | Live at Jalopy | mandolin, violin [34] | |
Gary Smulyan | Bella Napoli | mandolin, violin [35] | |
2014 | Lauren Kinhan | Circle in a Square | violin [36] |
2015 | Maxine Linehan | Beautiful Songs | mandolin, percussion, violin [37] |
Andi Rae Healy | If You Want To Be My Man | mandolin [38] | |
King Radio | King Radio | mandolin, violin | |
Kishi Bashi | String Quartet Live! | mandolin, violin | |
Lina Orfanos | Mauthausen | mandolin | |
2016 | Kishi Bashi | The Fourth Phase (Original Soundtrack) | violin [39] |
2018 | Various Artists | I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats: All Hail West Texas | electric mandolin, string arrangements with Erin McKeown on 'Jenny' [40] |
2019 | Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein | Oklahoma! (2019 Revival) | mandolin, guitar [41] |
2022 | Lara Downes | Reflections: Scott Joplin Reconsidered | mandolin, vihuela [42] |
2023 | James Moore | Desolation Pops | vocals [43] |
2024 | Christopher Zuar | Exuberance | mandolin [44] |
A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of eight strings. A variety of string types are used, with steel strings being the most common and usually the least expensive. The courses are typically tuned in an interval of perfect fifths, with the same tuning as a violin. Also, like the violin, it is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello and mandobass.
André George Previn was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved success, and the latter two were part of his life until the end. In movies, he arranged and composed music. In jazz, he was a celebrated trio pianist, a piano-accompanist to singers of standards, and pianist-interpreter of songs from the "Great American Songbook". In classical music, he also performed as a pianist but gained television fame as a conductor, and during his last thirty years created his legacy as a composer of art music.
The mandocello is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It is larger than the mandolin, and is the baritone instrument of the mandolin family. Its eight strings are in four paired courses, with the strings in each course tuned in unison. Overall tuning of the courses is in fifths like a mandolin, but beginning on bass C (C2). It can be described as being to the mandolin what the cello is to the violin.
Gerald Drucker was a British classical double bass player, photographer and double bass teacher. Principal Double Bass at the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, and finally the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. He formed the London Double Bass Ensemble in the 1980s.
The Symphony No. 9 by Alfred Schnittke was written two years before his death in 1998. As a result of paralysis following a series of strokes, the manuscript was barely readable, and a performing edition was made by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Schnittke was dissatisfied with Rozhdestvensky's edition, and following his death his widow Irina Schnittke sought to have a reconstruction made that was more faithful to the manuscript. Nikolai Korndorf was first engaged to perform the task, and following his early death the manuscript was passed to Alexander Raskatov. Raskatov not only reconstructed Schnittke's Ninth but also wrote his own composition: Nunc dimittis – In memoriam Alfred Schnittke, which was performed after the symphony in the premiere recording conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
Kaoru Ishibashi, who performs as Kishi Bashi, is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter currently based in Athens, Georgia. He was a founding member of Jupiter One and, for a few years, was a member of the band of Montreal. He embarked on his career as a solo artist in 2011, releasing his debut album 151a at Joyful Noise Recordings in 2012 to immediate fanfare and critical acclaim.
Avi Avital is an Israeli mandolinist. He is best known for his renditions of well-known Baroque and folk music, much of which was originally written for other instruments. He has been nominated for a Grammy award and in 2013 signed a record agreement with Deutsche Grammophon.
Lousy with Sylvianbriar is the twelfth studio album by indie rock band of Montreal. It was released on 8 October 2013. It was recorded at Sunlandic Studios. All songs were engineered by Drew Vandenberg except "Raindrop In My Skull" and "Colossus" done by Kevin Barnes.
Evan Marshall is a virtuoso mandolinist, prominent as an arranger of classical music pieces for the mandolin and proponent of the duo style of playing. His name comes up in mandolin-oriented music circles as one of the best of modern mandolin players, one who has taken the techniques of early mandolin soloists to new levels. He is also a recording artist with Rounder Records and teaches mandolin. He has given classes for the Classical Mandolin Society of America, the Mandolin Symposium and the American Mandolin and Guitar Summer School, and has been associated with the Conservatory of Music at Biola University. As a performer, he has worked as a featured guest with several symphony orchestras, including the Houston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a former member of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies.
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Sara Caswell is an American violinist who has worked with 9 Horses, Esperanza Spalding, and David Krakauer.
9 Horses is a chamber jazz group from the United States consisting of composer and mandolinist Joseph Brent, violinist Sara Caswell, and bassist Andrew Ryan, originating from New York City.
Ugo Orlandi is a musicologist, a specialist in the history of music, a university professor and internationally renowned mandolinist virtuoso. Among worldwide musicians, professional classical musicians are a small group; among them is an even smaller group of classical mandolinists. Among members of this group, Ugo Orlandi is considered "distinguished." Music historian Paul Sparks called him "a leading figure in the rehabilitation of the eighteenth-century mandolin repertoire, having recorded many concertos from this period."
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The mandolin is a modern member of the lute family, dating back to Italy in the 18th century. The instrument was played across Europe but then disappeared after the Napoleonic Wars. Credit for creating the modern bowlback version of the instrument goes to the Vinaccia family of Naples. The deep bowled mandolin, especially the Neapolitan form, became common in the 19th century, following the appearance of an international hit, the Spanish Students. They toured Europe and America, and their performances created a stir that helped the mandolin to become widely popular.
Following its invention and development in Italy the mandolin spread throughout the European continent. The instrument was primarily used in a classical tradition with mandolin orchestras, so called Estudiantinas or in Germany Zupforchestern, appearing in many cities. Following this continental popularity of the mandolin family, local traditions appeared outside Europe in the Americas and in Japan. Travelling mandolin virtuosi like Carlo Curti, Giuseppe Pettine, Raffaele Calace and Silvio Ranieri contributed to the mandolin becoming a "fad" instrument in the early 20th century. This "mandolin craze" was fading by the 1930s, but just as this practice was falling into disuse, the mandolin found a new niche in American country, old-time music, bluegrass and folk music. More recently, the Baroque and Classical mandolin repertory and styles have benefited from the raised awareness of and interest in Early music.
Rudy Cipolla, born Rodolfo Cipolla, was an Italian American mandolinist and composer.