Mike Mills: Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra

by Robert McDuffie, Mike Mills

Overview

The chief attraction of this release on Philip Glass' Orange Mountain Music label is the presence of Mike Mills, bassist for the durable Georgia alternative rock band R.E.M. Mills wrote the Concerto for violin, rock band, and string orchestra at the behest of violinist Robert McDuffie, Mills' childhood friend from the city of Macon. The MCS Ensemble that provides the orchestral component is from the violinist's McDuffie Center for Strings in Macon, and they do that small Georgia city proud: it has up to now been known mostly for soul music and Southern rock. Mills has said: "With this piece, a lot of people are referring to it as a classical piece. I'm not. There are certainly classical elements to it, but I don't refer to it as a classical piece." If you keep this in mind, you'll do fine. It's a set of six instrumental songs (sample any one of the six for an idea) with, presumably, tunes and rhythms by Mills, "orchestration and additional music" by David Mallamud, and violin by McDuffie, trading off with electric guitarist William Tonks and the rest of a rock band. Mills does not try to build larger classical structures, but he does take on the problem of balancing the rock band with the violin and strings, and his solutions are simple but workable in a way that few earlier attempts have been. The classical experiments of Emerson, Lake & Palmer in the '70s are probably the nearest comparison here, although Mills works on a smaller scale; the music does not, for the most part, sound much like R.E.M. Mills lets the fundamentally divergent rock band and string orchestra revolve around two fulcrums: McDuffie's violin and the temporary suspension of the rock rhythms. The violin can either duet with the electric guitar or lead the string orchestra. This builds the elusive balance between the two poles, and in general no component of the ensemble is overwhelmed. Part of the credit may be due to OMM's crack engineering staff, but the work has also been performed live to some success, and this is due to the musical thinking involved. The MCS Ensemble delivers clean performances of John Adams' Road Movies and of the Philip Glass Symphony No. 3; both are enjoyable, but a work by Michael Daugherty, who approaches similar problems from the classical direction, might have been more instructive. At any rate, R.E.M. fans and those interested in classical-rock fusions will want this release. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	01/20/2017
Label:	Orange Mountain Music
UPC:	0801837011326
Rank:	119727

Tracks

1. Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra~Movement I: Pour It Like You Mean It
2. Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra~Movement II: On the Okeefenokee
3. Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra~Movement III: Sonny Side Up
4. Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra~Movement IV: Stardancers' Waltz
5. Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra~Movement V: Nightswimming
6. Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra~Movement VI: You Can Go Home Again
7. Road Movies~Relaxed Groove
8. Road Movies~Meditative
9. Road Movies~40% Swing
10. Symphony No. 3~Movement I
11. Symphony No. 3~Movement II
12. Symphony No. 3~Movement III
13. Symphony No. 3~Movement IV

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Robert McDuffie   Primary Artist,Violin
Mike Mills   Primary Artist,Bass,Piano,Guitar
William Tonks   Guitar
John Neff   Guitar
MCS Ensemble   Ensemble
Elizabeth Pridgen   Piano
Ward Stare   Conductor
Patrick Ferguson   Percussion,Drums

Technical Credits

Patty Crowe   Production Coordination,Executive Chief
Luke Howard   Liner Notes
David Mallamud   Additional Music,Orchestration
Kurt Munkacsi   Executive Producer
Jarrett Baker   Assistant Producer
DeWitt Burton   Production Manager
Daniel Watson   Assistant Engineer
Philip Glass   Executive Producer,Composer
Don Christensen   Executive Producer
John Adams   Composer
David Barbe   Engineer
Mike Mills   Composer
John Paul Jones   Arranger
Michael Riesman   Mixing,Producer,Mastering