Événement

The Bee Eaters on Whidbey Island

[The Bee Eaters] combine chamber musics finely calibrated arrangements with bluegrasss playful virtuosity and pop musics melodic resourcefulness. -The Boston Globe

here come the Bee Eaters. so tastefully arranged and so well played. They rescue the hammer dulcimer from all cliches, and bring the music forward to right here and now.
-Tim OBrien

It is a joy to hear both the exploration of this music and the grounding of it simultaneously. Also, I love the emphasis on the simple beauty of the acoustic instruments.
-Edgar Meyer
(3 time Grammy-winning composer/bassist/MacArthur Fellow)

The Bee Eaters are the instrumental cream of the brand new string nation.
-Darol Anger

Brother-sister duo Tristan and Tashina Clarridge, long known and lauded by those steeped in the American fiddle tradition, are joined by hammer dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman. Together, they weave a tapestry of sound all their own, drawing on roots in bluegrass, Celtic, jazz and old-time traditions. While todays new breed often produces an amalgamation of sounds and styles based on a distant view, The Bee Eaters were raised embedded in these traditions raised to mold, meld, shape them and carry them forward, leaving their own indelible marks in the process. With Tashinas delicate fiddle and Tristans grounding cello wrapped around Simons ethereal dulcimer, they have created a never-before-heard sound in American music. No tricks. No pyrotechnics. Three instrumental voices, united in their musical exploration.

Grand National Fiddle Champion Tashina Clarridge has toured with Mark OConnor, Tony Trischka and Laurie Lewis and has performed at Carnegie Hall as a part of MacArthur Fellow/Grammy-winning bassist Edgar Meyers Young Artists program. Multi-instrumentalist brother Tristan is a 5-time Grand National Fiddle Champion and a pioneering cellist, synthesizing traditional folk influences with rhythmic vocabulary from jazz, rock and pop music, and leading a revolution among adventurous young cellists throughout the country. He has toured the world with bluegrass/nu-folk sensation Crooked Still and Darol Angers Republic of Strings, as well as Mike Marshall, Bruce Molsky and Cape Breton fiddle phenomenon Natalie MacMaster. Hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman brings a whole new approach to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique. His inventive virtuosic touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world.
Their focus on their music and on each other is tight and complete. Their melodic lines and rhythmic phrases dance (and sometimes roil) over, under and around each other. There is sometimes dissonance but always an ultimate harmony.