Butch Baldassari has released a new old recording of jazz mandolin music on his Sound Art label.

The Vespa Love Festival sessions was recorded in 1997 with Butch on mandolin, Jim Hoke on soprano sax, Byron House and Andy Spicher on bass, Frosty Horton, Gene Ford and John Mock on guitars, Andy Peake on drums, David Hofner on keys, Jim Hoke on recorder and Dale Armstrong on percussion.

The all-instrumental CD includes a couple of rock covers, some pop tunes and five new compositions from Frosty Horton.

Butch said that the odd and interesting title arose during session chatter, and led to the lovely retro-style cover art.

There are audio samples for two of the tracks on the Sound Art Recordings web site.

In other Butch Baldassari news… The most recent health update regarding his ongoing battle with cancer reports some very encouraging news from his last MRI.

“The results were good. The central core of the tumour was approx 19 x 17 cm in November and now measured approx 15 x 13 cm. We were told that there is also a lot less swelling in the surrounding tissues, harder to measure but less swollen. Butch’s eyes lit up like a child’s. He gave it the old two thumbs up, like Caesar letting both gladiators live or like Siskel and Ebert giving a movie good acclaim! We walked out 10 feet above the ground, our heads in the clouds, elated. It was close to freezing outside but I didn’t even feel it until a strong gust reminded me. It didn’t matter.”

Read the entire update online.

What a treat to get an upbeat and positive message from Butch Baldassari this Christmas! As our regular readers know, Butch has been undergoing treatment for brain cancer, and until recently, had not had the strength to even pick up a mandolin.

Perhaps a Christmas donation to Butch’s Medical Fund, would be a nice gesture this time of year?

I always look forward to the Christmas holiday season. I’m especially fond of Lionel Trains and Christmas decorations, indoors and out.

I also can’t wait to put up the tree and decorate it with my wife and son.

Our house is always the first and the last to have up lights.

A Gibson F-5L mandolin has been donated by the manufacturer to benefit the Butch Baldassari Medical Fund, and is being offered for sale via Gruhn Guitars in Nashville.

All proceeds from the sale will go to Butch’s Medical Fund.

This is a “Fern” style mandolin, described on Gruhn’s site as follows:

This instrument (sn 70920020) was signed Sept. 20, 2007 by Dave Harvey. It features tone bar bracing, gold-plated hardware, hand-stained finish, rectangular hard case and full warranty. MSLP is $8443.

Bids are submitted by email, and will be accepted through Monday, December 3, at 2:00 p.m. (EST). Bidding details, and some additional photos, can be seen on the Gruhn Guitars web site.

Several other newly donated instruments will be offered for sale in a similar manner over the net few months, including a Collings MT, a Weber F-style and a Trinity College Celtic mandola.

With regard to Butch’s health, Mandolin Cafe has posted a very encouraging report from just before Thanksgiving.

It has been a very upbeat couple of weeks at the Baldassari household and once again, I am in the “pinching myself mode.” Butch awakened last Wednesday, sat up in bed and said, “My legs are back!” It was fantastic! He walked around fast and straight and didn’t miss a beat. That night he joined us at church supper where Blake and I go every (other) Wednesday alone. Many of our church family took note of, not only his presence but, the fact that Butch was doing laps, almost in sing-song rhythm, around Fellowship Hall!

Read the whole report at Mandolin Cafe.

Mandolin Cafe has details on another Butch Baldassari benefit concert, this time in Seattle on December 1 at Dusty Strings.

Regular readers of The Bluegrass Blog will recall that Butch was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor earlier this year, and has been undergoing rigorous and aggressive chemo and radiation therapy to arrest the growth of the tumor. His contributions to the mandolin, bluegrass and music industry communities are well-documented, as a performer, composer, band leader and record label owner.

The show will feature performances from John Reischman, John Miller, Orville Johnson, John Miller, Grant Dermody, Trisha Gagnon and Nick Hornbuckle. All proceeds from the $25 tickets will support the Baldassari Medical Fund.

If you are unable to attend the show, but would like to make a contribution to Butch’s Medical Fund, you can do so online. Mandolin Cafe has set up a PayPal account where online credit card or PayPal contributions are sent directly to Butch.

If you would prefer to send a donation by mail - or simply pass along notes of encouragement - the address is:

Butch Baldassari
125 43rd Ave. N.
Nashville, TN 37209

Here’s another reminder about the Butch Baldassari benefit concert to be held tomorrow, October 22, on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. A long-time and greatly-beloved member of the mandolin community, Butch is battling an inoperable brain tumor, and proceeds from the concert will be given to Butch to help with both medical and family expenses.

The all-star lineup of performers who are donating their time for this show come from a wide range of musical styles, and include Dierks Bentley, Shawn Camp, Kathy Chiavola, John Cowan, Bela Fleck, The Grascals, Tony McManus, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, Maura O’Connell with John Mock, Mark O’Connor, Ricky Skaggs and Three Ring Circle.

Both general admission ($50) and patron tickets ($125) can be purchased online.

Butch toured as a member of bluegrass bands Weary Hearts and Lonesome Standard Time, and later founded the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, to perform music written for a mandolin orchestra. He has also founded and run the Sound Art Recordings label, and has taught at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music since 1996.

If you are unable to attend the show, but would like to make a contribution to Butch’s Medical Fund, you can do so online. Mandolin Cafe has set up a PayPal account where online credit card or PayPal contributions are sent directly to Butch.

If you would prefer to send a donation by mail - or simply pass along notes of encouragement - the address is:

Butch Baldassari
125 43rd Ave. N.
Nashville, TN 37209

Following is the most recent update from Sinclair Baldassari (Butch’s wife) about his condition:

Dear Friends and Family,

Our doctor’s visit this week was pretty good. Butch’s blood tests show some improvement in some areas of concern. We still are working hard to gain him some weight, energy and strength. With his mother, Pat, and me waiting on him hand and foot, and with Butch eating all day long, you’d think he’d be fighting off obesity. Instead, he has lost a pound in the last two weeks. We all feel he is about to turn a corner, though. A neighbor loaned us a stationery bike of sorts. It’s set up horizontally more like a rowing machine so the fear of Butch losing his balance isn’t there. Butch has used it 15 minutes a day since getting it. Since he is not quite strong enough to start chemo, we are scheduled to have another MRI in three weeks from there, we will plan a course of action. (more…)

Mandolin Cafe has posted details for a special all-star show in Nashville on October 22, all for the benefit of Butch Baldassari. The show will be held on the Vanderbilt University campus at 7:00 p.m.

Butch has been battling a brain tumor with intense and aggressive treatments, and the proceeds from this concert will go help defray his many medical expenses - and other financial obligations he faces.

Performers who are slated to appear include Butch’s Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, Bela Fleck, Dierks Bentley, 3 Ring Circle, John Cowan and several others.

Most of our readers know that Butch is a veteran bluegrass and mandolin music artist, writer and arranger who also founded and manages his own label, Sound Art Recordings. He is a long time friend to our music, and one who has contributed greatly to its excellence and continued expansion.

For those unable to attend the 10/22 show, donations to his medical fund can be made through Mandolin Cafe, where they have set up a support fund for Butch.

Donations by check and cards/well wishes can be sent by mail to:

You can get more details on the Baldassari Benefit Show at Mandolin Cafe.

Mandolin Cafe is handling the sale of a Gilchrist Model 1 mandolin, recently acquired through an anonymous donor, which be sold online to raise money for Butch Baldassari’s medical fund. Butch is undergoing treatment for an inoperable brain tumor, and was hospitalized again recently after experiencing sudden swelling in his brain.

This instrument was a custom commission built by Steve Gilchrist, an A style, oval hole mandolin. Additional images can be viewed at Mandolin Cafe.

Offers will be accepted over a two week period, with the mandolin going to the highest bid over $6000. The online sale will begin in the next few days, with an exact date to be announced later this week on the Mandolin Cafe front page.

We just received a note from Butch Baldassari, good friend to The Bluegrass Blog and anyone who loves bluegrass or mandolin music. Many of our readers may know that Butch, a prolific mandolin performer (Nashville Mandolin Ensemble), instructor and the head of the Sound Art Recordings label, was diagnosed earlier this year with a cancer in his brain, and has been undergoing treatment.

Here is his most recent update:

As of today, 7/24/07, I have completed my 6 weeks of Radiation and pill-based form of chemo Temodar. I was feeling pretty good until about Saturday July 14, then fatigue started to set in and I’ve been pretty tired for the last 10+days or so. My Docs think that the treatment went well and I have another MRI scheduled for AUG 20. After that there’s a chance I may have to take another round of Temodar only. Meanwhile I’m still teaching and playing with Nashville Mandolin Ensemble. I’ve been told it could take at least 6 weeks for my energy to come back ,which would make that date be sometime in September.

All in all, it’s just a great relief to have finished up with this phase of treatment - I‚m still taking energy-balancing treatments, acupuncture and an occasional massage. My macrobiotic diet is getting ready to enter a more “medicinal” phase with various teas and foods that will target the cancer. We will stay on this track at least until the next scan and then see what happens after that.

We extend our continued well wishes to Butch as he battles his illness.

Please also remember that Mandolin Cafe has set up a page to accept donations on Butch’s behalf. Even a small donation would be welcome, and a fine way to give back to someone who has given much to our music.

Regular readers will recall us noting the unfortunate news that Butch Baldassari was diagnosed with cancer a month ago.

As we also mentioned in our previous post, the folks at Mandolin Cafe have set up a page where donations for Butch’s many expenses can be made. It’s a quick and easy process, using secure, PayPal processing.

He recently provided this hopeful update:

As some of you may know, I’ve been taking radiation and a pill-based form of chemo 5 days a week as of June 6. Last Wednesday, June 27 marked the halfway point… three weeks down, three weeks to go. Overall, I’ve been feeling quite good. My energy level was up and down for two weeks or so, but this week I felt very up in terms of energy. I’m also taking energy balancing treatment twice a week at an Integrative Health Care Center here in Nashville and got in another acupuncture session last Friday. When my treatment ends on July 18 I will be taking a closer look at some Alternative/Complementary therapies/treatments, which will may include high doses of Vitamin C in IV format, along with a prescribed round of focused supplements, along with more acupuncture and Chinese herbs. My outlook is that there are a lot of cancer survivors out there, and I plan on becoming one of them.

Butch has given those of us in the bluegrass and mandolin community a great deal over the years. If you have enjoyed his music, perhaps this is a fine chance to offer something in return.

Maske a donation online here.

Butch Baldassari, a good friend to The Bluegrass Blog - and to everyone who loves bluegrass and mandolin music - has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor. He starts chemo and radiation treatments this week, and we send him our most sincere best wishes and hopes for a full recovery.

Mandolin Cafe has established a support fund for Butch, to help with both medical and living expenses while he is down for treatment. We urge anyone who is in a position to make even a small donation to please do so.

The fund web site is configured to accept Visa or Mastercard donations online. Donations by check and cards/well wishes can be sent by mail to:

Find the Butch Baldassari Medical Fund web site online.

There will be a special bluegrass performance on this Friday’s (5/11) edition of The Blue Plate Special, at noon on WDVX. The show will feature a live (in-studio) set with Butch Baldassari (mandolin), Barbara Lamb (fiddle), Kathy Chiavola (guitar/vocal) and Mike Bub (bass).

While this bunch does not tour together regularly, they will occasionally do shows as The Nashville All-Stars, and have an appearance scheduled this weekend at the Earhart Music Festival in Bristol, TN.

Butch said that their show will include mostly standard bluegrass songs and fiddle tunes, and with the high level of musicianship in this group, you can expect it to be a strong set.

WDVX broadcasts at 89.9 FM from Knoxville, TN and the station’s feed is streamed live online. There are no audio archives, so be sure to listen in on Friday, eastern US time, from noon to 1:00 p.m.

Mandolinist Butch Baldassari has partnered with guitarist John Mock to release a CD of Irish harp music. The CD is composed entirely of tunes written by Irish harpist Turlough O’Carolan who lived from 1670-1737. The CD is appropriately titled Music of O’Carolan, and contains 10 tracks which comprise 20 of O’Carolan’s works.

I talked to Butch about the CD and asked him what had inspired him to undertake such a recording.

I’ve always been a Large Fan of O’Carolan’s music, going back to the 70’s when i first heard Morgan Magan on a Bill Spence Hammered Dulcimer cd.After John Mock finshed his 2nd Dixie Chicks tour he was setting up his new home studio and i suggested we do an O’Carolan cd…..John knows ALOT about Irish Music, i really don’t but the concept,material and the idea of the two of us working together just had a good feeling about it from the start. Unfortunately John did another tour with the DC’s and also got busy with his studio, so it took us 3 years of real on+off recording to put down these tracks.

Bluegrass fans well know that the roots of our music run deep into traditional tunes from the Scotch/Irish tradition, but I asked Butch what it was like to adapt these harp tunes for mandolin and guitar.

All that was left of O’Carolan’s music was a book of his Complete Works, which is comprised of the melody ONLY….no chords or accompaniment of any kind. So for mandolin and penny whistle it was pretty easy to play/arrange etc. John says that i selected the tunes and then I let John figure out what chords to use on guitar and pretty much arrange the cd.

Butch goes on to tell me that O’Carolan’s music would best be described as a Folky form of Classical or Chamber music, but that the arrangements and style he and John chose for this recording sound much like the Irish music you’d hear nowadays.

Music of O’Carolan is available for pre-order now from Butch’s website SoundArtRecordings.com with product expected by May 15th (orders will ship when the product is available). You can also listen to mp3 samples of 3 tracks from the CD on that page.

Mandolin teacher and performer Butch Baldassari, has written in to let us know that he is now offering live online video lessons. The technology he’s using is Skype. Skype allows you to make video calls to other Skype users provided you have a webcam installed. You’ll need audio input and output as well. Butch is recommending the use of a headset of some kind to prevent audio loops from forming.

What material is Butch offering instruction for through Skype?

I’m willing to teach whatever you’re interested in learning….Bluegrass, Fiddle Tunes,Classical etc. I can go over materials that are covered in various books…16 Gems, ACUTAB, Tune books published by Homespun, Mel Bay.

Butch is charging $60/hr for this instruction. 30 minute blocks can also be purchased for $30. You can contact Butch via his website to arrange lesson times and material.

Skype is a free download available for both Windows and Mac. Video conferencing is cross platform so you will have access to Butch’s instruction regardless of platform. Based on personal experience I would suggest you have a high speed connection such as DSL or cable if you intend to use this service.

If you are a mandolin player, or lover, here is a great opportunity for you. SoundArt Recordings is giving away several Apple iPods along with your choice of five CDs of mandolin music from the SoundArt Catalog as part of a giveaway hosted by the Mandolin Cafe.

SoundArt Recordings is the mandolin focused recording label of Butch Baldassari in Nashville, TN. Butch and Mandolin Cafe are giving away one iPod each to three lucky winners, including a 4GB iPod nano (retail $199.00, pictured here) and two iPod Shuffles (retail $75.00 each).

Starting February 1, 2007 visitors to the Mandolin Cafe will be able to sign up for a chance to win. The winning entries will be selected randomly on February 15, 2007. No purchase is necessary to register.

Butch says the idea for the give away originated with Mandolin Cafe’s owner Scott Tichenor.

The i-pod idea was Scott Tichenor’s….we gave away cd’s last year….so this year it’s something different.

Butch added that he didn’t have much experience with the iPod, but had thought about the device and had several significant questions about it.

I wonder how many mandolin notes it would take to fill up an iPod?

Do they make a BlueGrass iPod…..you know, one that only plays songs in B? (that’s what i hear walking the halls @ RBW)

Or maybe a DAWG iPod….only plays tunes in a Minor Key….back in the day i used to tell some of my old girlfriends that my car radio only picked-up Country Music…..some of them believed me!!!

Hmm…maybe we should suggest these things to Apple!

Butch Baldassari sent along a note to let let people know about a mandolin workshop he’s holding November 11, 2006 in the Nashville area. There will be workshops for beginners, intermediate and advanced players. The workshops will be held at the Smyrna Assembly just ten minutes south of Nashville. The registration deadline is November 1st and the cost is $30 for beginners and $40 for intermediate and advanced workshops.

Butch is accepting payment via Paypal to smyrnagc@comcast.net or you can pay by check. Checks should be made out to Butch Baldassari and mailed to:

Hal Loflin
107 Brookfield Court
Smyrna, TN 37167

Beginner Workshop: 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. Focus will be on basic technique, picking patterns, easy tunes and songs, along with getting started playing with others in a slow jam type setting. Handouts will be in music and tablature (0-2 years experience).

Intermediate to Advanced Workshop: 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. Material for this workshop will require students to have a repertoire of fiddle tunes, along with breaks to songs. Additionally music from Bill Monroe’s 16 Gems book and CD will be covered (minimum 3 years experience required).

It’s a fair bet that many of our US readers were, at one point in their life, readers of the popular children’s books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. If not, odds are that they watched episodes of the equally popular television series based on the books, Little House On The Prairie.

Dale Cockrell, a professor of Musicology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, has founded a company to make the many traditional American songs and tunes mentioned in the Little House books available as sound recordings for modern readers. He is assisted in this work by Nashville mandolinist, producer and Sound Art Recordings president, Butch Baldassari. The company is called Pa’s Fiddle, and the second of ten audio CDs with this theme is due for release on November 14.

This new project is entitled, Arkansas Traveler: Music from Little House on the Prairie, and it includes 18 songs and tunes mentioned in the Wilder books. Credited performers include Mac Wiseman, Riders In The Sky, John Cowan, Bob Carlin, Butch Baldassari, Alison Brown and many others.

Arkansas Traveler will not ship to stores until next month, but it can be ordered online now from Pa’s Fiddle, where audio samples can also be heard online.

The first release in this Ingalls series, Happy Land, has been added to the We The People Bookshelf by the National Endowment For The Humanities. This program delivers a set of age-appropriate classic books to several thousand libraries around the US to foster the reading of great children’s literature. Happy Land was added as a bonus to their fourth NEH Bookshelf program, a collection of literature with The Pursuit Of Happiness as its theme.

From time to time we have discussed various ventures that involved online video instruction for bluegrass music. The idea has a great deal of appeal to bluegrass instructors, and some are actively involved in providing such instruction. Three that come to mind immediately are Butch Baldassari, Ross Nickerson, and BluegrassCollege.com.

Ours is a small industry and I suggest that we look outside of bluegrass to see what other people are doing and possibly learn from them. There are other artists and companies who are also pursuing this avenue of instruction, and income. One such company that has come to my attention is WorkshopLive.com. They don’t have any bluegrass instruction on their site, it’s all rock, blues, jazz, etc. But what they do have is great quality video. At a reasonable price. Reasonable, but not cheap.

Theirs is a subscription service. You pay by the month and can then access as many lesson as you want from any of their offerings. The lessons include the video instruction, synchronized graphics of the instrument fretboard, and printable exercises. It”s an impressive program.

To be fair, they have spent a lot of money to get set up. I saw it reported just this week that a new investor has just provided them with $3.25 million dollars in funding to bolster their staff, expand the service, and expand their marketing efforts. Not many of us in bluegrass will have that kind of capitol to work with, but let”s not write off the idea of achieving a similar level of success in our own industry. There is much to be said for the idea of emulating success.

We”ve previously told you about a new online instructional resource, The Bluegrass College. (here and here)

Two of the sites founders, Brian Wicklund and Ian Nicholls, recently wrote us to give us some background information on the site and how it got started. It”s an interesting story. I”ll let them tell it in their own words. (more…)

The New England Mandolin Ensemble will be holding their second annual Cape Cod Mandolin Camp this fall in East Sandwich, MA. The camp runs from September 29 through October 1, 2006. Bringing a wide range of styles to mandolin playing and instruction, the faculty this year includes: Butch Baldassari, Marilynn Mair, August Watters, Seth Austen, Beverly Woods, Alan Kaufman and Jim Dalton.

CCMC offers a unique learning experience for mandolinists: a chance to rehearse and perform with directed ensembles in various musical styles, and to study technique, theory and style in depth. The instruction will be practical, accessible, and well-supported by printed as well as web-based materials. Expect to meet friends, cultivate musical relationships, and have a great time — and go home with a specific plan for musical development.

Cost of tuition is $205. This does not include housing which is available at reasonable rates from the East Sandwich Beach housekeeping cottages.
In addition to the camp, a public concert is planned for Saturday, September 30, at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church. The concert will feature Butch Baldassari, the New England Mandolin Ensemble, and special guests including CCMC faculty. The concert is being supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and admission for the public is $15.

NOTE: Having lived at the base of Cape Cod for a year (back in the ’80s) I can tell you that this is a beautiful place to visit. Take the family and make a vacation of it!

Mandolinist Butch Baldassari, who has recently begun offering webcasting video lessons, has just made available 5 video lessons on his website. Four of the five tunes are found in his book/CD 30 Fiddle Tunes for the Mandolin. The book is available through Homespun Tapes. The fifth video, Leather Britches, is not found in the book, so consider it a bonus.

The video clips are in quicktime m4v format (mpeg4), the same format used by the Apple iTunes Music Store for video downloads and podcasts. The file sizes are quite manageable. The clip I downloaded was only 5MB in size. For some reason the file downloaded with .m4v.txt as the extension. Once I removed the .txt it opened and played fine in iTunes. The quality is obviously less than DVD, but good enough to learn from. The clip was short, only one time through the tune (I downloaded Whiskey Before Breakfast). It started with a wide shot and then zoomed in for a close up.

If you have an interest in online instructional video, then go check it out.