The result with Michael Lawrence is Bach and Friends, due for DVD release early in 2010. The film looks at the timeless music of Johann Sebastian Bach through the eyes of 21st century musicians in a variety of genres. Lawrence has made a dozen or more documentaries, many focused on musical topics and personalities.

Mike told us that this Bach film began as a small project, but starting with his connections in the bluegrass world, has grown to include interviews and performances from some of the biggest names in contemporary music. Bach and Friends features several names familiar to bluegrass fans (Chris Thile, Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer), along with jazz singer Bobby McFerrin and classical notables Joshua Bell, Sharon Isbin, Glenn Gould and The Emerson String Quartet.

“The whole idea of the movie is to bring young people – and people who aren’t familiar with Bach – to learn more about him. The project started with just an idea and my savings, and I had no idea there would be so many luminaries in the movie.

I spent about a year producing from the second floor of my house, and I just started contacting people, and they said yes.”

Lawrence runs a one-man operation (Michael Lawrence Films) and came to classical music from a bluegrass background. He played banjo as a young man, and with no options to study banjo in college such as there are today, he gravitated to guitar. He was a member of the very first graduating class at The Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Aaron Shearer, and performed as a classical guitarist.

Film scoring and original music for films was Michael’s introduction to the world of the cinema. He provided music for more than a dozen projects, most notably The Other Americans, which won numerous Emmy Awards in 1969. Lawrence soon found his place behind the camera, and as writer, producer or director, has more than 20 films to his credit, aired on PBS, HBO and CNN.

After a career close to classical music, it was his bluegrass roots that got the Bach Project off the ground.

“Béla was the first big name person who came aboard, which led to Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. I knew of Chris from Nickel Creek, but had no idea he played Bach.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Though he expects that Bach and Friends will eventually be broadcast on television, the first step is producing a 2 hour documentary on DVD. Lawrence said that the DVD is due for release in January 2010 – a 2 DVD set to include the documentary on one disc, and all of the musical performances strung back-to-back on the other.

Here’s a look at Béla’s contribution…

Click here to view the embedded video.

More video samples can be found on Lawrence’s web site.

Michael said that while his professional career now revolves around film and classical music, he still keeps up his bluegrass chops.

“I play bluegrass about once a month at a jam here in Baltimore – so I’m usually a little rusty, but it’s always fun.”

The music of JS Bach has had appeal to banjo and mandolin players for some time, with its focus on linear melodies that can be adapted well to these instruments. Hearing Bach perfomed on the harpsichord (for which much of it was written) really brings the banjo to mind, and perhaps this new film will spur a study of this lovely music by younger string players with a bluegrass bent.

Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer are touring in Hawaii, and we are all invited to join them today – in the cyber sense of the word. Their live show in Honolulu at the Road Runner Music Hall will be broadcast live by KSSK, starting at 4:00 p.m. (EDT) this afternoon (9/18).

KSSK may be a radio station, but they will be carrying a live video feed of the concert.

The trio is touring in support of their new CD, The Melody Of Rhythm, a collaborative set of compositions for banjo, bass and tabla. They will perform the title piece, a work in three movements, with the Honolulu Symphony this Saturday and Sunday.

Fleck, Hussain and Meyer will be out through the end of October doing live shows. You can find their schedule online.

The are seven pieces of new music, but the album is centered around a triple concerto for their three instruments composed by Fleck and Meyer. Entitled The Melody Of Rhythm, it consists of three movements, and was recorded live for this project with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

The goal of the composers was to blend the sound of Indian classical music with American roots and traditional string music. Given the stunning level of virtuosity these three musicians bring to the table, the results are remarkable, though the music truly defies an easy description.

Audio samples can be found on the sites of a number of online resellers, and in iTunes.

This unlikely trio will be on tour throughout September and October, including dates with a number of symphony orchestras.

Sam had told us that it was one that his bluegrass and newgrass fans would really appreciate, and he wasn’t kidding. Other than the subtle percussion from Sam’s regular drummer, Chris Brown, this is pretty much a bluegrass record – and Bush has quite a bluegrass group lurking underneath his rock-edged road band.

Through all 14+ tracks, Scott Vestal shows why he has been held in such high regard by banjo players these many years, initially as a hard-driving Scruggs/Baucom/Crowe picker with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and later as an envelope-pusher with his own recordings. On Circles his playing is simply brilliant, as is Stephen Mougin’s tasteful acoustic guitar. Byron House has been a bass player’s, bass player for years, and he delivers solid timing with a huge tone – as always.

Sam is in fine voice, and the production is transparent, leaving the sound of the acoustic instruments to ring true with very little compression or effects. He is featured most prominently on mandolin, and Del McCoury even joins in for a couple of duets. Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer also appear as guests. Courtney Johnson even makes a posthumous appearance in a banjo/fiddle duet recorded in 1976.

We hope to be able to stream some audio from this terrific CD soon, but in the meantime, here’s Sam with a few words about when you can get your own copy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

First up at 10:15 a.m., Jeanette Williams will join Carol Beaugard on WFDU to talk about her new CD, Thank You For Caring, and her participation in the third release from the Daughters Of Bluegrass, Bluegrass Bouquet, a celebration of female bluegrass artists and musicians. Music from these recordings will be featured as well.

Then at 11:00 a.m., Carol will welcome the ear-shattering instrumental duo Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile into the WFDU studio. The two have been out in support of their CD, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, a CD/DVD combo project of mandolin/bass duets, ahead of their final show at Carnegie Hall next week.

Carol is a huge Thile fan so she’s sure to talk about his meteoric career at length, in addition to his current work with Meyer. Expect lots of music early in the show and in the 11:00 hour from the Meyer/Thile album, plus Nickel Creek, the Punch Brothers and Chris’ various solo CDs.

Her show, Lonesome Pine RFD, is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon (EDT) on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

Also at 11:00 a.m., there will be live music over at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.

Claire Lynch will be in the studio with host Lee Michael Demsey to spread the word about her show at The Birchmere Friday night. Guitarist Jim Hurst and bass player Mark Schatz will accompany Claire for an impromptu set in WAMU’s Studio 3. They will also talk about what The Claire Lynch Band is up to for the rest of 2008 and beyond, and whatever else Lee Michael might come up with.

You can catch their 24/7 online bluegrass feed at www.bluegrasscountry.org.

All in all, a good morning to tune in online.

Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile features both an audio CD with 12 new compositions the duo wrote for this project, and a 50 minute DVD with rehearsals, performances and behind-the-scenes conversations. All the tunes are performed as duets on mandolin and upright bass.

Video in the Windows Media format can be found on the Woodsongs site.

The CD includes 12 new instrumental compositions the two have c0-written, performed with Thile on mandolin and Meyer on bass.

The companion DVD features 50 minute’s worth of live performances, rehearsals and conversation between these two stellar virtuosos, who both separately and together have been responsible for some dramatic rethinking about the capabilities of their respective instruments.

The release date is September 23, and pre-ordering is enabled on the Nonesuch web site, where you can also hear the audio for one full track.

Thile has long been known as a startlingly gifted young mandolinist, and Meyer has won the respect and admiration of critics and musicians in both the classical and new acoustic fields as a bassist with few peers. They will perform in a duet format, almost surely featuring a free form, improvisational set.

Look for the tour dates on Chris’ MySpace page.

This week’s issue of the The Nashville Scene is the annual Best Of Nashville issue. They scour the city looking for the best of everything, and I mean everything. Our very own Station Inn garners recognition as “Best Urban-Development Holdout.”

It is praised for holding its own against the upscale establishments going up around it, and they point out that the Station just leases the building it is in so, theoretically if the owner decides not to renew the lease, that could be it for our favorite Nashville landmark. The Time Jumpers, who play at the Station every Monday night earned “Best Monday Night Music” (I can’t find that one on their webpage just at the moment) and Edgar Meyer rated “Best Classical Musician.”

This from InsideBayArea.com:

The key segment of the evening was Smuins’ 2005 effort “Bluegrass/Slyde,” set to the music of famed string bassist Edgar Meyer. One wonders which to admire the most: the dancing or the athletic displays of the dancers. In this piece, Smuin indulged himself heavily in his tendency to weave in sudden, unexpected and very funny movements for the dancers.

The workshop is designed to help serious players bridge the gaps between western classical and folk music genres, and will involve study of both composed and improvised music. Led by Meyer, one of the most celebrated double bassists of his generation, the workshops will also feature coaching from Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall and Fred Sherry.

Non-scholarship students are welcome to attend for a modest audit fee, and scholarship applicants under the age of 18 will be considered, but prior approval of the Weill Institute is required for younger applicants. The week will conclude with a concert in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.

More details, including a downloadable application form and brochure, can be found on the Weill Music Institute’s Professional Training Workshops web site. The application deadline is January 17, 2006.