StringyBach – Bach Odes

To describe StringyBach as a mandolin and guitar quartet could indicate that the group’s repertoire is predominantly classical. It can be be, if this is your choice. However, StringyBach is equally at home with music from the renaissance through to the Baroque, Romantic, jazz, Latin, ragtime and the modern era, including the Beatles. The instrumental line-up includes acoustic guitars (steel string and classical), mandolins, bouzouki and acoustic bass. And because we care enough about the listening comfort of our clients, we don’t dominate the scene through over-amplification. While we play you can still maintain a conversation. Put us in the background, or up front as part of your celebrations, depending on the occasion. And yes, we do play music for dancing, with a repertoire of swing music, strict tempo and folk melodies to fit the setting.

CD REVIEW – by Ian Dearden

As Roy and HG might have said, if they were minded to apply the metaphor to music rather than sport – there are times when too many mandolins are not quite enough.

In the case of Western Australian band Stringybach this can mean up to three or four different mandolins (not to mention other stringed instruments) on a track.
StringyBach have been around for more than twenty years, playing instrumental music (mainly on mandolins, not surprisingly) and claim to have originally formed with the intention of playing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Now they just play the same notes that Bach used “only fewer of them and in a different order!”

This is a wonderful album, with tunes that range from a (re-arranged) version of the aforementioned JS Bach’s “Air on a G String” (re-titled “Air on 24 Strings”) through traditional and contemporary dance tunes, jazz tunes (“Jalousie” and “Cheek to Cheek”), “The Echidna Variations” (I kid thee not) on a theme by Paganini, to their crowning achievement, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” arranged for two mandolins, acoustic guitar and bass. The recording quality is excellent, the musicianship is first class, the tongue is frequently firmly in the cheek, and the result is unalloyed pure pleasure.

And they’ll play anywhere, anytime, anyplace, for just about any reason.
These guys are the real deal, so don’t miss them!