Tim Ware Group v1

I’ve been digging through the archives and found some rather nice live recordings of the original, mandolin-based Tim Ware Group. I wrote and arranged all of ’em.

Spiral Moons – for Mandolin Quartet

When we played the Kuumbwa in 1980, we opened for the amazing Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Mark O’Connor trio. The transition from our set to theirs was effected by a performance of “Spiral Moons,” a tune off our first LP.

Whereas David Grisman played the 2nd mandolin part on the LP (with Darol on mandola and Mike on mandocello), Mark took Grisman’s place and executed amazingly. He’s quite an incredible musician. We performed this again, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and Mark actually played the mandocello part, with Grisman doing the 2nd mando.

This rendition holds together, pretty much, although we do sort of lose it (in an interesting way) towards the end. But the spirit is there…

Mandolin VII

This is off our first LP, recorded at Arch Street Studios in Berkeley, CA, in 1979. This track was recorded at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA, on August 18, 1980, with our original violinist John Tenney. The LP was on Kaleidoscope Records (F13).

Fields of Glass / Idiot Glee

“Idiot Glee” was on our second LP “Shelter From The Norm” which was released by Rounder Records in 1983 (Varrick 014). There wasn’t room for “Fields of Glass,” but this live version is how I intended it. We get hypnotic, then we sort of rock out.

This was recorded on December 9, 1983 at, I believe, the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA. It features Dave Balakrishnan on violin on “Idiot Glee” and on mandolin on “Fields of Glass.” The late great Bob Alekno plays the 2nd mandolin in both pieces. I sure miss ol’ Chicago Bob.

Endless

This was on our first LP. I don’t know how to describe it, but I originally wrote it in the mid-70s for a composition workshop taught by the great pianist Art Lande. The intro is nicked from the Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”…