Premier banjo player Béla Fleck is considered one of the most innovative pickers in the world and has done much to demonstrate the versatility of his instrument, which he uses to play everything from traditional bluegrass to progressive jazz. He was named after composer Béla Bartok and was born in New York City. Around age 15, Fleck became... [+] Read More

Yes No

David Grisman is normally associated with the bluegrass wing of country music, but his music owes almost as much to jazz as it does to traditional American folk influences. Because he couldn't think of what to call his unique, highly intricate, harmonically advanced hybrid of acoustic bluegrass, folk, and jazz without leaning toward one idiom or... [+] Read More

Yes No

Classical music, bluegrass, and pop are fused through the mandolin playing of Evan Marshall. Inspired equally by late classical violinist Jascha Heifitz and the dean of country guitar, Chet Atkins, Marshall has crafted a highly experimental approach to the mandolin that blends bass lines, chordal accompaniment, and tremolo melodies without... [+] Read More

Yes No

Jerry Douglas is widely renowned as perhaps the finest dobro player in contemporary acoustic music. His main foundation is bluegrass, but Douglas is an eclectic whose tastes run toward jazz, blues, folk, and straight-ahead country as well, and he's equally capable of appealing to bluegrass aficionados or new agers with a taste for instrumental... [+] Read More

Yes No

Mike Marshall is one of the most innovative players of new instrumental music. Initially rooted in bluegrass, Marshall has consistently explored all the possibilities of his stringed instruments. During the five years (1985-1990) that he was a member of David Grisman's influential Quintet, Marshall toured with Stephane Grappelli, Mark O'Connor,... [+] Read More

Yes No

New Grass Revival, formed in 1972 by four former members of the Bluegrass Alliance, flourished in a decade when numerous groups took traditional bluegrass and changed it to varying degrees. The group was successful enough to have the group's name become a generic label: "newgrass." The band's image, with long hair and occasionally electrified... [+] Read More

Yes No

Sam Bush extended the musical capabilities of the mandolin and the fiddle to incorporate a seamless blend of bluegrass, rock, jazz, and reggae. As the founder and leader of the New Grass Revival, Bush pioneered and guided the evolution of modern hill country music. Together with the bluegrass supergroup Strength in Numbers, he pushed the... [+] Read More

Yes No

Bluegrass fiddler Stuart Duncan, a session player and sideman from California, played with many Los Angeles local bands on his way to bluegrass fame. He joined the Nashville Bluegrass Band in 1985 playing not only fiddle, but also mandolin, guitar, and banjo, as well as singing and contributing his own songs. His self-titled solo debut was... [+] Read More

Yes No

Yo-Yo Ma was the cello's foremost contemporary proponent; while primarily a classical performer, he also made a number of highly successful crossover recordings. Born October 7, 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, he began playing the cello at the age of four, later studying with Janos Scholz; in 1962, he also became the pupil of Leonard... [+] Read More

Yes No