The Stradgrass Sessions

Kentucky-born, classically trained violinist Tessa Lark's latest album is packed with some of the finest chambergrass music human ears are likely to encounter. Of course, in this case, the more accurate term is ‘Stradgrass’, stemming from the period between 2015 and 2018 when Lark was performing bluegrass on a 1683 ex-Gingold Stradivarius ‘loaner’. Although she used her usual instrument – a circa 1600 Maggini violin courtesy of the Stradivari Society of Chicago – to record The Stradgrass Sessions, the moniker splendidly evokes the uncommon alchemy running though the album. Lark's accompanists, including jazz pianist Jon Batiste, bassist Edgar Meyer, fiddler Michael Cleveland and mandolinist Sierra Hull, are no less responsible for the enchantment. ‘Concerto Duo for Violin and Bass’ is a masterpiece of intricate interplay between Lark and Meyer. The recording of ‘STOMP’ by American composer John Corigliano spotlights Lark's deft handling of the work's non-standard tuning, tricky time signatures and foot-stomping blend of blues, bluegrass and jazz. The deep grace flowing through Stephen Foster's American folk classic, ‘My Old Kentucky Home’, has perhaps never been more exquisitely expressed than in Lark and Batiste's rendition. The Stradgrass Sessions is a rare gem.