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I'm into the music, wherever that goes. All the instruments have a contribution to make. I suppose the reason I'm a mandolin player is because it's the easiest thing for me to do and sound good.
-David Grisman |
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David Grisman |
Grisman waxes poetic about the mandolin that he enjoys playing right now. "I'm not much of one to play favorites. I have a large mandolin collection. I've played quite a few instruments over my career. Right now, I'm real excited about a new mandolin that I got in May that's built by a young man in Genoa, Italy by the name of Corrado Giacomel. It's real interesting because the mandolin originated in Italy and came to the United States, and in the United States, it kind of got reinvented by Orville Gibson who started the Gibson company in 1898 or something. Other American builders helped perfect its design through the mid 1920's. The mandolin was sort of reinvented into a sort of Gibson-style instrument, which incorporated a lot of violin principles. Finally the design went back to Italy and was reinterpreted by Mr. Giacomel, who has come up with a very fine permutation of that. It's not only different in its design, but it has a lot of really great properties that are evolutionary in the instrument's development. He somehow managed to, I think, improve the American design, at least in terms of volume and projection, and perhaps looks. It's like if Pablo Picasso made a Gibson F5. I met this guy through a friend. My girlfriend and I went to Paris in May, and we made a little side trip to Italy. A friend of mine, Beppe Gambetta, introduced me to this mandolin builder, and he gave me one of his instruments. I've been pretty much playing it ever since. My other mandolins that I for the most part play are vintage Gibson F-5s that were made in the early '20s — you know, 1922, 1923, 1924. I also have played and am friends with all the major mandolin builders, Steve Gilchrist from Australia, Mike Kemnitzer from Michigan. I've played all of their creations as well. Every instrument has got its own characteristics. I'm very interested in the instruments. I've done a number of projects that helped design what all of these instruments sound like. I've been a mandolin collector and a trader for 40 years. That's kind of an ancillary hobby of mine. There are so many different kinds of mandolins, and even within a certain kind, they're all different. You know, people always say, 'That mandolin sounds good, that mandolin sounds good.' I'd say, 'Funny, I don't hear anything.' In other words, they don't say, you sound good. I really think the player has a lot to do with it. Bill Monroe sounded like Bill Monroe no matter what he was playing. It's the same with anybody else. The instrument is a large factor but only in partnership with the musician."
Grisman & Garcia |
One of the many things that the "Dawg" is known for is teaming with the late Jerry Garcia on a number of projects. Their relationship was captured in the 1999 documentary Grateful Dawg, and the Acoustic Disc label has released recordings from their jam sessions together — the final one is called Been All Around This World. Grisman remarked that if Garcia were still alive, they would do more of the same stuff. "Hopefully, which would be just anything and everything. We covered a lot of ground in I guess only about six years, and who knows..."
Every summer, Grisman hosts a week-long mandolin symposium that features the highest quality instruction. Those who attend regularly call it simply, "The Symposium." Mandolinists know immediately to what they are referring. His feelings about this instructional event are unequivocal. "The Symposium is something I'm very proud of. I think it's a great thing and something really worth developing. It's been very rewarding although it's the hardest thing I do every year. We're just getting into planning next year's right now. It's going to be hard to beat last year, but we'll do our best."
David Grisman by Jake Krolick |
Grisman doesn't like questions about items like goals or his favorite songs or his favorite anything. When asked about any musical highlight he experienced over the last year, he was almost abrupt. "I have musical highlights every day." He appeared very comfortable with where he is and where he has been. Queried as to what ground he hopes to cover over the next ten years, for his 40th anniversary, he elaborated, "I try to kind of follow my path of just developing my own music, and just sort of keeping up with that. That's kind of it - more of the same. I've never really had any real specific goals. I don't like to repeat myself — I like to grow. I also realize that happens in small increments. At this point I just want to stay healthy. I've got a great band. These guys have been with me for years. That's a really special thing to be able to develop a group over a long period of time. The main ingredient in music is time. If you put in the time, it will pay you back. Years ago I used to have a file in my filing cabinet called "concepts," and I'd dream up these projects. But I learned over the years that when it comes down to reality, you can have a concept, but how it plays out in reality might be different. So I've kind of gotten off of that and just sort of taken it as it comes – plenty comes my way. I hope to keep writing music and playing music and arranging music and producing recordings, collaborating with other musicians, but I don't have real specific goals."
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