Watch Billy Strings & Chris Thile Perform Together At NY Phil

Guitarist Billy Strings accompanied mandolinist Chris Thile for the final installment of The 65th Street Session concert series at the New York Philharmonic. The performance at Wu Tsai Theater in David Geffen Hall brought the collaborative series to a close with keyboardist Cory Henry also part of the concert.

The evening’s program began with the three musicians presenting “I Am A Pilgrim.” Thile next offered a solo arrangement of “God Is Alive Magic Is Afoot,” which Buffy Sainte-Marie recorded based on a poem by Leonard Cohen.

Henry then showcased gorgeous solo takes on Mahalia Jackson’s “My God Is Real,” Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s In Need Of Love Today” and The Beatles’ ”Yesterday.” Thile came back to accompany Henry on Marvin Gaye’s poignant “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).”

The concert continued with an extensive set featuring Strings and Thile showing off their dazzling picking skills while rolling through a survey of bluegrass standards. The pair noted the 85th birthday of bluegrass patriarch Del McCoury and performed Bill Monroe’s “Memories Of Mother Of Dad” in his honor. Strings prefaced the song by relaying a humorous story McCoury told him about making a mistake once when he was playing the song with the Father Of Bluegrass himself.

The duo’s set contained such favorites as “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz,” “I’ve Been All Around This World,” “Bluegrass Stomp,” “The Letter Etched In Black,” “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town,” “Black Mountain Rag,” “Molly And Tenbrooks,” and albeit a day early, the pair also served up the calendar-appropriate “Groundhog.”

Henry reemerged to sit in on the end of the set for trio takes on “Stewball,” “God Is Blessing Me,” “Harbour Of Love,” and “Sitting On Top Of The World.” Strings, Thile and Henry capped the collaborative set with a return to “I Am A Pilgrim.” The encore saw the trio punctuate the concert with the traditional hymn, “I’ll Fly Away.”

Thile and Strings will appear together on an episode of CBS Saturday Morning airing tomorrow, Saturday, February 3. The virtuosic musicians will perform for the program’s weekly “Saturday Sessions” series.

Watch additional video clips and listen to an audience recording of last night’s concert taped by Bootsy Jacobs below:

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