Despite impressive contributions in bluegrass and country music as well as jazz, folk and swing, the violin and cello are still viewed by many listeners as instruments of classical music instruments that occasionally go out slumming to a jam session or a hootenanny but generally feel more comfortable with Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms and Bach.

Fortunately, violinist Darol Anger never accepted that sort of thinking. With a resume that includes the Turtle Island String Quartet, the bluegrass-tinged group Psychograss, the folk jazz of Montreux and the virtuosic Anger-Marshall Duo (with mandolin player Mike Marshall), Anger has been a pioneer of a continually diversifying string-band movement that reaches to the '70s.

He surfaced Friday at the Theatre Raymond Kabbaz with yet another intriguing string ensemble, the Republic of Strings. The group Anger describes as an "international, intergenerational ensemble" is a kind of cutting-edge string quartet, with violinist Gabriel Witcher, cellist Tristan Clarridge and guitarist Scott Nygaard completing the lineup. Singer Chris Webster also performed, adding steamy vocals to a spicy musical gumbo.

The music darted from one part of the world to another: a Swedish polska was followed by a Brazilian choro; Chicago blues blended with an Irish jig (appropriate for St. Patrick's Day). Webster offered a stunning take on Don Covay's "Chain of Fools." Most fascinating was the wildly virtuosic individual playing. Anger moved almost casually from bebop to blues to classical licks. Witcher was cool, fluid and fast. Nygaard balanced solid accompaniment with crisp, articulate solo lines. And Clarridge, inventive with his cello improvisations, added an impressive turn on violin, whipping through a hoedown, a waltz and a jaunty swing number.

By the end of the evening, any remaining perceptions regarding the narrow range of string instruments were long gone. Anger's group, in fact, more than a mere Republic, had the sound of a musical United Nations of strings.

Acclaimed fiddler, composer and educator Darol Anger has been named as an adjunct professor for the Berklee School of Music, Boston MA, according to an announcement by Matt Glaser, Artistic Director of the American Roots Music Program. Anger will teach improvisation and vernacular music styles to students of the world’s largest private music college.

At home in a number of musical genres, Anger is known for his versatility and depth. He has driven the evolution of the contemporary string band through his work with ensembles such as his Republic of Strings, Turtle Island String Quartet, David Grisman Quintet, Montreaux, his Duo with Mike Marshall and others.

Evangelizing interest in contemporary improvising and vernacular strings, Anger is an innovative and popular clinician who also works with teachers and students of all ages in school, university, camp and festival settings across the United States. As a string educator, in the American String Teachers Association and with the Jazz String Caucus , he bring more than 25 years experience to teaching and residency experiences in jazz, blues, fiddle, chamber and orchestra settings. He has performed and taught all over the world with musicians such as Dr. Billy Taylor, Bill Evans, Edgar Meyer, Bill Frisell, Marin Alsop, the Detroit Symphony, Mark O’Connor, Bela Fleck, and Stephane Grappelli.

He has recorded and produced scores of important recordings since 1977, is a MacDowell and UCross Fellow, and has received numerous composers’ residencies and grants. He has been a featured soloist on dozens of recordings and motion picture soundtracks.

Anger also brings a wealth of practical expertise in making a living through music. With a student population of over 4,000, Berklee College of Music prepares students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. Eighty percent of the school’s graduates go on to careers in the music industry. For more than half a century, the college has evolved to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With more than a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, its diverse and talented student body represents more than 70 countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni.

PHOTO: This virtual nation of string band players from all over the world is built on the idea of the string band as a complete little symphony in itself, a dance band that generates its own rhythms. That goes back to the Hot Club of France combining jazz, gypsy and classical influences, right up through the Grisman Quintet. Darol Anger

In the Virtual Republic of Strings, fiddler Darol Anger may not be the paramount leader, but he's certainly the standard bearer. Since his first major gig with mandolin master David Grisman in the mid-1970s, through his long tenure as a founding member of the jazz-infused Turtle Island String Quartet and his work with neo-grass ensembles such as Psychograss and Newgrange, Anger has spent a quarter-century in the vanguard of an international movement of string players steeped in traditional musical stylesbut eager to push into uncharted territory.

His latest project, the American Fiddle Ensemble, celebrates the recent release of its gloriously eclectic album "Republic of Strings" (Compass Records) with a series of Northern California gigs, including performances Wednesday at Espresso Garden and Cafe and on Feb. 21 at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley.

While the band's moniker locates it in a specific geographic realm, the album's cover art, an elegant, Anger-designed internationally recognizable string logo seen on three colorful fluttering flags, gives a better sense of the music contained within, which ranges freely around the globe from Appalachia and Scandinavia to Motown and Mali.

"Working in the David Grisman Quintet from 1975 to 1984, the whole ethos of that band was moving the music forward," says Anger, a longtime Oakland resident, in a phone conversation from Hawaii. "I don't think I've ever been in a band that didn't share that ethos, taking the string band and combining music from all over the world.

"Now there's this virtual nation of string band players from all over the world," he says. "They've built on the idea of the string band as a complete little symphony in itself, a dance band that generates its own rhythms. That goes back to the Hot Club of France combining jazz, gypsy and classical influences, or to" jazz violinists "Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith, right up through the Grisman Quintet.'

The American Fiddle Ensemble is the latest manifestation of the string band as sonic laboratory, a multi-generational Bay Area supergroup featuring guitar virtuoso Scott Nygaard, cellist Rushad Eggleston and 17-year-old fiddler Brittany Haas. Anger describes the lineup as "a phenom, a master, a prodigy and a legendary weirdo. Scott's the master; Rushad is the phenomenon; Brittnay's the prodigy; and I'm the weirdo, though I think Rushad's working really hard to take that title away from me."

For the Espresso Garden and Freight shows, Wayfaring Strangers singer Aoife O'Donovan is scheduled to perform as special guest on Joni Mitchell's "Help Me" and Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," vocals covered on the album by Laurie Lewis and Sara Watkins, respectively.

The seeds of the American Fiddle Ensemble were planted several years ago, when Anger and Nygaard were looking for opportunities to play together. Nygaard made his reputation as one of the most prodigious modern bluegrass guitarists through his work with Laurie Lewis' Grant Street and Tim O'Brien's O'Boys but had largely dropped off the scene to spend more time with his family. His job as editor of Acoustic Guitar Magazine still allowed him to play occasional gigs around the Bay Area. So he and Anger formed an acoustic bar band called the Improbables.

Through his educational work at clinics and music camps, Anger encountered Eggleston, an amazing young cellist versed in bluegrass and jazz. Almost finished with a degree from Boston's Berklee College of Music, where he's the first string player awarded a full scholarship, Eggleston made his recording debut in Fiddlers 4 with Anger, Michael Doucet and Bruce Molsky on a self-titled Compass CD that was nominated for a 2002 Grammy.

"Basically, he does everything on the cello that I do on the fiddle," Anger says of Eggleston. "He's a fantastic soloist with incredible flair. He has a great grasp of musical structure and can play bass and drums on the cello simultaneously."

Haas, who started playing violin at 4, first discovered old-time music at 8 while attending Alasdair Fraser's Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School in Boulder Creek. Later she began studying with Molsky, who eventually felt that she had tapped him dry of information. With her growing interest in jazz, he recommended she start taking lessons with Anger, which led to her joining the American Fiddle Ensemble.

"I spent a year and a half teaching her pretty much everything I know about playing the fiddle," Anger says. "She's just a wonderful, beautiful musician. As my old boss David Grisman says, if you can't beat these kids, you better hire 'em."

For Haas, whose older sister Natalie plays cello on three "Republic of Strings" tracks, performing in American Fiddle Ensemble has opened new musical doors. A junior at Menlo School in Atherton, she wasn't familiar with the Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder tunes covered on the album.

"It was really cool doing these songs," Haas says. "It made me go out andbuy the CDs, and I checked out stuff I hadn't heard before."

The group's repertoire includes many Anger and Nygaard originals, as well as tunes even more unlikely for string band arrangements than "Higher Ground," including a piece by the fusion band the Yellowjackets. American Fiddle Ensemble not only has developed its own music and sound, but it also will be flying its own flag soon, modeled after the faux-photo on the CD cover.

"Those are the beautiful colorful flags they fly over Moscone Center, and we used some photographic trickery to impose this string logo that I put together," Anger says. "But we're actually making a flag of this virtual republic, and we're going to bring it to some of these concerts. We're extending an invitation to everyone interested in this music to become a citizen of the Republic of Strings."

Republic heats up The Grand
Mount Desert Islander, January 20, 2008
 

Lighting up the strings before a packed house at The Grand in Ellsworth Saturday night, Darol Anger's Republic of Strings wowed and dazzled, with a satisfying show that was at turns exotic, sweet and lush, and fast and furious. The five musicians showed incredible prowess on their instruments. But that was just part of what made the show such a success; their spirited playing, easy back-and-forth, and obvious enjoyment were clear to the crowd, which responded in kind, with lengthy applause between songs and two standing ovations at the end of the night.

After kicking off the first set with a rousing Irish fiddle tune, the multi-generational Republic proceeded to take the audience on what Mr. Anger called "a little travelogue" of string music from around the world. The tour hit the Appalachian Mountains, Brazil, Scandinavia and England, with stops along the way for some original pieces composed by members of the band.

Through each piece, the group played with incredible skill and poise. The fiddles, played by Mr. Anger and Brittany Haas, blended and twisted upon one another, and danced delightfully over the low moan of Lauren Rioux's fivestring viola and Tristan Clarridge's even lower cello, which echoed clear as a bell throughout the performance. Scott Nygaard's exceptional acoustic guitar-playing brought in elements of bluegrass, Gypsy, and jazz, all played with subtle understatement and fiery precision.

For the second, nearly hour-long, set, the group continued to entertain and inspire with a set of eclectic covers and original music. The musicians maintained a solid groove, with swing pieces, neo-bluegrass-type jams, and interesting covers, from a hilarious rendition of Nat King Cole's "The Frim-Fram Sauce" to a sweet and tender version of The Left Banke's, "Just Walk Away Renee," both sung by Ms. Rioux.

Like a more typical bluegrass band, the lead was passed among the group throughout many of the songs. Mr. Anger largely hung back, more often allowing Ms. Haas and Ms. Rioux to step into the spotlight. When he did come forward, it was clear that 25-odd years of working with some of the country's greatest bluegrass and Americana musicians has propelled him to the top of his game. His solos were characterized by a powerful cascade of notes and an intense flourish, all thrown off with a jazzman's sensibility and a master's ease.

After ending the second set to great fanfare with a smoking medley of fiddle tunes written by Ms. Haas, Republic ramped up the energy even higher with a rousing version of Bill Monroe's "Old Dangerfield." Local fiddler Fiona Schubeck joined the group for the piece, which ended the night on a high note and left the excited crowd smiling and cheering for more.