Review: The Goat Rodeo Sessions

By Alan Go

Yo-Yo Ma is perhaps the most famous cellist alive today, and one of the most highly awarded classical music artists, with 16 Grammies to his name. I’ve heard and enjoyed his playing for many years now, and although he is renowned for being to play many different styles of music, I never thought he would be appearing on an album like this one.

Not that it is easy to say what exactly this one is. Bluegrass probably comes closest, but there is a strong Celtic feel to some of the tracks, with others almost able to pass for classical chamber music.

This collaboration isn’t quite as unlikely as it sounds, Ma having worked with double bassist Edgar Meyer on two albums previously, and also with mandolin player Chris Thile on his Songs of Joy and Peace album. Celebrated fiddle player Stuart Duncan completes the quartet of string virtuosos, who recorded their music in James Taylor’s home studio.



The album contains only original material, with Meyer, Thile and Duncan co-writing every track. This made Ma somewhat of an odd one out, as he doesn’t improvise, and had much of the music written out. Compare that to fiddle player Duncan who cannot even read music and relied on half a page of self-devised notation to guide him through each piece, along with some improvisation.

Still, it is evident when listening that no performer takes center stage or plays a diminished role. The warmth and chemistry apparent through the album seems to emerge from the respect each person has for the other three’s playing, and there are many great moments of conversation between the artists as their differing parts play off each other.

Attaboy, the opening piece, is my favourite, and has me smiling all the while way through each time I listen to it. A goat rodeo is apparently a term for a chaotic situation where many factors have to go right in order for a person to walk away unharmed. Though certainly exaggerated, considering the calibre of the musicians in the room, you can see where the sentiment comes from when listening to this opener. The rhythms are complex and intricate, especially during the busiest moments when each instrument is doing something interesting. It also provides the perfect demonstration of how Ma’s lyrical, expressive playing complements Duncan’s fiddle as the two of them trade the melody, despite their seemingly disparate backgrounds. Thile’s mandolin drives the whole piece forward, and Meyer shows he knows how to bow his instrument with great skill too.

The instrumental setup is fluid, with Yo-Yo the only one to stick with one instrument, as the others pick up banjos, guitars or even gambas, whenever it suits them. There are two tracks with vocals, where Aoife O’Donovan joins tp duet with Thile, including the wonderfully haunting Here and Heaven.

Having my favourite cellist gather together a group with virtuosos from anither of my preferred genres is an unexpected treat, but the real joy is watching four masters of their own instruments combine seamlessly to produce sounds that are unusual, uncharacterisable, yet work beautifully to form great music.