ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 27, 1996 TAG: 9612270019
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: MARY CAMPBELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
When classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, country fiddler Mark O'Connor and switch-hitting bassist Edgar Meyer played ``Appalachia Waltz'' here, they weren't at Carnegie Hall.
They were at the Bottom Line, performing home of such pop music people as John Gorka, the Roches and Kris Kristofferson.
Ma is acclaimed for his Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. He plays three modern classical pieces on ``Premieres,'' an upcoming CD with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
But Ma, whose theme song could be ``Don't Fence Me In,'' also has recorded with Bobby McFerrin and plans to record tangos. And, in 1988 at the 80th birthday party for jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, he met O'Connor, renowned country fiddler. Both had recorded with Grappelli.
Two years before, Ma had met Meyer, another pretty versatile player. Meyer had composed a bass concerto which he performed at its 1993 premiere with the Minnesota Orchestra. From 1986 to 1992, Meyer was in a progressive bluegrass band, Strength in Numbers. O'Connor was in it, too, until he left to concentrate on a solo career.
``I totally fell in love with what they did individually,'' Ma says. ``I fantasized about somehow being able to do something with them, in some form.''
The fantasy has come true, with the 70-minute, 16-part, instrumental ``Appalachia Waltz,'' composed by O'Connor and Meyer and played by O'Connor, Ma and Meyer on a Sony CD. The three also did a brief tour, playing it.
By the time they got to the Bottom Line, Meyer and O'Connor had composed three new sections.
Ma, who is 41 and had never played the Bottom Line, said, a few hours before the performance, ``I'm really excited. I think the cozy feeling of playing a club is actually something we all strive for anywhere - to get beyond the footlights and get into a sharing mode. I think this place really lends itself to making it happen. We feel very close to people.''
Ma says he isn't trying to prove how many far-out projects he can tackle. ``The big thing for me right now is to see how can fiddling and American roots-oriented music blend into a classical setting. I think it works.
``I follow interests. I don't try to do something to be different. I was telling Edgar, if there's a chance to get into doing something that's really fascinating, boy, I jump.''
An interview with the trio in the club's one small dressing room bubbles with teasing and back-and-forth conversation.
Ma, who was born in Paris of Chinese parents and lives in Massachusetts now, is in the trio, Meyer says, ``because no one else answered our ad.''
Ma says, ``I sent in a resume. I'm still on probation. Do I have band tenure?'' O'Connor and Meyer reply as one voice, ``Not yet.''
``These guys have such high standards, but even Mark is beginning to enjoy himself,'' Ma says. ``We flatter him a lot,'' Meyer says. ``Yes him to death,'' Ma chimes in.
``If they let me play with them, they can badger me all they want,'' O'Connor comments with a smile.
``Appalachia Waltz'' contains a few authentic folk tunes and tunes O'Connor and Meyer composed, heavily influenced by traditional music. Traditional instrumentation would be fiddle, guitar and mandolin, Meyer says, not fiddle, cello and bass. He adds that much of the time what audiences guess are folk tunes are melodies they composed and vice versa.
Meyer and O'Connor, who are both 35, live in Nashville. ``We got together quite a bit. We gave each other computer discs; most often we gave each other tapes. The real decisions were made with two people in a room,'' Meyer says.
Five or six times, at intervals, they showed Ma what they'd written. Finally they booked a rehearsal hall, to see whether they had something workable. They liked what they had and kept working.
``For a long time there hasn't been this kind of virtuoso composing devoted to roots music,'' Ma says. ``What you two are doing is what the composers Bartok and Kodaly did many years ago. They went out and tried to find authentic music, in the deepest and simplest sense, and worked from there, with great respect. I think you both feel part of this tradition and you're making it live.''
Before the first performances of ``Appalachia Waltz'' in Boston, London and Tokyo, Ma says, ``We had no idea how to advertise the concert. We were scared to death.
``People loved it. They felt it was deeply American music. Some of it is toe-tapping music and some parts are deeply spiritual. It was serious and fun at the same time.''
``When you play some of your great classical repertoire, don't you have fun doing it?'' O'Connor asks.
``Absolutely,'' Ma replies.
``It's almost required,'' Meyer adds. ``If you cast a serious pall over everything, it doesn't work. It doesn't work if you're grinning the whole time, either.''
Meyer notes that these days in classical music, the performer and composer usually isn't the same person.
Ma says, ``I used to compose all the way through college. My compositions are best left unheard. It's hard to find a voice.
``I think classical music went through a really hard time, a lot of `Don't do this and don't do that' from teachers. I didn't know how to get around that. Edgar, how did you get around that?''
``I felt like my music was my own and it wasn't theirs,'' Meyer replies. ``If my thing didn't work out, that was OK. I was curious if I could learn new ideas. I remember being 10 and 11 and not being interested in being told exactly how things work.
``I think if you dump a few of the restrictions, a lot of things can jump out.''
Playing ``Appalachia Waltz'' ``is just as hard as anything I've ever done,'' Ma says. ``This is a very specific world and I have fabulous guides to try to bring me into that world. This is a slightly different language from chamber music. Ultimately it is like chamber music, if you define it as playing where everybody is responsible for everything.''
Ma holds his cello bow as he does in baroque music. ``There's less emphasis on an expensive-instrument sound and more emphasis on precision, rhythmic clarity and articulation.''
Meyer's father was a jazz player whose record collection was jazz and classical and who encouraged him in a classical direction.
The Country Music Association named O'Connor musician of the year every year from 1990 through 1995 but he, too, started with classical music lessons, on guitar. His mother loved classical music and he never heard country music until he was 10. O'Connor calls himself a born fiddler, who picked up traditional fiddle tunes.
``Didn't you drive from your home in Seattle to Nashville for a fiddle competition so you could meet your fiddle heroes?'' Ma asks.
``Yes and the first night I met Vassar Clements,'' O'Connor replies. ``I got to jam with him, too. I was 12.''
O'Connor says, ``I really have found it very interesting to come around full circle to be able to play with great classical musicians, with my style of violin playing in the mix.''
Is it possible there will be more live performances of ``Appalachia Waltz?''
``We'd love to do them,'' Ma says. ``If people will have us, we'll do it. We'd love to stay together.''
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, bassist Edgar Meyer and fiddlerby CNBMark O'Connor perform Meyer and O'Connor's ``Appalachia Waltz.''
color.