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An artistic blow to the face

CD Review: Punch by Punch Brothers.

The sensation caused in 1994 by the release of Leading Off, the debut recording by mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, still makes a lot of sense today. Thile was only 12 at the time, yet he put all known masters of the instrument to shame. Whether the child prodigy would be heard from again was by no means certain, however, given the often-mercurial character of such premature eruptions of talent.

When Thile reappeared six years later with Nickel Creek, it became evident he was here to stay. The highly accomplished picker turned out to be a fine singer and interesting songwriter as well. Later the same year, he released a fully instrumental CD called Not All Who Wander Are Lost, quite a bit more ambitious than the light tone of the Nickel Creek trio. Like a few of his own musical heroes, Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer among them, Thile delivered the perfect culmination in the development of “new­grass,” a deft blend of bluegrass and jazz.
Thile’s further meanderings—including the pop CD Deceiver, which he recorded solo by multi-tracking all vocals and instruments—have failed to prepare us for the unexpected artistic blow to the face Thile lands with Punch. In the company of four new allies, he treads completely new ground.

It is the fulfillment of Thile’s long-nourished dream: to create a bridge between American roots music and his favourite classics, such as Brahms’ Fourth Symphony and Debussy’s String Quartet.

The centerpiece of Punch is “The Blind Leaving the Blind,” a true classical romantic suite in four movements for mandolin, guitar, fiddle, banjo, double bass and vocals. This seemingly bizarre combination—stylistic forms such as sonata and leitmotiv with the aesthetic and sound of American bluegrass as a vehicle for a poetic narrative about love and suffering—does however work out perfectly, resulting in a true magnum opus. With this release, my highest hopes for the year in music have already been fulfilled.

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