My band is called Eclectica--it's a 3 piece of myself with Futureman (Roy Wooten) on drums and Kyle Whalum on bass. The CD will be released April 1, 2008 on ArtistShare Records with distribution by Thirty Tigers/Sony Red
Influences
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"The greatest living exponent of the electric violin." --BBC Radio
"...fleet agility and tangy expressivity with wailing hints of Jimi Hendrix."
--Anthony Tommasini, New York Times
"Tracy Silverman played as if he believed in every note and there was a whooping standing ovation."
--Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News
"His deep engagement with the Asian-influenced music coursed through his strong,
supple virtuosity."
--Hilary Finch, The Times, (London) Tuesday
"A showcase for the startling virtuosity of jazz electric violinist Tracy Silverman."
-- Andrew Clements, The Guardian, (London)
"Charismatic"
-- Stephen Pettitt, The Evening Standard, (London) Monday, August 23, 2004
"That violin, as Tracy Silverman miraculously plays it, evokes Jimi Hendrix's wailing electric guitar and Ravi Shankar's astral sitar and Silverman, in an inspiring display of dharmic duty, has astonishingly memorized difficult music."
--Mark Swed, LA Times, May 27, 2005
"A winsome fellow with Kenny G curls and an endearingly blissed-out air, soloist Tracy Silverman drew from his souped-up fiddle ecstatic shrieks, soulful growls, and swoops and slides of phosphorescent radiance."
--Marion Lignana Rosenberg, Newsday, June 8, 2005
Silverman walks around the stage, breaking the box classical cats stand in. Finally he reaches up way high and we get a big moment. Silverman turns a circle. The music gets louder and louder. The violin rushes to the stratosphere. We get arpeggios and flying fingers. We've taken off. Adams turns on the electricity and lets Silverman blow above the orchestra playing full blast. With a rush and a flourish it's over. The audience loves it. So do I. It's his best piece in years."
--David Salvage Sequenza21, June 6, 2005
"Tracy Silverman wove an endless freewheeling melody that at times resembled a Jimi Hendrix solo."
--Alex Ross, The New Yorker Magazine
"the Adams work also is a concerto tailored to the special talents of Tracy Silverman, he of the wild curls and even wilder electric violin."
--John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune
"Tracy Silverman, the soloist who belongs among the inspirers, plays a six-string electronic violin. 'I planned Dharma as a piece about ambiance,' says Adams, 'and then in addition it became a violin concerto. That happened when I discovered the phenomenal Tracy Silverman, who will play the solo part on his six-string electric violin.'"
--Alan Rich, LA Weekly
"'Trip to the Sun' may be the most adventurous Windham Hill album ever."
--John Diliburto, Billboard
"Silverman is stretching out in yet another direction, in a harder rock direction, with stops in classical, jazz and electronica"
--Philadelphia Inquirer
Lauded by the BBC as “the greatest living exponent of the electric violin”, Juilliard graduate Tracy Silverman has redefined the instrument with his instantly recognizable trademark sound. His groundbreaking work with the 6-string electric violin has forever transformed violin playing, much as Hendrix redefined the electric guitar.
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams’ electric violin concerto “The Dharma at Big Sur”, written expressly for Silverman, single-handedly legitimized the electric violin in 2003. Recorded by Silverman on Nonesuch Records with the BBC Symphony, he has performed it at New York’s Lincoln Center, Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royal Albert Hall in London, Palais des Beaux Artes in Brussels and the Cabrillo Festival, among others. In the liner notes, Adams writes, ”Tracy has developed his own unique style of violin playing--a marvel of expressiveness.” At the premier, Mark Swed of the LA Times raved, “Inspiring. Silverman is in a class of his own.” The Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein wrote of Silverman’s “blazing virtuosity. You will be astonished that anybody can play a fiddle like that.”
Silverman has recorded with a virtual who’s who of the new music, jazz and rock world. As first violinist with the innovative Turtle Island String Quartet, Silverman toured internationally and established a long-standing relationship with Windham Hill Records. His 1999 self-produced release, "Trip to the Sun" has become a cult favorite which Billboard Magazine heralded as "the most adventurous Windham Hill album ever." He has produced several albums for the label and appears on dozens of Windham Hill Collections. Silverman’s “Electric Violin Concerto” has been described by the Wichita Eagle as "the ideal piece for today’s symphony”, and has been choreographed in it’s entirety by Henrique Rodovalho in a fully mounted production with the Bale Teatro Guaira in Brazil.
Silverman has recorded and performed with John Adams, Terry Riley, Zakir Hussain, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Jim Brickman, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Guster, Big and Rich, Rachel Barton Pine, Tuck and Patty, Linda Ronstadt, Eliot Fisk, Billy Taylor, Bob Geldof, and as a soloist with major orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony conducted by Neemi Jarvi, the LA Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, with conductors Marin Alsop, Kent Negano and many others.
An international touring artist, Tracy has performed at major concert venues from Sao Paulo to Vienna, from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. In 1999 he was awarded Artist in Residence status by the city of Hamburg, Germany and is a frequent concert attraction in Brazil. The Rhein Zeitung wrote "technically brilliant to the fingertips, but overthrowing all the usual preconceived ideas". The London Times raved, “His deep engagement with the music coursed through his strong, supple virtuosity."
Silverman produced and performs on Jim Brickman’s hit CD’s "Simple Things", "Lovesongs and Lullabies", “Escape” and “Homecoming” and on all 3 of Jim’s popular TV Specials. His many appearances on national radio and television include NPR's “Performance Today”, MPR's “St. Paul Sunday”, “A Prarie Home Companion” and was featured as a violinist and record producer on “CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood”. He has taught at Macalester College in St. Paul, and at the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis and regularly gives workshops all over the world, including the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Jazz in July at Amherst, Oberlin Conservatory and many others. Silverman has long been a favorite instructor at Mark O’Connor’s annual fiddle camp. He currently holds a teaching position at Belmont University in his home of Nashville, TN, where he teaches exclusively jazz and rock violin.
Tracy is currently touring internationally with his solo concerts, with his rock band, “Eclectica”, as a member of the Terry Riley Trio, The Gyan Riley Trio featuring Zakir Hussain, The Great Big Piano Trio with Philip Aaberg and Eugene Friesen and with the Quarteto Sao Paulo in Brazil.
I discovered you at a Jim Brickman concert many many years ago and have been hooked ever since! I'm a Jim Brickman VIP Club Member and frequent his shows, but I found myself watching you and loving you more than him! I have always loved piano music, so it came as quite a shock that a violinist would capture my attention over a pianist... but you did! I love everything about you... your music, your incredible talent, your hair! : )
It's amazing how you can make your violin sound like an electric guitar yet in the next instant make it sound like angels singing! You are truly unique and amazing and I just can't get enough of you! Please find a way to come to the Western New York area. I will drive hours to see you, so anywhere in Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY; Rochester, NY; Erie, PA; Niagara Falls, Canada; etc. would be wonderful! Thanks so much!
Hi Tracy~ I wish I could have worked it out to have you on the recording. It came out nicely... strings by our Tyler! He did a beautiful job... man! What fun! What took me so long? Here it is http://cdbaby. com/cd/karenemerson I hope life is joyous in your world~ Thank you for all of your kindness and generosity in influencing our family in music~
What's up Tracy? :) Will be in Nashville on the evening on June 11th, 2008, on the way to Bonnaroo Music Festival. I msg'd you about it. . . Hope to see you gigging that evening!
Tracy, hi again :) - just wanted to brag a little, hehe (may I ?)- this is what www. MetalMonthly. com are saying about us? I thought, you'd like it... all that about something that is played with a bow :) - Thanks, - Armand
