Appalachia Waltz is the first album from the trio of fiddler and composer Mark O'Connor

Mark O'Connor

Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...

, double-bassist and composer Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...

, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...

. Sony Classical released the disc in 1996. The album announces a new kind of Americana-styled Western art music, with ancestry in old-timey

Old-time music

Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...

, bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

, folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, and traditional European classical styles. It was recorded over three days, August 14-August 17, 1995. It is possible that the titles of these albums imply a continuity of the American classical tradition begun by Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

 in Appalachian Spring

Appalachian Spring

Appalachian Spring is a modern score composed by Aaron Copland that premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite...

. In its June 1997 issue, Bass Player magazine

Bass Player (magazine)

Bass Player is a popular magazine for bassists. Each issue offers a variety of artist interviews, lessons, equipment reviews, and a complete transcribed bass line from a popular song...

 named it one of "30 Essential Bass Albums You Must Own", due to Meyer's exceptional work on the album. The trio followed up this album with Appalachian Journey

Appalachian Journey

Appalachian Journey is the second album from the string trio of bassist and composer Edgar Meyer, fiddler and composer Mark O'Connor, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. James Taylor and Alison Krauss join the trio individually on two Stephen Foster songs arranged for the trio. Sony Classical released the disc...

in 2000.

Track listing

1. "The Green Groves of Erin/The Flowers of Red Hill" (Traditional - arr:Edgar Meyer)
2. "Appalachia Waltz" (Mark O'Connor - arr:Meyer)
3. "Chief Sitting in the Rain" (Traditional - arr:Meyer, O'Connor)
4. "Mama" (Meyer)
5. "Butterfly's Day Out" (O'Connor - arr:Meyer)
6. "Druid Fluid" (Meyer, O'Connor)
7. "First Impressions" (Meyer)
8. "Étienne et Petunia" (Meyer)
9. "F.C.'s Jig" (O'Connor)
10. "College Hornpipe" (Traditional - arr:Meyer, O'Connor)
11. "Pickles" (Meyer)
12. "Old Country Fairytale" (O'Connor)
13. "Schizoozy" (Meyer)
14. "Star of the County Down
    Star of the County Down
    "Star of the County Down" is an old Irish ballad set near Banbridge in County Down, in Ireland. The words are by Cathal McGarvey, 1866-1927, from Ramelton, County Donegal...
    
    " (Traditional - arr:Meyer)
15. "Speed the Plow Medley" (Traditional - arr:Meyer, O'Connor)
16. "Fair Dancer Reel" (O'Connor - arr:Meyer)

Personnel

• Mark O'Connor, violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  , mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
   on "Butterfly's Day Out"
• Yo-Yo Ma, cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  
• Edgar Meyer, bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  on "First Impressions"