Vassar Clements – The Magic Fiddle of Bluegrass Rockin Jam 1 comment
Vassar Clements and Friends – Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice, Dicky Betts, John Hartford, Clarence “GateMouth” Brown & More
Stir Fried Feb 14 2008 No comments yet
A Real Gem. Recorded Live with Buddy Cage, Commander Cody and Vassar Clements. Sure to Please.
As always…..Thanks again for your love and support…
PEACE………………..+ + +
vinceandtheband
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Vassar Clements, who died of lung cancer on August 16, 2005 at the age of 77, is considered one of the world’s finest and most versatile fiddle players. His career began at a very early age. His phenomenal ability to virtually play any kind of music (bluegrass, country, pop, rock, jazz and swing) has garnered him various awards, including five Grammy nominations and a track record that involves multitudes of recording performances. His performing and recording experience has been so diverse, the list reads like “Who’s Who” of fiddle players.
Vassar is more than just a fine musician. Many titles have been bestowed upon him. Some refer to him as a country “Isaac Stern”, others a “Count Basie” fiddle player., and even the 
“Miles Davis” of bluegrass, The reason – perhaps is the fact that Vassar is a music philosopher who elects to play his thoughts on his instrument. He has simply taken the medium of music and used it to express his feelings. He is a prolific composer of instrumentals and plays seven instruments.- violin, viola, cello, bass, mandolin, guitar and tenor banjo.
Vassar’s career spans over fifty years. His association with Bill Monroe began when he was only 14 years old and still in school. He started with Bill as a regular Bluegrass Boy in 1949 and was with him through 1956. From 1957 to 1961 he performed with bluegrass stalwarts, Jim & Jesse McReynolds. In 1962 he took leave from his music to pursue other interests, but returned to full time music when he decided to make Nashville his home in January 1967.
Within a few short months, Vassar was recording and/or performing with Dicky Betts, Jerry Garcia, The Gra
teful Dead, The Allman Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Grisman, Paul McCartney et al. In May 1973, The Classic, “Old & In The Way ” album was recorded in San Francisco during a live performance. The Sales from this project have exceeded other albums of like kind, and has formed staunch cults that still exist after twenty three years.
This legendary artist can and will take his listener somewhere on an exploratory journey through time past, present and future.
To say that Vassar Clements is a musicians’ musician is an understatement. His modest demeanor and his professional approach to music has made him an idol to many in the entertainment industry. He is the quintessential American musician, being well versed in bluegrass, country, rock, blues, jazz and swing. His career presents a model that most musicians would gladly follow.
In October of ‘96, Stir Fried perform
ed a two-night stand at the infamous ‘Images’ located in Pearl River, NY. These sold-out shows were recorded for a future live double set CD release. Both nights feature our friends Vassar Clements and Buddy Cage. In the years to follow, Stir Fried was blessed with being able to have Vassar Tour with the band extensively. We have all come to know his as not only the finest musician to ever have walked our planet, but as a true gentlemen, and a friend always. Stir Fried misses Vassar dearly and we are getting together a collossal audio collection of Vassar Clements with Stir Fried durring the time we toured and made music together. Special Edition Recordings of Vassar and Stir Fried recorded Live and Jamming like Mofo’s” Tennessee Style” can be found at StirFried.com