Darol Robert Anger is an American violinist and founding member of The David Grisman Quintet.

Career

Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman's mandolin in The David Grisman Quintet's (DGQ) 1977 debut. He co-founded and named the

Turtle Island String Quartet The Turtle Island Quartet is a string quartet that plays hybrids of jazz, classical, and rock music. The group was formed in 1985 by David Balakrishnan, Darol Anger, and Mark Summer in San Francisco. They released their first album on Windham H ...

with David Balakrishnan in 1985 and performed, composed, and arranged for the chamber jazz group. He frequently collaborates with fellow DGQ alumnus Mike Marshall. Anger met pianist Barbara Higbie in Paris and formed a musical partnership with her. Together they released an early record on Windham Hill, ''Tideline'' (1982). Two years later, they formed a group called The Darol Anger/Barbara Higbie Quintet with Mike Marshall, Todd Phillips, and Andy Narell. This group performed at the 1984 Montreux Jazz Festival. The quintet later took the name

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

. After two studio releases, the band broke up in 1990, and Anger continued with the

, founded in 1985. He still collaborates with ''Montreux'' and fellow ''Psychograss'' colleague, Mike Marshall, and occasionally also collaborates with Barbara Higbie and Michael Manring. Using classical, folk, and jazz music as springboards, he currently leads Republic of Strings, founded with Scott Nygaard. He also co-founded The Duo (with Mike Marshall), Psychograss (the bluegrass group including Mike Marshall, mandolin; Todd Phillips, bass; David Grier, guitar; and Tony Trischka, banjo), Fiddlers 4 (with Michael Doucet, Bruce Molsky, violins; and Rushad Eggleston, cello), and Mr Sun (with Joe K. Walsh, Grant Gordy, and Aidan O'Donnell). Anger also plays frequently with pianist Phil Aaberg. He has performed or recorded with musicians ranging from Tony Rice, Stephane Grappelli and Mark O'Connor to Marin Alsop, Bill Evans, Nickel Creek, Chris Thile & Punch Brothers, Yonder Mountain String Band, Béla Fleck, Taarka and Anonymous 4. He can also be heard on the NPR's Car Talk theme song. He is a MacDowell and UCross Fellow. Anger currently lives in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, after moving from his long-time home in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. He has completed the construction of 2 violins under the guidance of luthier Jonathan Cooper and was in 2010 named Associate Professor at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. In June 2011 he began teaching online at the Online Fiddle School with Darol Anger, as part of the ArtistWorks Academy of Bluegrass. He was the Artist at Large at the 2018 John Hartford Memorial Festival.

Discography

* 1979 ''Fiddlistics'' * 1982 ''Tideline'' – with Barbara Higbie * 1983 ''The Duo'' – with Mike Marshall * 1984 ''Live at Montreux '84'' * 1985 ''Jazz Violin Celebration'' * 1985 ''Chiaroscuro'' * 1987 ''Sign Language'' * 1989 ''Let Them Say'' * 1993 ''Psychograss'' * 1996 ''Heritage'' * 1997 ''At Home and on the Range'' * 1998 ''Christmas Heritage'' * 1997 ''Like Minds'' * 1999 ''Jam'' * 1999 ''Diary of a Fiddler'' * 2000 ''Brand New Can'' * 2001 ''Now Hear This'' * 2005 ''Republic of Strings'' * 2007 ''Generation Nation'' * 2007 ''Woodshop'' * 2007 ''Mike Marshall and Darol Anger with Väsen'' * 2008 ''Cross Time'' – with Philip Aaberg * 2014 ''Eand'a''

Republic of Strings

* 2004 ''Republic of Strings'' * 2006 ''Generation Nation''

Mr Sun

* 2015 ''The People Need Light'' * 2022 ''Extrovert'' * 2023 ''Mr Sun Plays Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite''

With Bruce Molsky

* 2024 ''Darol & Bruce: Lockdown Breakdown''

References

External links

Darol Anger (Official website)Online Fiddle School with Darol AngerArtistWorks Academy of BluegrassCompass Records: Darol Anger (Artist page)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anger, Darol 1953 births Living people Violinists from San Francisco American bluegrass fiddlers Progressive bluegrass musicians New-age fiddlers New-age violinists Folk violinists Folk fiddlers Chamber jazz musicians American jazz violinists American male violinists Windham Hill Records artists Jazz musicians from San Francisco Country musicians from California 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians David Grisman Quintet members Montreux (band) members Psychograss members Turtle Island Quartet members Compass Records artists Rounder Records artists Six Degrees Records artists