Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile

Nonesuch releases the first recording collaboration by bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. The album features 12 original compositions by the duo, who have been performing together sporadically for the past several years.

Meyer and Thile began playing together eight years ago, and began performing live as a duo in 2003. Thile calls Meyer his “hero” and goes on to say, “Edgar is one of the biggest influences on my musical life, and now I’m in a duo with him and writing songs with him. This was my dream. I always wondered what it would be like to be playing music this hard.”

Widely regarded as one of the most interesting and inventive musicians of his generation, mandolinist Chris Thile has elevated his instrument from its origins as a relatively simple folk and bluegrass instrument to the sophistication and brilliance of the finest jazz improvisation and classical performance. NPR’s Bob Boilen said of him, “I’ve seen many musicians in my day, but my jaw dropped listening to and watching Thile play … The command he had of his instrument, from frenetically fast strumming to tasty quiet fills, it was just first-rate.”