Cello is my new favortie instrument

Of course, it already was mine.

But producer Mike Null is a new convert. "Cello is my new favorite instrument," he writes after his recent work with the wonderful and versatile cellist, Kristen Miller.

Now, not to knock classical musicians, I myself grew up classically trained… but when I’ve dealt with many trained string players in the past, there is generally a lack of flexibility. It’s not their fault, they are bred from a young age to be reading machines and are often not required to do anything but. So, if you ask them to improvise, or to change the way they play something, or to just play something “out” or weird, they give you a blank stare that reads “can not compute”.

[That's spot-on in my opinion and experience, and why I'm committed to getting everyone to do as much improv as possible in music school.--EE]

Kristin is more than your average classical player. Not only does she have the technique and intonation of a first chair cellist, she also has the intuition and the ear of a jazz musician. She’s the kind of player you can let loose on a track. With little direction, she played some of the most beautifully articulated lines on par with any professional recording. In addition, she was able to turn right around and play noise. She created sounds that sounded like she was channeling Jimi Hendrix himself and it was all done with utmost taste and sensitivity to the song.

There are audio clips from Kristen's albums on the music page of her site. Hmm . . .on my Christmas list. (Which means I'll probably buy an album today, oh me of little sales resistance.)