A cold, grey rain continued to fall over Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon -- but things were heating up inside the Staples Center, as the first full day of rehearsals pushed into the evening. Just after 5 p.m., violinists Joshua Bell, Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, along with double-bassist Edgar Meyer, stood at center stage -- with no scantily-clad dancers, no flashy lights and no explosions -- and tore through a fiery rendition of "Death By Triple Fiddle" with much aplomb. It was a powerful performance that's sure to wow the GRAMMY audience on Wednesday night. The teams' collaborative effort, Short Trip Home, is nominated for Best Classical Crossover Album; it's an ambitious melding of classical and bluegrass strings, which features the graceful string-work of all four performers.
Though Bell is 31 years old now, he's been playing and recording professionally since his teens with some of the most renowned symphonies in the world. He also dove into the world of film this past year -- sort of. That's Bell's handiwork in the close-up shots of the playing done in last year's film The Red Violin, about the life and trials of a famous red Stradivarius (just like the 1732 Strad Bell plays in real life). Bell's work on Short Trip Home, as well as his upcoming GRAMMY performance, has offered him the chance to cut loose a little outside of his sometimes serious "day job" of classical music.
And the foursome were having fun on Sunday: after the final run-through of their song, the four raised their bows to a point above them -- Four Muskateers-style -- before playfully swashing them downward and collapsing into waves of laughter.
--Melissa Blazek
