What's up with Yo Yo Ma?

[Alex Franke]

I caught part of a performance of his on Colbert Report (of all places) playing some pretty wild music along with a bagpipe and other unlikely instruments.

Anyone else catch that?

[ironhat]

I did not see it but among the highly gifted there is a call to excellence and self-testing. Maybe he's just out on one of these types of jaunts. Of course, he could have gotten the bagpipe sound by catching the cat's tail in a door! LOL!!

[Alex Franke]

I guess he has a new album called "Songs of Joy and Peace" -- from the product description: "Imagine a party, a musical party inspired by the holiday season. A party that celebrates the universal hopes, dreams and joy animating seasonal festivals the world over - Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, Yule and New Year's Day. That is what brought Yo-Yo Ma together with a remarkable group of friends - some old, some new - to create SONGS OF JOY & PEACE."

Pretty wild stuff. Here's a video of the show -- the performance starts at about 19 minutes in. http://www.comedycentral.com/colbert...isodeId=189599

Songs of Joy & Peace
New: $9.79 (48% savings)
Rating: 5.0 of 5, 3 review(s)

[tribalwind]

i saw it on the show tonight.
i play all kinds of world-music myself,on the flutes and drums i make, and even to me that performance was just weird! mainly the bagpipe chick i'd say,i loved her haha.

i kinda liked it for its wild totally out there strangeness quality...i'd probably go see it live with a date for fun comedic entertainment value. but if thats how the entire CD is(or any part of it actually) ummm, i pass! lol.

[Uncle Cracker]

I'm kinda torn... I think a real artist produces what's inside him/her, and stays true to it. This smacks of something done from the outside in; for shock value. But it is different and thought-provoking.

[ironhat]

I just listened to it and I thought that I'd hate it more. If I don't watch the piper and could get her to stop shrieking I think that I like it more. I don't particularly care for the accordion - it just doesn't seem to blend as well as the pipes, which never thought I'd say about bagpipes. It was a fun piece but I'm with tribalwind on how much of that I could take in one sitting.

[gsmittle]

I just listened to it and I thought that I'd hate it more. If I don't watch the piper and could get her to stop shrieking I think that I like it more. I don't particularly care for the accordion - it just doesn't seem to blend as well as the pipes, which never thought I'd say about bagpipes. It was a fun piece but I'm with tribalwind on how much of that I could take in one sitting.

I saw that bit of Colbert too, and I'm still trying to decide if I wold buy the CD or not. The music's pretty out there; but I have some pretty out there stuff in my collection. I'd probably want to listen to the whole thing first, then decide.

I will say I was entertained.

g.

[germdoc]

I love Yo Yo Ma but...

Q. What's the definition of a gentleman?
A. Someone who knows how to play the bagpipe and doesn't.

Q. What's the difference between a dead snake in the road and a dead bagpiper in the road?
A. Skid marks in front of the snake.

Q. How can you tell if a bagpipe is out of tune?
A. Someone is blowing into it.

Bagpipes(noun): I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made object never equaled the purity of sound achieved by the pig.

-Alfred Hitchcock