The Goat Rodeo Sessions: Bluegrass meets classical Goat Rodeo Sessions: Top string virtuosos find common musical ground

Mandolinist Chris Thile, vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, double bassist Edgar Meyer and violinist Stuart Duncan. Mandolinist Chris Thile, vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, double bassist Edgar Meyer and violinist Stuart Duncan. Photo: Opus 3 Artists Photo: Opus 3 Artists Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close The Goat Rodeo Sessions: Bluegrass meets classical 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

When an instrumental ensemble showcases four celebrated musical geniuses, one of whom is an international über-star, it can call itself anything it pleases - even something as whimsical as the Goat Rodeo Sessions.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, double bassist Edgar Meyer, mandolinist Chris Thile and violinist Stuart Duncan play genre-defying original compositions, hybrids of classical music and bluegrass, infused with the experimentation and improvisation of jazz.

They'll perform two shows this weekend, at Sonoma State University's Green Music Center and UC Berkeley's Greek Theatre, with vocalist Aoife O'Donovan.

Meyer says that the group's metaphorical name is well suited to the music.

"It was very perplexing at first to a number of people," he says, on the phone from the Aspen Music Festival. "But they grew to like it, and I think it turned out to be a nearly perfect title for this project because it is a certain kind of controlled chaos, a situation where everything is perfectly out of control."

Widely regarded as the most inventive double bass player of his generation, Meyer was the matchmaker of the quartet when it came together to create its Grammy-winning self-titled 2011 CD.

"I personally am pretty thrilled with how the pieces fit," he says. "I can be in the rhythm section with Chris, with Yo-Yo and Stuart being the vocalists, or I can get into a string section and blend with Stuart and Yo-Yo, and do a tightrope style of written or improvised music.

"It's uncommon to get that much opportunity to do so many things that I enjoy doing. I think each person in the group feels great about the fit in different ways, about how it works for them."

Of the pre-eminent cellist, Meyer says, "Yo-Yo is an enormous musician. I love blending with him, as does Stuart. He's just able to unite the voices into one. And he is a super empathetic person and player. He simply wants to connect with the people he's playing with, with the audience, and he wants to have a good time."

Thile, whose other continuing commitment is front man of the progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers, is, like the others, a super-achiever. He was one of the best mandolin players in the world while still in his teens.

"Chris will raise your expectations about what's possible," Meyer says. "Things you didn't really expect to work can work, and you can kind of go for the moon. Things in other situations you would have written off as impractical, you think, 'With Chris, we might be able to try this.' He's the youngest of us, 32 or so, and pretty much produces with the energy of a 20-year-old."

Duncan, the fiddle player and anchor of the Nashville Bluegrass Band for nearly three decades, is among the most sought-after instrumentalists in the music business. "Stuart just has a very beautiful voice," Meyer says, "and when he starts to light up a fiddle tune, everyone gets more alert and plays a little stronger."

As much as Meyer respects the individual talents of his bandmates, he is emphatic that the magic resides in the collaboration.

" 'Goat Rodeo' is an entirely group-composed piece," he says, adding that "no part of it sticks out as belonging to one of us. Writing music can be quite a group activity. It's spearheaded by the aesthetic of people improvising together.

"Music, as much as it is about ideas, is also always about communication and connection," Meyer says. "That just seems central. It fundamentally is about communicating and connecting with other humans, both people we play with and the people who hear it. Our collaboration is a natural way of bringing all that together."

If you go

The Goat Rodeo Sessions: 7:30 p.m. Friday. $25-$100. Green Music Center, Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. (866) 955-6040. gmc.sonoma.edu. Also 8 p.m. Saturday. $35-$250. Greek Theater, UC Berkeley. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org.