“New Spirit of Suwannee” is a waltz composed in August 2026 by Christian Séguret and Olivier Andrès. The piece was written for a project involving background music for the company Sync’ Up, for which the two musicians work regularly. The track was adapted and re-recorded for this mandolin-focused event launched by Denis Phan.
The title of this instrumental piece reminds us of an earlier waltz written by the two musicians some thirty years ago for the album Massoubre et Séguret-Guitares, released by Silex in 1994; “Spirit of Suwannee” refers to a well-known theme park located in Florida. Both instrumentals share an acoustic atmosphere inspired by bluegrass, a harmonic structure that differs slightly from the genre’s standards, and a slow waltz tempo that Christian particularly favors.
This piece is performed by Olivier Andrès on double bass (German-made, early 20th century) and Christian Séguret on guitar (1942 Martin D-18) and mandolin (1926 Gibson F-5 “Fern,” serial number 83233).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENFtoSZEzk
The mandolin used by Christian Séguret on this track is a highly reputed instrument. It is an F-5 model built by Gibson in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial number 83233, built in 1926, and adorned with the famous “Fern” inlay on the headstock. The mandolin belonged for many years to Ralph Rinzler, a mandolinist with the Greenbriar Boys, who later discovered Doc Watson, served as Bill Monroe’s manager, and worked as a musicologist at the Smithsonian Institute.
Known as “The A. J. Polin Mandolin,” named after its first owner (engraved on the truss rod cover), or as “The Rinzler Fern,” it has had an eventful history. Ralph Rinzler purchased it in 1963 for $350 (those were the days) near Chicago. Between 1963 and 1965, Bill Monroe—whose manager Rinzler was—used this mandolin at every concert to play the song “Get Up John,” which required a specific tuning that his banjoist, Bill Keith, was responsible for setting before each performance.
Monroe also used the mandolin in his video recorded for Homespun Tapes in the 1990s. Rinzler played this instrument regularly until his death in 1994. The mandolin was once theft from his home and returned by the police a few months later (a police report is included in the case). After his death, the instrument was purchased by the Austrian mandolinist Helmut Mitteregger, and then by Christian Séguret in 2002.
Olivier Andrès and Christian Séguret have been collaborating for nearly fifty years and share several common threads in their careers. They were long-time members of the French bluegrass band Transatlantic, then went on to play in the bands of Sanseverino and Hugues Aufray, and have composed and recorded numerous albums together as well as nearly 500 tracks of background music for Universal and later for Sync’ Up.