Jay Ungar, born November 14, 1946, in New York City, is an American fiddle player and composer. Raised on traditional Macedonian and Hungarian music, he turned to bluegrass and American folk after high school, joined bands like Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys and the Putnam String County Band in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Ungar performed at New York's Towne Crier club, where he met Molly Mason, who later became his wife and musical partner. He founded the Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps in the early 1980s. He gained prominence when "Ashokan Farewell" from Fiddle Fever's album Waltz of the Wind was featured in Ken Burnsâ documentary series The American Civil War, which earned him an Emmy nomination for the soundtrack. The song became a classic, covered by numerous artists. Notable albums with Mason include The Lovers' Waltz (1997), Harvest Home (1999), and Relax Your Mind (2003).
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