Amazing Grace - A Country Salute to Gospel, Vol. 1 Review

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Amazing Grace - A Country Salute to Gospel, Vol. 1 ReviewI honestly don't understand why anyone would want to hear "Amazing Grace" any other way but slow. Lari White sings it beautifully, with reverence. That's the way most of these tracks are. The females are the highlight. Lari White, Martina McBride, Susan Ashton, Allison Krause, and of course Emmylou. The production values are better than you can find on any country gospel album. I think Martina McBride's "How Great Thou Art" is being played on loudspeaker at the pearly gates for eternity. I'm not overly religious or emotional, but this album sooths my soul and brings a tear to my eye.Amazing Grace - A Country Salute to Gospel, Vol. 1 OverviewAlbum NotesProducers: John Guess (track 1); John Anderson, Jim Ed Norman (track 2); Brown Bannister (tracks 3, 5-6); Paul Worley, Ed Seay, Martina McBride (track 4); Mac McAnally, Ricky Scaggs (track 7); Alison Krauss (track 8); Ron Griffin (track 9); Emory Gordy, Jr., Emmylou Harris (track 10).AMAZING GRACE: A COUNTRY SALUTE TO GOSPEL won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Southern Gospel, Country Gospel Or Bluegrass Gospel Album.Arrangers: Emmylou Harris; Alison Krauss.

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Early Southern Guitar Sounds Review

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Early Southern Guitar Sounds ReviewAt 75 years old, Mike is still alive and kicking very hard as the most outstanding player, historian, and analyst of Southeastern traditional music Black and white in America. He's unique in that as he likes to say, he was never very good at "book learning" and with the exception of a few out of print music instruction books and his brilliant "Talking Feet" book and film which should be in every home, most of his writing has come in liner notes, or talks at performances or where old time music savants gather. However, he has created a body of work in his 60 years of performances and in the many living traditional singers and musicians he has recorded and promoted, and in the recordings he has done with the New Lost City Ramblers, the Strange Creek Singers, and with other old time musicians like Alice Foster (now Gerard) and Paul Brown.
This album is apparently a successor to his magnificent Southern Banjo record that catalog traditional Black and white Southern banjo playing magnificently coming like this set does with an instructional DVD.
Even more than on the Banjo Sounds set, Mike covers a broad selection of different old time guitar sounds, both African American and European American and much mixed. Old time guitar comes from many places. Some of it comes from the polite usually sentimental parlor guitar styles that were a big part of 19th Century genteel life and the chief center of guitar playing until the early 20th Century when inexpensive factory made guitars with steel strings first became available by mail order throughout the rural South.
The emergence of the steel guitars came at a time that a revolution in music was going on, Ragtime and the Blues and the beginnings of Jazz were stirring. The old fiddle repertoire was being changed by the addition of banjos to what had often been solo fiddles. People were trying to make music that combined the old traditions with the new sounds and people moving to the guitar were using techniques that they had used on the banjo as well as making new music no banjo had ever played.
Spanish Fandango on this CD was one of the signature pieces of the standard parlor and performance guitar styles of the 19th and early 20th Century. If you bought a book on how to play guitar in 1890, it might have had the Spanish Fandango as the last piece showign you really could play. It was so popular with Southern white and Black guitarists, that the open G tuning which it is done in is still known by many as the "Spanish Tuning."
On the other hand, the John Henry on this album is exactly the kind of slide D Sebastopol Tuning (named for the "Seige of Sebastopol" written by the same author as the Spanish Fandango and also a parlor guitar specialty) that Black guitarists especially in Virginia and North Carolina aspired to play when the guitar and the blues swept in in the 1910s and 1920s.
One of my favorites here is the reproduction of Frank Hutcheson's magnificent "Worried Blues," a slide guitar. There is much else here.
Now, I first met Mike at the Banjo collectors gathering where he would frequently bring a rare old banjo played by an historic banjoist like Dock Boggs or Josh Thomas. On this CD he delves into his own collection and those of friends and collaborators to present an array of historic guitars whose description in the well written notes open the door to the history of guitars in the US.
This recording belongs in every homeEarly Southern Guitar Sounds Overview

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Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology Review

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Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology ReviewI must admit, when I first saw this CD, I was skeptical. Frankly, Yo-Yo Ma and Joshua Bell are not names that I readily associate with Appalachian music. Fortunately, their imaginations were not so limited as mine, and the result is this perfect collection of music that is at once new and familiar.
When a group of artists like the ones who made this album come together, the results have to be impressive, but this album is absolutely amazing. An anthology pulled from several earlier albums, this is a musical journey through Appalachia. It swings from the delicate vocals of Alison Krauss and James Taylor (on "Slumber, My Darling" and "Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier," respectively) to the jubliant exuberance of the charmingly named "Death by Triple Fiddle" (the "fiddles" in question being those of Bell, Sam Bush, and Mike Marshall.) Add Mark O'Connor's haunting fiddling on "Amazing Grace" and "Song of the Liberty Bell" and several wonerful trios by O'Connor, Ma, Edgar Meyer, and you have a CD that defies labels and belongs in every collection.Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology Overview

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Best Kept Secret Review

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Best Kept Secret ReviewPlaying Time - 52:02 -- Just about two decades ago, Jerry Douglas had already established himself as the premier dobro player on the bluegrass scene. Fine albums on the Rounder, MCA and Sugar Hill labels were one of his legacies from the 1980s and 90s. "Slide Rule" and "Lookout for Hope" were two stupendous releases. Now associated with growing Koch Records, Douglas now appears headed in new electric directions that match up his resophonic guitars, Fender telecaster and lap steel with drums, B-3 organ, violin, guitars, bass, mandolin, banjo, saxophone and piano. Joining him on the journey are a number of friends, including Sam Bush and Bela Fleck who joined Jerry in the band, Strength in Numbers. Other key quests include Alison Krauss, John Fogerty, Bill Frisell, and Derek Trucks.
"The Best Kept Secret" may take a few by surprise. Bluegrass fans expecting a more acoustic or traditional sound will be displeased. On the other hand, fans of progressive country rock will immediately take to the dramatic opening salvo of the 6-minute "She Makes Me Want To Sing," with its driving guitar. The album appears to be a vehicle for Douglas' astonishing creative juices to freely flow, an even the most close-minded traditionalist has to appreciate the hot picking in the upbeat "Who's Your Uncle?" An album of enterprising undertaking, Douglas seems to enjoy the challenge of facing formidable tasks. It's actually pretty cool to hear Alison Krauss getting down and funky on "Back in Love Again." Assuming you like blues and country rock, this is the kind of music that grows on you with repeated listens. On my first few spins of the CD, orchestrated late at night after a long day, I took to the soothing effect of Joe Zawinul's "A Remark You Made" and Bob Willis classic "Swing Blues No. 1," sung by John Fogerty. Guitarist Bill Frisell trading licks on "Lil' RoRo," and Douglas' "Ya Ya etc." are packed with punch and intensity. Musicians appearing on most cuts are Gabe Witcher (violin, B-3), Keith Sewell (guitars), Shannon Forrest (drums, percussion), and Derek Jones (acoustic bass).
While many Nashville artists are getting more country or acoustic and a lot less rock `n' roll, Jerry Douglas is bucking that trend. I won't purport to say that he's going against the grain because he's never had a specific grain to follow. His objective has always been to simply produce stimulating music. With multiple Grammy awards under his belt, Jerry Douglas has the experience and smarts to know exactly what he's doing. His "Best Kept Secret" may be commercial and targeting a younger album-buying demographic. In any case, we know he's come to represent exceptional dobrology with broad influences. His aqueous compositions are full of excitement and energy. It's Playing Time - 52:02 -- Just about two decades ago, Jerry Douglas had already established himself as the premier dobro player on the bluegrass scene. Fine albums on the Rounder, MCA and Sugar Hill labels were one of his legacies from the 1980s and 90s. "Slide Rule" and "Lookout for Hope" were two stupendous releases. Now associated with growing Koch Records, Douglas now appears headed in new electric directions that match up his resophonic guitars, Fender telecaster and lap steel with drums, B-3 organ, violin, guitars, bass, mandolin, banjo, saxophone and piano. Joining him on the journey are a number of friends, including Sam Bush and Bela Fleck who joined Jerry in the band, Strength in Numbers. Other key quests include Alison Krauss, John Fogerty, Bill Frisell, and Derek Trucks.
"The Best Kept Secret" may take a few by surprise. Bluegrass fans expecting a more acoustic or traditional sound will be displeased. On the other hand, fans of progressive country rock will immediately take to the dramatic opening salvo of the 6-minute "She Makes Me Want To Sing," with its driving guitar. The album appears to be a vehicle for Douglas' astonishing creative juices to freely flow, an even the most close-minded traditionalist has to appreciate the hot picking in the upbeat "Who's Your Uncle?" An album of enterprising undertaking, Douglas seems to enjoy the challenge of facing formidable tasks. It's actually pretty cool to hear Alison Krauss getting down and funky on "Back in Love Again." Assuming you like blues and country rock, this is the kind of music that grows on you with repeated listens. On my first few spins of the CD, orchestrated late at night after a long day, I took to the soothing effect of Joe Zawinul's "A Remark You Made" and Bob Willis classic "Swing Blues No. 1," sung by John Fogerty. Guitarist Bill Frisell trading licks on "Lil' RoRo," and Douglas' "Ya Ya etc." are packed with punch and intensity. Musicians appearing on most cuts are Gabe Witcher (violin, B-3), Keith Sewell (guitars), Shannon Forrest (drums, percussion), and Derek Jones (acoustic bass).
While many Nashville artists are getting more country or acoustic and a lot less rock `n' roll, Jerry Douglas is bucking that trend. I won't purport to say that he's going against the grain because he's never had a specific grain to follow. His objective has always been to simply produce stimulating music. With multiple Grammy awards under his belt, Jerry Douglas has the experience and smarts to know exactly what he's doing. His "Best Kept Secret" may be commercial and targeting a younger album-buying demographic. In any case, we know he's come to represent exceptional dobrology with broad influences. His aqueous compositions are full of excitement and energy. It's another chapter in Flux's music book that illustrates the creative genius at work. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
Best Kept Secret OverviewKicking off with the slippery and driving groove of 'She Makes Me Want To Sing' featuring fellow slide-master Derek Trucks, the album's 11 tracks are the most ambitious and accessible work to date for Douglas, marking the masterwork of a key musical explorer and a testament to his evolving creative spirit. The Best Kept Secret takes an inclusive tack on 'Who's Your Uncle', regular co-conspirators Bela Fleck and Sam Bush whip it up on a series of blistering choruses, while on 'Back In Love Again' Douglas unveils a new slinky -- one could even say funky -- side from singer Alison Krauss. Koch. 2005.

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