Showing posts with label roots music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roots music. Show all posts

Try Me One More Time Review

Try Me One More Time
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After a 17 year recoding hiatus, Bromberg is back with this enjoyable set of mostly blues and folk standards. Imagine David Bromberg sitting in your living room singing and picking his Martin M-42 Signature Edition guitar. This album is great fun for Bromberg fans, with the liner notes as entertaining as the music. Ultimately, David does not "make these songs his own" in the way that he has done previously with other blues standards (e.g., "Statesboro Blues," "Dehlia"), but the album as a whole is quite enjoyable. David fingerpicks most of these tunes, breaking out the slide for two of the album's highlights, the title track and Blind Willie McTell's "Love Changing Blues." He also does a nice job with a somber and reflective reading of Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree." Notice how the album cover is modeled after David's first solo album? Maybe this release will renew interest in the first album, and maybe someone will put that one back in print. If you're a Bromberg fan, I recommend this album without hesitation. If you're new to Bromberg, check out Midnight on the Water first.

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Three long-awaited words: David Bromberg's back! Roots music fans will rejoice in the release of "Try Me One More Time," thefirst new CD in 17 years byguitarist/vocalist David Bromberg, a master practitioner of folk, blues,bluegrass and other musical genres. This new recording is undiluted David:one man, one acoustic guitar, and a repertoire of mostly traditionalmaterial performed with the intimate, assured touch of a musician who hasnothing to prove.Originally a "must-have" session man for everyone from Bob Dylan to Dionand subsequently a hard-touring bandleader and recording artist with anenthusiastic following, Bromberg gradually phased himself out of thecontinual record-tour-record cycle starting in 1980. "I got burned out," hereflects. "And I didn't want to be one of those musicians who ends up`phoning it in.' Music was too important to me to treat it that way."So he switched his focus from performing to studying, moving to Chicago in1980 to learn violin-making. Based in the Windy City until 2002, when hemoved to Delaware to open a violin shop, Bromberg has continued to tourperiodically, but has mostly stayed away from recording studios, with1990's "Sideman Serenade" his last album until now. On "Try Me One More Time," Bromberg harkens back to the acoustic folk andblues music of his early days on the mid-'60s Greenwich Village folk scene,a period when he guided the blind gospel-blues singer Reverend Gary Davisto concerts and churches in exchange for guitar lessons. Bromberg performstwo of "the Rev's" compositions on his new CD - "I Belong to the Band" and"Trying to Get Home" - as well as songs written by Robert Johnson,Elizabeth Cotton, Tommy Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, sometime Brombergemployer Bob Dylan ("It Takes a Lot to Laugh . . ."), and songs from thetraditional realm, including two exquisitely rendered instrumentals ("BuckDancer's Choice," "Hey Bub"). The title track is Bromberg's first recordingof a song he wrote more than 30 years ago. In liner notes as conversational as his distinctive, low-key vocals,Bromberg maintains that this CD is the first record he's made where he"wasn't trying to impress anybody . . . I'm just doing the tunes."Nonetheless, the outcome can't fail to delight listeners who appreciate anunderstated virtuoso playing and singing the music he loves.

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Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Farther Along (2003) Review

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Farther Along (2003)
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Having a lot of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band music in my collection, I decided to get the Farther Along DVD. This live performance features the five Dirt Band guys--Jeff Hanna, Jimmy Ibbotson, Jimmie Fadden, Bob Carpenter, and John McEuen--along with a number of high-quality guest artists. The guest performers include Jimmy Martin, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, John Hiatt, Vassar Clements, Jerry Douglas, Earl Scruggs, the McCoury Band(Dale, Robbie and Ronnie), Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal, and Iris DeMent. The cast of performers is stellar, and there are a lot of highlights.
The performance gets off to a rousing start. Jimmy Martin, a veteran bluegrass performer, has appeared on all of NGDB's Will The Circle Be Unbroken records, and his rendition of "My Walkin' Shoes"(from the Dirt Band's original Circle album) draws a lot of applause. From then on, things get even better. Alison Krauss' vocals shine on "Catfish John". The McCourys' "Love Please Come Home" is a traditional bluegrass tune. "Mama's Opry", sung by Iris DeMent, and "Oh Cumberland", with Matraca Berg(Mrs. Jeff Hanna) singing, are both tender ballads. John Hiatt and Rosanne Cash perform "One Step Over The Line", which they sang on the Dirt Band's second Circle album. Earl Scruggs does some awesome banjo picking on "Earl's Breakdown". On Earl's classic tune, Vassar Clements plays fiddle, Jerry Douglas plays dobro, and Randy Scruggs backs up his father on lead guitar. "All Prayed Up", sung by Vince Gill, and "I Find Jesus", with NGDB's Ibbotson singing lead, are solid gospel numbers. Blues artist Taj Mahal's "Fishin' Blues" is a bouncy, humorous number. The show-stealing performance, however, is "The Lowlands", featuring vocals and guitar work by Jaime Hanna and Jonathan McEuen--the sons, respectively, of NGDB members Jeff Hanna and John McEuen. Jaime and Jonathan, in my opinion, are every bit as talented as their fathers. The entire cast of performers joins NGDB on "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", which by now has become a Dirt Band classic. A major strength of this DVD is the Dirt Band's performance of music which emphasizes their bluegrass and straight country roots as opposed to their modern country songs which have brought them commercial success while still drawing from their traditional sound.
Besides the Dirt Band's live concert performance, the Farther Along DVD has some excellent bonus material. First off, the extras include three additional songs which were in NGDB's original live show: Earl Scruggs and John McEuen's banjo instrumental "Soldier's Joy", the McCourys' "Take Me In Your Lifeboat", and Rosanne Cash's "Wildwood Flower". Maybelle Carter sang the latter song on the Dirt Band's first Circle album, and Rosanne's version is nearly as good. The music video of "The Lowlands", which got some airplay on Great American Country, is also included here, and I think the video is well-done with some great scenery. Finally, Farther Along includes a documentary about the making of the third Circle album, featuring interviews with the members of the Dirt Band and the guest artists as well as behind-the-scenes studio footage. Those of you who like NGDB--or just like music in general--will enjoy this "up close and personal" look at the Dirt Band. It features a stellar concert performance as well as a backstage look at how things all came together.

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The Circle continues with all three award-winning Will The Circle BeUnbroken volumes highlighted on this new DVD. Legendary country group Nitty GrittyDirt Band brought their friends and family together for a special celebration of theiracclaimed, Grammy-perennial Will The Circle Be Unbroken collaborative albums. Tapedfor airing this past March on Public Television.

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The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO Has Landed Review

The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO Has Landed
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This is a wonderful anthology by one of most important unsung heroes of the last 50 years. I can't think of many anthologies that can present an artist to new fans as thoroughly and joyfully as this one.
I just have one complaint, and it's not a minor one. Where the heck is "Across the Borderline"?. Not only is it his most covered song, not many songs can capture a mindset that of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the south like that. I'm not making a political statement here - this song is just like capturing lightning in a bottle and its omission leaves a big hole in this otherwise perfect collection.

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Visionary, Grammy-winning guitar legend, composer, and producer Ry Cooder's epic musical journey has explored the realms of rock, blues, country, folk, Hawaiian, Latin, Tuvan throat singing, jazz, and Tex-Mex-to name a few. On 'The UFO Has Landed', Rhino celebrates four decades of his eclectic output with a 2-CD 34 track collection of his work as a solo artist, collaborator, and soundtrack composer. Spanning 38 years- from Cooder's self titled 1970 debut to his 2008 album 'I, Flathead'- the anthology includes his most memorable selections as well as one previously unreleased track.

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