Thanks for the review Andy, now I can't wait to hear this music!
Member Bands
Links
- All Tabs
- Banjo Ben
- Blue Grass Works
- Bluegrass in the Schools
- Bluegrass Lyrics
- Bluegrass Picking Page
- Find a Fiddle Tune
- Grey Fox
- Mandolin Café
- Norwich Family Bluegrass Festival
- Podunk Bluegrass Festival
- Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival
- WAMC Bluegrass Time
- WFDU - Lonesome Pine RFD
- Wind Gap
- World Wide Bluegrass Radio
Want to be on this list?
Contact Us.
| Buddy Merriam: "Back Roads Mandolin" |
 |
| Written by Andy Bing |
 The greatest challenge facing contemporary Blue Grass composers and performers is keeping the music true to itself without endlessly repeating itself. "Back Roads Mandolin," Long Island mandolinist Buddy Merriam's new collection of fourteen instrumentals, shows one artist's approach. This is music that honors its roots but is not bound to them. Buddy had a close personal and musical relationship with Bill Monroe and Bill's influence is evident here, in Buddy's beautiful mandolin tone and in his adventurer's spirit and fertile musical imagination. And Bill makes an appearance here, as his spoken words open and close "Spirit of Rosine," Buddy's twin fiddle tribute to Bill's birthplace. So not surprisingly, a lot of these tunes are straight off the true vine. The CD opens with "Extra Special," which made me want to reach for the mandolin and play along. Buddy nails the sliding Monroe drones, an important element of the Blue Grass mandolin sound. In "Batchin' It," a reference to Bill and his Uncle Pen and their musical life together after Bill's parents died, Gary Oleyar takes the lead with the fiddle on a tune reminiscent of Bill's "Right Right On." And one can be sure that Bill would have approved of Gary's twin fiddles on "Spirit of Rosine." On "Grassy Bud," Buddy captures a ragtimey sound, again echoing Bill, with a little Vernon Derrick thrown in on a very bluesy second break. "Putnam Valley Flash" is Buddy's birthday present to the Flash's alter ego, banjo virtuoso Jerry Oland, and Jerry returns the compliment on the banjo in fine style. Other tunes show Buddy successfully branching out. A trio of tunes were inspired by and written for members of his family. Perhaps most familiar to regulars at the Pirate Canoe Club is Buddy's banjo piece, "My Dear Mother's Waltz," which Jerry Oland has been featuring at the HVBA jam sessions. The chord progression is appealing and unusual, and on the recording, Jerry masterfully draws all the emotion out of this slow waltz. Gary Oleyar also turns in a sweet fiddle break. And on "DeVine Time" and "Harmony's Waltz," Buddy is joined by Mike Sassano, another mandolin vituoso familiar to HVBA audiences, on harmony mandolin. The twin mandolins convey the depth of Buddy's feelings for the women for whom he named these tunes. There is a more modern flavor to "Circle of Chiefs" and "Baldassari," Buddy's tribute to the late Nashville mandolinist Butch Baldassari. On "Circle," Jerry takes a lovely melodic banjo break and then twins with the mandolin, and then Buddy plays an inventive cross-picking solo as a buildup to one last time through the tune. On "Baldassari," Mike Sassano joins Buddy on harmony mandolin, mandola, and mandocello for a lush orchestral sound, and Jerry turns in another creative melodic break. On "Gypsy Tears of Joy," Buddy imagines what a collaboration between Django and Bill might sound like. Here too, the mandolin harmonies abound, as Buddy is joined by Mike on mandola and mandocello and Jeff Schmich on tenor mandolin. Gary's fiddle playing here is both hot and sweet, perfectly capturing the Paris swing sound that Stephane Grappelli perfected with Django in the 1930s. And if Bill Monroe were Irish, he might have written "Glenshane Pass," which Buddy wrote on a tour of Ireland and which also features Mike's mandolin harmony and yet another flowing melodic banjo break by Jerry. Buddy showcases the phenomenally gifted flatpicker Bob Harris on "Riverhead Polka," a toe-tapping old timey flavored dance tune. And Bob has a very appealing turn on "Friar Tuch," Buddy's tribute to the late New York City Blue Grass impresario Doug Tuchman. Finally, bassist Ernie Sykes graces every tune on this recording with his flawless timing and his beautiful tone and intonation. This music demonstrates Buddy Merriam's commitment to the Blue Grass sounds of Bill Monroe and also the breadth of his love of music. Although they cover a lot of musical ground, these instrumentals all are heartfelt, and that feeling is fully captured by Buddy and the other fine musicians on this recording. That, as much as anything else, shows the lineage to Bill. "Back Roads Mandolin" is a very satisfying recording that bears repeated listening.
Comments (2)
Powered by !JoomlaComment 4.0 beta1
!joomlacomment 4.0 Copyright (C) 2009 Compojoom.com . All rights reserved." |
