Customer Reviews

Chambergrass: Decade of Tunes From Edges Bluegrass

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A CD full of inventive and intelligent acoustic string music. It's bluegrass at its most creative. These three guys play together like a well-oiled machine, with instrumental lines intertwining and reacting to each other like ping-pong balls in a steel drum rolling downhill (only it sounds a LOT better!) This is like a Master's Class in pickin', and I recommend it highly for bluegrass lovers and musicians alike.

I like the jams on this, there is a lot of clearly a lot of talent here. Check out track 7 if you can find a sample. Good chord progression, tension build, melody, its just excellent, simple bluegrass.

This is a very nice collection of Berline, Crary, & Hickman tunes. Several of the cuts are live recordings. There is a very high level of inventiveness in their re-arrangements of traditional tunes. The level of instrumental virtuosity is high.
The weaknesses of the recording, in my view, are: Berline's fiddling sometimes has dubious intonation. Not all the time, but sometimes. (Take this with a grain of salt, though. I'm very sensitive to intonation.) Hickman's playing can be too minimalistic at times. He is a player that values simplicity; that's his style. He is, no doubt, an excellent banjo player. I've played with him before, and can attest that he's fantastic. The simplicity is part of his style. Still, some might prefer more flash. Lastly, Crary's guitar tone is tinny on many of the tracks. He has always been one to rely on his Taylor's pickup system (versus a mic) in a live situation, and his tone reflects this. It sounds thin and plastic on live cuts. His playing, though, is very good. There are some spots where I think he overplays.
Overall, a very good but not perfect collection of performances. They are fantastic musicians; make no mistake. Just don't come into the cd expecting the sort of laborious perfection that many recordings strive to achieve nowadays.

This fine acoustic CD presents bluegrass in a rather different style but the result is awe inspiring.These three splendid musicians have given us something to applaud and appreciate.
Could three lesser mortals have brought about the same result?
I very much doubt it. Berline,Crary, Hickman,don't forget those names and please get that CD into your collection.