Customer Reviews

Dgbx

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4 star:		(1)
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David Grisman, who perhaps is best known for his new acoustic recordings ("dawg" music as he calls it), has over the course of his 40-year recording career periodically returned to his bluegrass roots--1976's THE DAVID GRISMAN ROUNDER ALBUM and 1988's HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS among them. This recent album is the first recorded with the DAVID GRISMAN BLUEGRASS EXPERIENCE, and it is a wonderful traditional bluegrass album.

Songs include the familiar, like A,P. Carter's "Engine 43," Carter Stanley's "Say Won't You Be Mine," Flatt and Scruggs' "Down the Road," and a nod to the Stanley Brothers with "Are You Afraid to Die." There are also two Grisman originals. The first is "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown," which was written by Grisman and first recorded with his group, the New York Ramblers, in 1965. He recorded it again on his 1982 album DAWG JAZZ/DAWG GRASS with Earl Scruggs on banjo (a version used as the theme for NPR's "Car Talk"). The other original is "Old and in the Way," first recorded in 1973 as part of the Grateful Dead offshoot band Old & In the Way with Jerry Garcia.

The band includes Grisman's son Samson on bass as well as Keith Little on banjo (who has worked with Ricky Skaggs and the Country Gentlemen), Jim Nunally on guitar, and Chad Manning on fiddle. Together they have put together a highly enjoyable album for fans of traditional bluegrass. [Running Time - 53:17] RECOMMENDED

This is an enjoyable solid bluegrass cd with top musician. The recording sound appears to downplay modern technology and give us a downhome country feeling of a six track recorder!
Nothing exordinary, but it doesn't have to be when the music is so get down bluegrass!

Playing Time - 53:15 -- Originally from Hackensack, N.Y., David Grisman love for bluegrass music is long-lived. He began his professional career in bluegrass in the mid-1960s with Red Allen and the Kentuckians, Even Dozen Jug Band, and New York Ramblers. In 1967, he moved west to California to pursue endeavors that would build his reputation for multi-genre mandolin virtuosity. It's heartwarming to see Dawg revisiting his musical roots with covers from the likes of Jim Eanes, A.P. Carter, Charlie Poole, Bill Otis, Carter Stanley, Jimmy Martin, and Flatt & Scruggs. Grisman penned "Dawggy Mt. Breakdown" and "Old and in the Way." The former, of course, is used as the theme on NPR's popular Car Talk show with the Tappet Brothers. The latter brings back a nostalgic remembrance of the ground-breaking 1974 album by the same name.

Joined by his son Samson on bass, the band is rounded out with some other stellar San Francisco Bay area musicians -- Jim Nunally (guitar, vocals), Keith Little (banjo, vocals), and Chad Manning (fiddle). Besides abundant session work, these guys have former experience with such well-known acts as Ricky Skaggs, Dolly Parton, Country Gentlemen, and John Reischman & the Jaybirds. I think the group would be an entertaining addition to the lineup at regional bluegrass festivals. This is an enjoyable and solidly-staged disc, but it seems to be lacking a little punch, stronger vocal presence, and better overall mix (especially for the vocal blends on choruses) that would elevate their music into the truly awe-inspiring category that will give you goosebumps. Their strength is their heartfelt dedication to traditional bluegrass, but perhaps they should look for new contemporary material to create their own sound. You've got to especially appreciate their snappy and high-geared instrumental work. Bill Monroe once said that bluegrass is like putting a motor together. The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience proves themselves as skilled mechanics who know what it takes to compatibly interpret and tap the roots of the genre. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

you don't even have to be a blue grass fan to love his music. very good, as is his band.

Fairly good music, I guess... they were mostly sad songs, though. I was also very disappointed that the production of "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown" included on this album is a VERY different (and greatly inferior, in my humble opinion) version from the delightful one played as the theme song for NPR's "Car Talk".

I was very disappointed in this release by Grisman. It seemed slapped together haphazardly. The vocals and picking were not up to the standard we should expect from Grisman. I hope he is not so caught up in his own success that he feels he can just crank out mediocre (at best) material on his label because he knows his name will sell. David...please remember it is quality not quantity that is important. You can aim much, much higher.

Or better yet, buy the David Grisman Rounder Compact Disc, a bluegrass album with serious musicians, careful production and great performances. DGBX is the kind of CD you'd expect to purchase from an amateur band at a live show, play once and forget. Is Grisman thumbing his nose at traditional bluegrass by producing this mediocrity? He's an accomplished musician and composer, but seems to believe every casual picking session should be recorded and sold. Uh, no.