Customer Reviews

Full Circle

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

 

 

The title Full Circle is full of meaning. Vassar has returned to his roots, bluegrass. He is one of the all-time best bluegrass fiddlers and too great a talent to be tamed. He has played with Bill Monroe, Gordon Lighfoot, J.J. Cale, David Sanborn, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Bnad and many others. He is a well regarded jazz fiddler. In short, a virtuoso! This CD brings him back to where he belongs.

However, this CD is not a traditional CD (although it does contain Bill Monroe covers), it is a progressive CD with covers of the rock band Cream (White Room) and The Beatles (I've Just Seen a Face) as well as a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band song.

On a more personal note, I have shared a meal with this man and had conversation with him. He is a true gentleman and an icon of the bluegrass hierachy.

Because of Vassar's status in the bluegrass community he was able to bring in the cream of the crop to play on his CD, including Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, JD Crowe, Peter Rowan, Alan O'Bryant, John Cowan, Jess McReynolds and Bryan Sutton. Buy this and give it a listen, if you like bluegrass, you'll like this.

Maybe there will be a better fiddle player born some day, but as far as I'm concerned there never has been yet. Vassar can do it all, and the thing I like about "Full Circle" is that he does it all on this one CD.

I like Bluegrass because it keeps the music grounded, and on this one, with guys like Bela Fleck, Vassar is able to really branch out but keep the music lots of fun. Now...back to the woodshed for me!

If you have ever liked Vassar...and what music fan hasn't, You will love this one. Vassar is simply the best and he proves that at age 72 he hasn't lost one iota of his skills. He's amazing. A cast of greats helping out is certainly a help, but Vassar Clements is the star of the show.

I just found this CD after having misplaced it, listened to it for the first time in years, and once again was WOWed. Out of curiosity, I took a peek to see what Amazon reviewers had to say. The three posted reviews are appropriately quite positive, but they are all from 2002.

Alas, Vassar died in 2005, and we lost a musical giant. So this review is my belated tribute to him. It was his fiddle that elevated both the first Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album and the first "Old and in the Way" album (with Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, and John Kahn) from the great to the sublime. There probably aren't many fiddlers about whom one would say, "He/she has chops", but I can say it about Vassar. But he was not just a virtuoso show-off -- Vassar was highly musical; he had taste.

If you aren't familiar with his playing, yet somehow you inexplicably stumbled upon this page and this review, get this CD. You owe it to yourself, assuming you are receptive to all fields of music. FULL CIRCLE is "progressive" bluegrass, and Vassar's roots were in bluegrass (hence, the title). He explored many other genres as well. For an equally fine album of blues-infused Vassar, check out "Livin' with the Blues".