Customer Reviews

Latitude

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

 

 

Prepare to be impressed.

The foundation of this record, as with "The View From Here," Flinner's solo debut, is his fresh songwriting. Claiming influences as far a field as jazz great Miles Davis, Ireland's Bothy Band, and, yes, David Grisman, Flinner gins these into a coherent approach to crafting melodies and rhythms that not only captivate on their own, but provide a solid structure for the improvisational work that really makes this recording shine.

With talent like David Grier on guitar, Todd Phillips (Grisman's original second mandolin player for the David Grisman Quintet) on bass, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, and Stuart Duncan and Darol Anger taking turns on fiddle, there's bound to be some fireworks. They do not disappoint. The licks are clean, creative, and varied. Phillips extends the voice of the bass beyond the expected. Grier stuns with his musical ideas. Flinner makes his mandolin sing, bark, chime and chirp. Duncan is solid throughout, and Anger is just plain spooky.

The dramatic shifts in dynamics and rhythm from song to song (and within pieces) may surprise listeners more accustomed to the steady barrage of sixteenth notes and the 2/4 thwack common to string music from string bands with bluegrass or old-time backgrounds. This record so defies that stereotype that it seems more fitting to give this label other than "newgrass." True, these musicians' experience draws from the rich traditions of American string music, but you really only need one word to describe this mix of creative songsmithing and masterful improvisation: jazz.

Where Miles would give you a nudge from somewhere within the pentatonic scale in a place you don't expect, Flinner gracefully fills the space with amazing mandolin tone. Where the Bothy Band didn't stray too far from traditional form in their approach to music, Flinner creates his own while tipping his hat to our music's Celtic ancestry. And where David Grisman relies on the pioneering ideas of Django Reinhart and the groovy forms of Caribbean and Brazilian jazz to guide much of his jazzier work, Flinner draws from bop and funk to drive his tunes.

I'm already looking forward to the third record ...

real quickly, i shall say that this is yet another fantastic product of flinner, grier, and phillips. in addition the listener is also given a healthy dose of stuart duncan and flux. as usual the tunes are all original. if you like either of the first ones, you have no other choicce than to love this one.

I'm sorry to review this poorly but this album frustrated me. I like progressive bluegrass a lot, really enjoy grisman, bela, and grier. But this album frustrated me. Usually there tends to be a melody. Then this is followed by people taking that melody to new and unexpected places. I guess that is what I'd call the 'formula' that most subscribe to. Think of a song like Grisman's EMD or Bela's Whitewater. THere is a basic melody then it is explored and taken to new places. Anyway, on this album Flinner gives the first solo on every tune and unfortunately, he acts like it's the 4th or fifth solo. So I think HE knows the melody but us listening can't figure out what it is. I had high hopes for him but his albums just have no melody. The best part is the fiddlers, they really stand out here. But no melody. If you like this type of progressive bluegrass, can I recommend some great albums???? David Griers Lone Soldier, Noam Pikelny's In the Maze. Those were albums I got recently of this type that were great!! BUt again, you need a melody. You can't just be "artistic" by racing around the scales.

Matt plays a pretty good mandolin, but, his breaks pale in comparison to the masterful work of Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan and Bryan Sutton. The compositions
noodle around a lot and lack structure. This doesn't mean this is a bad album; some of the breaks by Matt's sidemen are really outstanding.