Customer Reviews

So Long of a Journey: Live at the Boulder Theater

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After their amicable breakup in 1990, Hot Rize staged various reuinion concerts over the next several years, including this marvelous 1996 effort secretly caught for prosperity by bassist Nick Forster. Hot Rize appealed to almost every facet of the bluegrass world by, as mandolinist/fiddler/lead singer Tim O'Brien put it, "Making the old sound new." Most of the group's non-original material (O'Brien is a prolific song writer, with Forster and banjoist Pete Wernick also key contributers) came from the classic bluegrass artists/old timey song book (represented here by Bill Monroe's "Blue Night", The Delmore's "Life's Too Short", and Hazel Dicken's "Won't You Come and Sing For Me"), but the band's trademark instrumental synchopation gave their music a fresh, modern sound. O'Brien and Wernick are wonderful players, but the true intrumental "voice" of the band was the late, great guitarist Charles Sawtelle (a/k/a "The Bluegrass Mystery"), whose unmatched tone and clever phrasing pervades and haunts this session.

Hot Rize was one of the hardest working and most popular bluegrass bands of the '80's - and the most remarkable aspect of this concert is how tight and fresh they sound despite their layoff. One senses the compatibility and friendship of the boys in the band throughout. This one is definitely worth a listen - it'll stay on your player for a long time.

While the always innovative Hot Rize continued to perform reunion shows throughout the Nineties, their last studio album was 1992's Take It Home. That's what makes this 1996 live recording of a couple of Boulder Theater shows such a treat. Hot Rize is performing before an enthusiastic home crowd and the band is hitting on all cylinders.

Although Red Knuckles doesn't make an appearance, the band performs songs from all five of their studio albums on this hour-long CD. What a joyful tribute to one of my favorite bluegrass bands. As bassist Nick Forster says in his liner notes, "This is what we sounded like on a good night." If you're new to Hot Rize, this is a great place to start. If you own their other albums, you'll want this one too. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Just listening to this new release of some great "old" material from Sugar Hill brings back many fond memories of a fantastic band that knew how to both pick and entertain. It is a Hot Rize album called "So Long of a Journey: Live at the Boulder Theater" and was recorded on March 6-7, 1996. Nick Forster hadn't told the other band members that he had asked some friends to record these shows. So the result is some totally uninhibited hot picking and singing from this band of almost brothers. Then, Charles Sawtelle and Nick started talking about how to mix the tapes. The tapes were lost for a number of years. Now, we are rewarded with some live Hot Rize during their 1996 reunion tour. If you weren't aware, Hot Rize won IBMA's "Entertainer of the Year" Award in 1990, and guitarist Charles Sawtelle died of cancer in 1999. This live album has 20 bluegrass cuts, making it an excellent value for its price. The band's alter-egos (Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers) don't make an appearance on it. "So Long of a Journey" gets my two thumbs up. The scuttlebutt is also that Hot Rize will be doing some reunion shows soon, although it is not clear yet who will be replacing Charles on guitar.
--by Joe Ross, moderator/reviewer for "Nwbluegrass"

It's about time. All of us who have bought DATs and MD recorders to capture our heroes LIVE have finally got an opportunity to fill a void in our collections. This performance captures Hot Rize at its absolute best, and gives us a chance to relive an outstanding show with what is arguably one of the most professional and tight bands ever to perform in the genre. These guys are professionals, and they have been missed. Listen to Tim and Nick's harmonies - can you tell them apart? Listen to the arrangements. Outside of Del, traditionally based bluegrass has never had such a professional workup. This performance captures the best of what is missing - these guys working in bluegrass!

A nice posthumous concert album from one of the big bluegrass supergroups of the 1980s. This album features Hot Rize at their best, professionally plowing their way through a powerful repertoire of original tunes and well-chosen oldies. This set was recorded during a 1996 reunion gig, and band gets a little looser and a little more playful than on some of their studio albums, as all concerned, including the late guitarist Charles Sawtelle, play the good stuff, all sweet and fine. Recommended!

I think that the title for this review says it all: modern bluegrass just doesn't get much better.

Hot Rize was somehow able to combine genuine love and respect for the traditional canon of Appalachian music, with a vital contemporary esthetic. To paraphrase another reviewer, they were somehow both contemporary and traditional -at the same time.

This miraculous recording (the tapes were lost for years!) captures the guys at the peak of their game, in front of their die hard Boulder fans. There are only a handful of bands ( Del McCoury Band, Rhonda Vincent and The Rage, Union Station, for examples) that can play as well as these guys. They seem to be so loose and relaxed, but beneath that, they were tight! rhythms as solid as a brick with soaring vocals and rocking , virtuoso picking.

If you know someone who has just heard "O, Brother..." (or "Down From the Mountain") and wants to hear more great bluegrass, I would steer them to this release. Or if you just want to blow away somebody who hasn't heard how great bluegrass can be, play this for them.

It's likely to capture the IBMA [International Bluegrass Music Association] award for either "Album of the Year" or "Recorded Event of the Year." And I'll bet that it's nominated for the Bluegrass Grammy.

It's that good.

This has become one of my favorite bluegrass albums. Original material, great instrumentals, vocals and range of style. This is one "Hot" recording from Hot Rize!

Product was perfect and arrived three days after the order was placed. Enough said.