Customer Reviews

The Spirit of St. Louis

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There's a lot to like about this latest effort from Joe Ross. Eleven new original songs cover everything from stirring Gospel, to songs about logging, Mom, Oregon (where Joe calls home), love, even fowl, and, as the title implies, Charles Lindbergh's epic flight across the Atlantic.
Al Brinkerhoff's melodious resophonic guitar kicks things off very appealingly on the lively "The Logger's Song," vividly illustrating the life of an Oregon woodsman. "The River In Oregon" is a tribute to the rivers and tributaries, "the lifeblood of the land...please take care of them," Joe writes in the liner notes. "One Legged Turkey," a clever, upbeat instrumental, was written in memory of an actual wild turkey that hung around for a while on the roof of Joe's home. "Mother's Songs" is quite emotive; a beautiful piece that Joe says always choked him up as he sang it. Recorded with the fine Missouri band Cedar Hill, the cut features Mel Besher in a first-rate bluegrass tenor lead vocal backed by Lisa Ray on harmony vocal. The one traditional in the collection, "St. Anne's Reel," is lovely with Joe on hammered dulcimer and mandolin, Bryan Bowers on autoharp, and Radim Zenkl on pennywhistle. "The Church Bell No One Hears" and "His Hand Is Divine" are two very well-crafted Gospel pieces, the latter featuring some excellent fiddle work by Ronnie Stewart.
Again Joe composes in a nice array of styles...the very bluesy "Streamliner," Calypso on "The River In Oregon," and driving bluegrass. And as usual, he's assembled a fine line up musicians quite equal to the task; the likes of Randy Kohrs, James King, Adam Haynes, Kevin Prater, Tim Crouch, and Scott Vestal contribute masterfully on various cuts. The word sure seems to have gotten out among his peers that Joe is a talent to be reckoned with; it's more than about time this notion catches on with the listening public and bluegrass radio.

Joe Ross continues his legacy as a songwriter and musician with "The Spirit of St. Louis." This newest batch of bluegrass originals is replete with quality musicians and rich lyrics. Drawing from images of Oregon's backwoods and history and ranging to other nostalgic and inspirational lyrics, Joe's songs meticulously traverse a new aspect of Oregon's bluegrass terrain.

"The Logger's Song," a driving bluegrass tune, kicks-off this latest project and is followed by another up-tempo tune called "The Homefire," a lament to homesickness. "One Legged Turkey" is a bouncy and interesting instrumental. The mood then shifts to Joe's Calypso-like bluegrass sound in "The River in Oregon," a tribute to the beautiful rivers of Oregon and is followed by "Mother's Song," a foot-tapping homespun waltz with poignant remembrances of childhood. "The Church Bell No One Hears" is a well-delivered gospel offering.

The title track, "The Spirit of St. Louis," is an eloquently-worded account of Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic airplane flight of 1927 and serves well as testament to Joe's proclivity to tell stories in song. The bluegrass saga continues with a soulful tune called "My Heart Remembers Yesterday." "St. Anne's Reel," the only traditional tune on the album, is beautifully voiced with Bryan Bowers on autoharp and is followed by "Streamliner," another original tale of the rails that is accompanied by the extraordinary resophonic guitar work of Al Brinkerhoff. Then, flowing into "Somewhere down the Road, the album closes with "His Hand is Devine," a tight gospel with pretty changes and harmonies.

This new bluegrass album is a lyrical journey through diverse and evocative stories and moods. The instrumentalists are all great and the album, with Joe's powerful lyrics, distinguishes his lyrical abilities as well as his skill as a singer and picker. Joe carves out a real niche as an Oregon singer and songwriter.


Mark Petteys

Joe Ross may not be a name recognizable to the general populace, but in "The Spirit of St Louis" Joe has put out an excellent CD that will endear him to many. Joe has assembled a group of original songs played by a plethora of talented musicians that will truly inspire and energize the listener. Joe uses all the tools available to the songwriter, writing on a variety of topics from history to love gone bad to gospel to songs about home and life on the road. He also throws in an original insrumental, the catchy "one-legged turkey". He varies things by using major and minor modes, and his songs go from the simple to the structurally complex. Above all, Joe has surrounded himself with some outstanding musicians who complement his compositions as effortlessly as if they have been playing with him on his front porch for a lifetime. In addition to Joe's presence on guitar, bass, and mandolin, Al Brinkerhoff's dobro brings another unifing thread that can be heard throughout the project. Tim Crouch's fiddle is outstanding, particularly on the Loggers Song, where his fills seem as if he composed them specifically to fit the images of the song. Joe Ross is indeed a uniquely talented man and has put together an excellent showcase of his material in "The Spirit of St Louis".

Joe Ross comes forth with a wonderful traditional bluegrass album hitting the nail on the head yet again! These songs are not only traditional but also heart warming and lively. They show the true spirit and everyone who listens will know these songs have come from his heart! Some highlight songs on this album are "Mothers Songs", "The Church Bell No One Hears" and "Streamliner." Ross captures the true essence of the moment when the listener puts on this album and keeps their attention until the very last song. This is by far a must have for all traditional bluegrass lovers and anyone interested in learning about traditional bluegrass.

As the title track would suggest, Joe Ross's latest CD is a collection of original songs of the American spirit. As with his previous album, "Festival Time Again", Ross has successfully blended a large and diverse group of uncommonly talented musicians. There's not a filler among the dozen tracks. Ross nicely balances environmental sensibilities with respect for the common man.

Once again, Ross uses the novelty of the Japanese koto, autoharp, and pennywhistle to great effect, this time to give the traditional instrumental "St. Anne's Reel" an ancient and stately character. For the obligatory wailing train song, Ross offers "Streamliner", a ballad of the real-life stories of professional wanderers Vic Wolberg and Murray Morris. What's more Americana than that? Finally, "Mother's Songs" featuring Kenny Cantrell on banjo, Lisa Ray on fiddle, Frank Ray on mandolin, and Mel Besher's lilting vocal evokes universal memories of a simpler life. This song deserves wide play.

-8 piece box

Based on the name of this CD, you might think of speak easy and honkey tonk rhythms with a sophisticated urban feel, but the title refers to the title track, The Spirit of St. Louis, in which Balladeer Joe Ross recounts the events of the historic flight much as street minstrels have been doing for eons, bringing life, drama and melody into the lives of the working-class. "It was 1927...." The CD as a whole is traditional bluegrass tinged by the blues where lonely fellows bemoan lives ill spent and look for better times "somewhere down the road." The vocal harmonies are reminiscent of the finest bluegrass traditions. The CD as a whole is a tribute to Oregon's natural beauty, although the first track, The Logger's Song, is a contradiction in that it is a tribute to Oregon's vast forests from the perspective of a lumber man, "the forest is my home," as he goes from camp to camp laying the ground bare. In The Home Fire, twangy strings and mellow fiddle back Ross's heart felt lament of ever-dimming memories of home fires no longer aflame. The track, One Legged Turkey, is right lively. Also known as the Idleyld Reel, if it doesn't stir your bones to tappin,' you might not be alive. The River in Oregon is an ode to ecology and river maintenance. Mother's Song is sung by Mel Besher, and is a sentimental recounting of mother and her sweet songs of Tennessee in an Appalachian meter. In My Heart Remembers Yesterday, banjo and strings change things up in this contradiction of forlorn lyrics and lively tempo. The instrumental, St. Anne's Reel, is simply lovely. As Joe Ross would say, Domo arigato! Streamliner is a trainman's blues strummed hard and sung with passion. And finishing things up, His Hand is Divine, is a cozy, traditional treatment of the divine presence we hope we're praying to, when we're praying.

I highly recommend this CD to anyone who loves bluegrass.

12 Tracks
Running Length: 40 minutes
Soon after the release of his CD of original music, Festival Time Again, Joe Ross enters the arena with Joe Ross: The Spirit of St. Louis, that celebrates Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. Joe Ross is an arranger, singer and instrumentalist with a specialty in blue grass. In fact, the ambience of this CD will take you back to John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" when people regularly rode the rails, with or without a ticket and air travel was still in an infant stage.

The first track, "The Logger's Song" is a regular hoe down complete with fiddle and timber men who travel for work. "Oregon logger, take my coat and roam," says it all.

The "River In Oregon" is wistful, but this song looks into the future, which may be bleak if we don't clean the water now.

Gospel songs are represented by "Mother's Songs" and remembering Mother singing about a home in Texas and God's love. The last track, "His Hand Is Divine" is plaintive with lyrics of "He opens His hand and answers our plea" The fiddle here is especially appealing

Instrumental pieces are "One-Legged Turkey" about a true bird that existed in Oregon and "St. Anne's Reel" which is the only piece on this CD not by Joe Ross. Both arrangements are lively and toe tapping with plenty of fiddle and a good sound mix.

My favorites are "The Spirit of St. Louis" that tells the story of Lindbergh's flight and could be used for schools as an introduction to this piece of American history. The music is set in a minor key and begins like the old "Thunder Road" from Robert Mitchum's 1958 movie of the same name. The other is "Streamliner" that is a hobo song of someone who rides the rails "forever passing thru" This song has a genuine train feel to it and that comes from the grand-daughter of an engineer.

Joe Ross's songs are Americana, and this CD gives the feel of a by-gone era in which oceans were a challenge, trains changing from steam to diesel, Mother's sat in rocking chairs on porches and rivers ran clear. The singer presents lyrics that are understandable and tell a story. Instruments are proficient and do not overpower the words so that the listener can connect with the singer. Whether hoedown, plaintive or storytelling, Joe Ross will have you toe tapping and ready to wave as The Spirit of St. Louis passes by.

Following his recent "Festival Time Again" album, Oregon bluegrass dynamo Joe Ross has once again assembled amazing musicians who are among the best in the business. Like his previous ones, this project includes songs, musical styles, tempos and passions as varied as the musicians. My favorite is the very traditional sounding spirited original gospel tune "The Church Bell No One Hears" about the moral decay so prevalent in today's society. I especially enjoyed the old sounds of the split breaks shared by several instruments. Another great old sounding, yet new original, song is the ¾ time reflective "Mother's Songs" that speak of childhood memories and mother's love. "The Spirit of St. Louis" is a banjo driven vocal number that chronicles the spirit of our country and the courageous 1927 flight of Charles Lindbergh. Another highlight is the unmistakable sounds of Bryan Bowers' autoharp leading into Joe's delightful arrangement of "St. Anne's Reel" complete with pennywhistle and Japanese koto. Joe sings of happiness and hope in his original "Somewhere Down The Road" with a turn more toward today's neo-traditional sound Led by the fine fiddle work of Ronnie Stewart, "His Hand is Divine" centers Joe's acknowledgement to the divine with this fine and complex song. A chord chart in the liner notes is a nice touch for anyone wanting to learn this fine song. I especially enjoyed the variety on this fine CD. There's nothing stale here with each song well arranged and with careful selection of musicians and instruments that fit very well. This album will surely please Joe's many fans as well as anyone who enjoys new, original bluegrass music.