Psychograss

Photo: Maria Camillo

Psychograss: Ride the Wild Turkey / Jeremy Reel
From Like Minds, 1996

I just finished a week of fantastic live music. First was a double bill of Vasen and the Darol Anger-Mike Marshall Duo, then Jackie Rago and her amazing Venezuelan band, and finally Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill (see previous post).

At the Anger-Marshall show I picked up Now Hear This the brand new CD from Psychograss, an all-star band that includes Anger and Marshall as well as David Grier (the flatpicker's flatpicker), Tony Trischka (Bela Fleck's mentor), and the omnipresent Todd Phillips on bass. They are five of the most virtuosic and creative progressive bluegrassers around, but what makes Psychograss such a treat is the whimsical, goofball attitude with which they approach the music. Like all the best instrumental music, it'll make you gasp one minute and laugh out loud the next.

I'm not going to post music from the still-unreleased new album, so listen to the two tracks from their 1996 recording, Like Minds, and believe me that the new one is even better. Order it now and you'll have it in a few weeks. By which time I hope to have updated this blog at least... uh... once.

Click here to pre-order Now Hear This from Amazon

St. Paddy's Day: The Lonesome Touch

Martin Hayes: The Crooked Road-The Foxhunter's Reel
From Under the Moon, 1995

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill: Paddy Fahy's Reel
From The Lonesome Touch, 1997

We'’re back in business, just in time to add some color to your holiday. But Martin Hayes isn’'t just background music to sip your stout to. Download the first track, turn your speakers way up, and appreciate this fiddler'’s rare musicality and baffling technical wizardry.

If you still need proof that Martin Hayes isn’'t just a flashy bundle o'’ technique, listen to the relaxed Paddy Fahy'’s Reel. This isn'’t a mellow interlude between breakneck showcases; it's his comfort zone. While hot young fiddlers try to out-pace each other until their fingers fall off, Hayes puts the brakes on. The best comparison I have is Miles Davis on slower material: –rather than a complex flurry of melody, they both try to coax every bit of color and nuance from every note they play. When he breaks into a rare fast number, it's all the more exciting for the contrast. This'’ll work fine as Irish-flavored background music, but give it a good close listen and I promise you'll be hooked.

Hayes has toured and recorded for years with guitar accompanist Dennis Cahill, and the two have a rare and amazing synergy. See them live if you get the chance – I'’ll be at their concert next month at Berkeley'’s wonderful Freight & Salvage.

Click here to see their amazing catalog

Seattle samba

Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto: Mendanha / Intrigas no Boteco do Padilha
From Ao Vivo em Olympia (Live in Olympia), 2000

Sorry for the week-and-a-half absence. I just moved, and things should be returning to normal around here.

Today's tracks are a samba and a choro, respectively, from pianist Jovino Santos Neto, who spent 15 years in Hermeto Pascoal's legendary band. He later settled in Seattle, where he fronts North America's hottest Brazilian jazz combo. The quintet combines a deep sense of Brazilian rhythms -- samba, choro, maracatu, baião -- with first-class jazz chops. Sort of like a Brazilian Chucho Valdes, if that means anything to you. They groove hard and effortlessly. Enjoy, and check out their tourdates if you're on the West Coast. By the way, that's Harvey Wainapel on clarinet.

Click here to buy this CD

The redhead said you shred the cello

Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas: Calliope Meets Frank and Da Slockit Light
From Fire & Grace, 2004

The cello is a caged beast. Inside every expressive, lyrical cellist is a rhythmic monster waiting to be set loose, and Natalie Hass is one of a few young cellists who have done just that.

On this duet record, Haas and brilliant Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser dodge and weave through material from the British Isles and beyond. There are some beautiful lyrical duets, like "Da Slockit Light" (from the Shetland Islands, one of my all-time favorite fiddle tunes) but what makes this album special is Haas' driving rhythmic accompaniment to Fraser's nimble fiddling.

Fraser notes that the cello used to be a key instrument in traditional music before being relegated to the classical world. It's nice to see it reinstated in fantastic albums like this. For more groovy cello from the future, check out Rushad Eggleston in bands like Crooked Still, Fiddlers 4, and the Wild Band of Snee.

Click here to buy the CD

I don't wanna wait in vain

Gilberto Gil: Three Little Birds / Waiting in Vain
From Kaya N'Gan Daya, 2002

To mark Bob Marley's birthday (he would have been 60 yesterday), I'm offering two tracks from Gilberto Gil's brilliant 2002 tribute album, Kaya N'Gan Daya.

It's ballsy for any performer to imagine someone listening to their album of Marley covers rather than the real thing. But Gilberto Gil is not just any performer; he's a black cultural icon with an activist political and social conscience. He is to Brazil what Marley is to Jamaica, with slightly less mythic reverence since he didn't die young (though they were born only three years apart).

My point is that Gil is one of the few guys who could pull off a Marley cover album, and he does. He certainly puts his own mark on the material, but doesn't try to reinvent the classics, striking the perfect balance between reverence and creativity. The project has the blessing of Rita Marley, who lent her backing vocals to the recording. What else do you need? Listen, then buy.

Also, for further evidence of the sad state of our country: Gilberto Gil is minister of culture in Brazilian president Lula's cabinet. The best we can do is John Ashcroft singing "Let the Eagle Soar." Jah help us.

Click here to buy the album

Chorando mais um poquinho

I'm still on a choro kick, so here's a pair of tunes from two Brazilian masters:

Raphael Rabello & Paulo Moura: 1x0 (Um a Zero) / Domingo No Orfeão Portugal
From Dois Irmãos, 1992

Raphael Rabello was perhaps Brazil's greatest guitarist until his premature death in 1995. Paulo Moura, on clarinet, is a legend of Brazilian jazz, pop and classical music.

These virtuosos play here in a no-frills duo setting, which lays bare all their technique, tone, and imagination. Rabello's guitar replicates the entire choro rhythms section, dancing, darting, and driving Moura's sometimes subtle, sometimes huge clarinet work.

The entire album has a lively air of spontaneity; the tunes were arranged on the spot, yet the playing is perfect, the musicians turn on a dime and seem to have that rare and wonderful psychic connection. Every fan of Brazilian instrumental music should own this classic.

Click here to buy the CD

Chorinho Americano

Mike Marshall and Choro Famoso: Um Abraço Seu Dominguinhos / Cochichando
From Choro Famoso, 2004

I first posted some Brazilian choro/chorinho a couple weeks ago -- it's an intricate, swinging sound that borrows from samba rhythms, jazz harmony, and European dance tunes.

Here's some more, from right in my own backyard: Oakland, CA. Mandolinist Mike Marshall is an alumnus of the David Grisman Quintet, best known for his bluegrass-ish creations. In the mid-90s, he discovered choro and proceeded to devour every last tune he could find. He started Choro Famoso with a cast of A-list Bay Area musicians, and their long-awaited debut CD came out last year on Adventure Music.

Though guitarist Carlos Oliveira is the only Brazilian among the bunch, these tunes swing with all the authority of true masters. If you're in California, you can catch them live right now -- this weekend in Mill Valley and Berkeley, and next week in Santa Cruz. Click here for the calendar.

Click here to buy the CD

We're back, with new and improved mandolins

Phillips Grier & Flinner: Car On Fire / Monroe's Hornpipe
From Phillips Grier & Flinner, 1999 / Looking Back, 2002

Here's some instrumental not-quite-bluegrass to belatedly start out the week. The combo of mandolin, guitar and bass perfectly covers the sonic spectrum with little overlap in range. With masters like Todd Phillips (b), David Grier (g) and Matt Flinner (m) at the helm, the result is a rich but unmuddied sound.

They're hot pickers, but this trio focuses on building a complex group texture rather than playing flashy licks. The result is a unique acoustic trio sound that works great as background music for reading or relaxing, but offers plenty of ear candy for the attentive listener. Pay attention to Grier's brilliant guitar solos. He's the Thelonious Monk of bluegrass guitar, an improvising trickster who can make you laugh out loud or shake your head in amazement.

The first track is a Grier original from the groups eponymous debut, and the second is a Bill Monroe bluegrass standard from their second album, Looking Back, which also includes songs by McCoy Tyner, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles.

Click here to buy their CDs from Compass Records

Theme Week: Black Thursday

Todd Snider: Conservative, Christian, Right-Wing, Republican, Straight, White, American Male
From East Nashville Skyline, 2004

Dan Bern: We Will Not Be Divided
From Anthems, 2004

Here are two songs that attack the notion of a "polarized" nation from entirely different angles. Todd Snider's hilarious "Conservative Christian..." is more than a simple liberal jibe at Red State America; he goes straight to the heart of our cultural stereotypes and explodes them, and makes you laugh in the process.

Dan Bern takes the serious approach. "We Will Not Be Divided" is as simple as it sounds: a call for unity, a plea for Americans and citizens of the world to crawl out from under the forced labels and categories of cable news. Sort of an extended "This Land is Your Land" for the 21st century.

That wraps up my Week of Annoying Political Songs. I hope some of it was good. Check back Monday for some Brazilian forró, or maybe some County Clare fiddling...or is time time to bust out the Italian mandolin tunes?