The MG Album Club #7 - The David Grisman Quintet

[Old Uncle Toe]

Presenting the seventh entry in the MusicGourmets 2.0 Album Listening Club...

The David Grisman Quintet (1977)



Essentially, bluegrass instruments doing fast jazz. The dawn of "newgrass."

This album made a soft splash into my crowd of friends in the late '70's. Most of us were rockers or Grateful Dead fans, so it wasn't much in either of our wheelhouses. Yet somehow it became known among us. As life has gone on, I'm surprised at the number of people who haven't heard of it. I though it was kind of a landmark. Then again, it's in a bit of a musical niche. I'm curious if it's well known among the members here.

I know there's admiration for both jazz and bluegrass among the membership. So while I think this album will leave a couple of you completely unimpressed, I hope some others will find it interesting. The one thing I wish was that they'd have put a couple of slower numbers on it. The whole album is up-tempo. Nothing wrong with that, I just also like slower music.

In case you haven't read enough words in this post, here's Allmusic.com's review.

"The David Grisman Quintet's eponymous debut was a stunning achievement, capturing a pivotal point in newgrass history. It was a record that opened up new rhythmic textures and instrumental textures, specifically new, jazzier ways to solo. Grisman -- who wrote the majority of the compositions -- arranged each number as a way for his quintet to shine instrumentally, as a way for each musician to demonstrate their innovative skills. It's not traditional bluegrass -- these instrumental recordings draw as equally from folk, rock, and country as they do from bluegrass -- but it was a thrilling new variation on the form that broke down countless doors for the genre."

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

Spotify Link:

 

[axolotl]

Presenting the seventh entry in the MusicGourmets 2.0 Album Listening Club...

The David Grisman Quintet (1977)



Essentially, bluegrass instruments doing fast jazz. The dawn of "newgrass."

This album made a soft splash into my crowd of friends in the late '70's. Most of us were rockers or Grateful Dead fans, so it wasn't much in either of our wheelhouses. Yet somehow it became known among us. As life has gone on, I'm surprised at the number of people who haven't heard of it. I though it was kind of a landmark. Then again, it's in a bit of a musical niche. I'm curious if it's well known among the members here.

Jumping at and down:

Ooo! Ooo! I've got this one.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

This is very pleasant and reminds me of Rodrigo y Gabriela. Same level of virtuoso playing, and I'm sure Grisman was an influence on them.

 

[Nickyboy]

I appreciate this more than I enjoy it, as bluegrass has never really grabbed me. I do enjoy that it isn't the super laid back style of bluegrass, however. This sounds to me like the music they would play between skits on "A Prairie Home Companion".

I give it 3.5 stars.

 

[Ojai Sam]

As David Grisman himself might say, I love this pick.

Like his friend Jerry Garcia (who nicknamed him "Dawg"), mandolin ace David Grisman liked to experiment with stylistic fusions. In fact, Grisman played on American Beauty in 1970. Garcia was so impressed with his acoustic chops that three years later they formed Old & In The Way to play straight bluegrass. Here's an example:

The David Grisman Quintet was actually Grisman's second foray into "Dawg Music", his application of bluegrass acoustic instrumentation in the style of guitarist Django Reinhardt's jazzy swing masterpieces like this one:

The role of Django in the Quintet was played by the similarly subversive bluegrasser Tony Rice. Nick is right: the results certainly owe more to NPR than to The Grand Ole Opry. But to this day, Dawg Music is beloved by bluegrass fans and receives regular airplay.

on the Sam-O-Meter.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I was a deadhead in the late '70's. (Fortunately, I was able to break the habit without a recovery program.) American Beauty was one of my favorites of theirs, and my favorite tracks on it were Friend of the Devil and Ripple. Until today I didn't know Grisman played on that album and specifically on those two tracks.

In the midst of that era I also bought the Old And In The Way album. At the time I respected the expertise of bluegrass artists but didn't care for the music. I took to that album immediately and am fond of it to this day.

And Nickyboy, I also agree that this is a far cry from Appalachian bluegrass. I like your assessment that it's more NPR than Folkways. That's part of the reason I chose it.

 

[axolotl]

As I blurted earlier, I have this one. I have had it for years on vinyl. I listen to it perhaps once a year or less, with the exception of this week.

I came to bluegrass as a teenager. Bluegrass is typically played on acoustically stringed instruments and includes banjo. As a young'n, I went to the yearly festivals at Watermelon Park outside of Berryville, Virginia. Here, I would see and hear stalwarts of the genre such as The New Kentucky Colonels, The Seldom Scene, and less well-known (but up-and-coming) acts, as well as a big act like Merle Haggard, who was decidedly not Bluegrass. The Shenandoah River served as a pleasant front drop to the proceedings. We would take inner tubes and float in the shallows of the river while listening to what was emanating from the stage perhaps 60 yards away. Many were stoned out of their respective gourds.

At roughly the same time, I was getting into listening to an upstart Maryland radio station that was playing music that resounded in American music that was starkly primitive and even minimalist. This station played the likes of John Fahey, Leo Kottke, William Ackerman, and Alex DeGrassi, to name a few.

Out of this montage of artists and music, I developed a deep and abiding love for acoustic music, whether performed by individual artists or groups, and whether American Primitivism or Bluegrass or New Grass.

So, it is with tender thoughts, that I give this selection , because axos are tricky and cannot be split.

Spoiler

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Wonderful listen - 1st time hearing this one. Even if not well versed in bluegrass (like myself), my enjoyment of jazz guitarists like Jim Hall as well as love of (Rick's right) Rodrigo y Gabriela, I found it very easy to embrace this. Great sound/vibe and, as OUT pointed out, the uptempo numbers enlivened my dreary day at work yesterday. Good stuff.
I'm giving it but I could easily see this working its way into the ole rotation and moving up a half-star

 

[lpfreak1170]

Unreal...just unreal...