Back in 1976, mandolinist
David Grisman was one of the pioneers of what would come to be called "new acoustic music," a groovy, swinging fusion of bluegrass, hot jazz, and pop played primarily by young virtuosos from California. It was a scene that gave rise to such giants as
Tony Rice,
Bela Fleck,
Sam Bush, and
Mark O'Connor, and brought established artists like fiddler
Vassar Clements and French jazz violinist
Stephane Grappelli to new prominence. But
David Grisman's mandolin was the signature sound of the genre, and still is -- that's him you hear picking away between NPR news segments, and you've heard him in movie soundtracks and on hundreds of other people's records over the last twenty years. Of all the musicians who emerged from the new acoustic music scene, only
Grisman had a subgenre named after him: "Dawg Music."
This three-disc set brings together live recordings, alternate takes, and previously unreleased compositions from
Grisman's tape vault. It charts the changes in his quintet from the earliest days, when it nurtured the fiery talents of the young guitarist
Tony Rice and fiddler
Darol Anger, to its modern incarnation, which features a percussionist and flutist. Some of the titles -- "Swing '39," "Ricochet," "Rattlesnake" -- will be familiar to new acoustic music aficionados, as will
Grisman's penchant for punning titles based on his nickname ("Dawgma," "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown"). Others are more obscure, some of them deservedly so, as in the case of "Shasta Bull," an ill-conceived soda jingle. But most of these 39 tracks are delightful; among them are the two numbers the DGQ performed with
Stephane Grappelli on the Tonight Show in 1979, a beautiful three-mandolin arrangement of "Ricochet," and a live version of "Mondo Mando" that features
Jethro Burns and the young
Kronos Quartet. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson