Five-decades-running Americana pioneers Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have already played a major role in the preservation and popularity of folk music—their Will The Circle Be Unbroken album series introduced droves of new fans to folk, country, and bluegrass and earned the band multiple Grammy awards—but now, the long-running group have taken on another American institution near and dear to their hearts; the Bob Dylan songbook.
As we have come to expect with Tragicomedia, the programme is carefully considered, well balanced and colourfully presented. Unlike the group's last and somewhat disappointing release of Anna Magdalena Bach's Notebook (Teldec, 12/94), these Welcome Songs and Odes have a dramatic bite and emotional range (despite the poor-quality verse) which directors Stephen Stubbs and Erin Headley can nurture over comparatively longer periods; this is one of the reasons why they succeeded in their Monteverdi disc of Il Combattimento (10/93) where others are often found wanting. The music chosen here is all out of Purcell's top drawer, with Tragicomedia combining works with ravishing string ritornellos and extrovert paeans to the King, such as the gloriously crystalline and breezy Welcome, viceregent, with the more intimate elegies on the death of Queen Mary which have the capacity to melt marble.
Love for Levon was a concert that took place on October 3, 2012 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey as a tribute to the late drummer/singer Levon Helm of The Band. The concert featured a wide variety of musicians who had worked with Helm as well as musicians who were influenced by him. Proceeds from the concert went towards keeping Helm's Woodstock barn in his family's control as well as continuing his Midnight Ramble concert series in the barn. The concert's musical directors were Don Was and Levon Helm collaborator Larry Campbell.
Those looking to preview some of the most interesting jazz offerings due to arrive in any given year know that New York's Winter Jazzfest is the place to do it. For more than a decade, this annual January happening has had its finger on the pulse of the jazz world, giving the press, the fans, and curious jazz newcomers an opportunity to hear the best of what's around and the best of what's to come…
Four albums by the legendary Earl Scruggs – all recorded in the years after he'd split with famous partner Lester Flatt, and moved on to work with a younger array of partners in the Earl Scruggs Revue! Given the way that Scruggs revolutionized the sound of American banjo in the postwar years, he'd always found strong interest from a younger audience – but with these records, he almost seems to give back directly to that group – by working with sons Randy and Gary, the younger of whol sings a lot of lead vocals – and almost brings a roots rock approach to the music.