music & theatre reviews, Volume 4 number 1, January 2002 Roots Music Traditional American musical styles have enjoyed a renaissance of late, although here in Alaska, with our summer folk and bluegrass festivals and lingering frontier spirit, it seems they have never fallen far from fashion. Perhaps the rest of the country is simply catching up with us. A number of recent CD collections focus on various indigenous American musical styles, the most heavily publicized being American Roots Music (Palm Pictures, L.L.C., four discs) which gathers material used for the soundtrack of the recent PBS series. This thematically divided collection devotes one disc each to country and blues, while gospel, folk, Cajun/Zydeco, Tejano and Native American styles comprise the other two. The set includes classic recordings from Bill Monroe, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King ("The Thrill Is Gone"—included here—is an absolutely flawless recording; had King never produced another note, his place in American music would be nonetheless secure). Newer artists like Keb’Mo’, Steve Riley and Bela Fleck are also found (the rather jazzy Fleck track chosen to close the country disc feels a bit out of place), and a few artists (notably Doc Watson) contributed new recordings to the project. The producers deserve credit for including a half dozen Native American pieces. This genre is generally overlooked by roots enthusiasts; hopefully its inclusion will open up a new audience for what is, after all, the most deeply rooted music on the continent. Like last year’s Ken Burns’ Jazz collection, the producers of this box focused on better known recordings at the expense of interesting and influential obscurities, creating a set that lacks depth and somehow seems less than the sum of its parts. Massachusetts-based Rounder Records has released a budget-priced label retrospective, Roots Music: An American Journey (four discs), that highlights the outstanding musicianship and well-crafted material Rounder is renowned for. The first two discs focus on traditionalists like Norman Blake, Bessie Jones, Dave Van Ronk, Mississippi Fred McDowell, the Balfa Brothers, and others. The third disc features modern interpreters such as Buckwheat Zydeco and Beausoleil, a lovely bluegrass rendering of the Grateful Dead classic "Friend of the Devil" by Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pederson, and more Bela Fleck. The fourth disc leans toward innovators and contemporary singer-songwriters with mixed results depending on your opinion of these styles. Overall though, and particularly in light of its budget price, this set is a worthy addition to any roots music collection and will no doubt prompt listeners to dig further. The granddaddy roots label has to be Arhoolie which, from its humble beginnings as a small blues label out of California, quickly expanded its horizons to encompass country, jazz, bluegrass, gospel, klezmer, assorted Mexican and border styles, Bayou music, and the simply indefinable. The Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Collection: 1960–2000 (five discs) chronicles the vast work of label founder Chris Strachwitz who has devoted his life to seeking out traditional sounds from across North America. This collection brings together such luminaries as Big Joe Williams, Rose Maddox, Katie Webster, Big Mama Thornton, Del McCoury, Flaco Jimenez, Clifton Chenier, and the immortal, inimitable Lightning Hopkins. Plenty of relative unknowns are included as well, holding their own against the bigger names. The set includes extensive liner notes and photos in a sixty-four-page book, and is, track for track, the best roots-oriented collection I’ve come across. Since picking it up, I’ve invested a small fortune in tapes and CDs by a number of its featured artists. It’s that good. The Newport Folk Festival was, during its heyday in the 1960s, the place where many great American musicians first reached a wide audience. While the festival is best known for helping to launch the careers of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, it also featured many old-time and up-and-coming roots musicians. Vanguard Records has released two three-disc sets under the title Newport Folk Festival. The first, Best of the Blues 1959–68, features live, mostly acoustic performances by many of the biggest names of the time, including Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Memphis Slim. It was here that an all but forgotten finger picker named Mississippi John Hurt was rediscovered (his warm smile lights up the brief booklet included with the set). Other old timers like Son House, Sleepy John Estes, and the Reverend Gary Davis rub elbows with younger performers, including an upstart Paul Butterfield. The second collection, Best of Bluegrass 1959–66, brings together sets by the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Jim & Jessie, and mid-sixties newcomers Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard (featuring a very young David Grisman on mandolin). Bill Monroe, whose career was in a slump at the time, started his comeback at Newport. His haunting "Walls of Time" is a highlight. Both Newport sets feature outstanding playing by great musicians (many in the prime of their careers). All these collections display the beauty of music created by people who have devoted their lives and art to sustaining and furthering the sounds which emanated from America’s back porches and barrooms, rather than its focus groups and boardrooms. The sort of real music which, thanks in part to Arhoolie and Rounder, continues to be played, recorded, and enjoyed.
| ||
 | | |
