Reviews

THE ORIGINAL FIVE GREETINGS FROM MÖLLEVÅNGEN Rootsy 094    This is a notable debut by a band that obviously gives good value: The Original Five is actually a seven-piece group (two guitars, banjo, resonator, fiddle, mandolin, and standup bass). It originated in the summer of 2010, playing gigs in the Möllevången district in the town…

CHESAPEAKE HOOK, LIVE & SINKER Chesterbury Records CR001    In the course of its relatively brief five-year/three-album run, Chesapeake (comprised of three former members of the Seldom Scene, along with the eminently talented Jimmy Gaudreau on vocals, mandolin, and guitar) made some fine, groundbreaking music. But Chesapeake’s bold, free-wheeling penchant for stacking hefty doses of…

KRÜGER BROTHERS SPIRIT OF THE ROCKIES Double Time Music DTM-024    Sit back and allow your ears to take you on a musical excursion of the Canadian Rockies. Casting his eyes on that breathtakingly beautiful landscape for the first time, Jens Krüger began to imagine a creative array of notes that would attempt to capture…

FELLER & HILL HERE COME FELLER & HILL…AGAIN! Blue Circle Records BCR-040    When something works, stay with it. The debut from Feller & Hill, an excellent mix of classic country, bluegrass, gospel, and Buck Owens and brother-duet vocalizing, did just that and earned them some deserved recognition. For their second release, they stick largely…

GILLES RÉZARD BROCELIANDE Vocation Records VOC-4726    Rézard is a French banjo player and quite accomplished at that. Most of the musicians here are French with two outstanding exceptions. Sam Bush and Stuart Duncan both shine on the cuts “Brocéliande” and “Magentic Breakdown.” Both adeptly handle the wide range of styles from bluegrass to pieces…

DICK WEISSMAN NEAR AND FAR Heron Bay Records HB071    Dick Weissman started his music career when he formed The Journeymen with John Phillips and Scott McKenzie, to whom this CD is dedicated. Composing all the music for this project, Weissman also plays banjo, 12-string and electric guitars, and piano, to name a few of…