Reviews

AARON RAMSEY GATHERING Omni Artists Productions OACD 30102 You put in your time in the shed, you get some recognition, and soon find yourself with Mountain Heart playing mandolin and resonator guitar. For Aaron Ramsey, who followed that path, the logical next step was a recording of his own. Joining him for that debut are…

TIM SMITH FIDDLER TIM SMITH AND FRIENDS TRS Records TRS-CD7006 Some folks may remember Tim Smith when he fiddled with the Bluegrass Cardinals or as a Blue Grass Boy or with any number of major bands during his lifetime filled with fiddle music. Here, he tackles a diverse program of music from bluegrass, at which…

ZEN BANJO: METHOD & MINDFULNESS—BY STEVE BAUGHMAN & REV. HENG SURE No Label No Number (Steve Baughman, 111 Pine St., San Francisco, CA 94111, www.zenbanjo.com.) That one might equate mindfulness and intentional living qualities of Zen Buddhism to banjo is nothing new. There is already a book out there comparing banjo playing with Taoist spirituality…

PHARIS & JASON ROMERO LONG GONE OUT WEST BLUES Lula Records 1303 There are so many duos coming out with recordings these days. Is it the economy? Have we entered the era of the downsized old-time and bluegrass ensembles? Or is it just the love for the classic sound of two voices intertwining over sparse…

PLAY ME SOMETHING QUICK AND DEVILISH: OLD-TIME FIDDLERS IN MISSOURI BY—HOWARD WIGHT MARSHALL. University of Missouri Press 9780826219947. Includes CD with 39 tunes, 398 pp., $29.95. (Univ. Of Missouri Press, 2910 LeMone Blvd., Columbia, MO 65201, press.umsystem.edu.) It’s rare for a work to combine—as this one does—academic rigor, multi disciplinary comprehensiveness, and compelling writing. To…

KIM ROBINS 40 YEARS LATE Forty Years Late Music No Number Langston Hughes asked: What happens to a dream deferred? In the case of vocalist Kim Robins, the dream was set aside, but never abandoned, and has now re-emerged as her debut recording featuring seven of her originals, a couple of standards, and three others….