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Double Bass Good bluegrass to listen to?
- Thread starter cpete430
- Start date
How about Strength in Numbers? Edgar Meyer was in the group so enough said.
Or maybe New Grass Revival?
Or maybe New Grass Revival?
Strength in Numbers isn't bluegrass?
Whatever you want to call it is fine with me. Label, label, label....
Either way it has pretty traditional instrumentation and they are educated and the songs kick ass. I'm pretty sure Edgar calls Strength in Numbers a bluegrass band too, just FYI.
Oh and I have a pretty recent recording with him and Jerry Douglas that I would reccomend to someone looking for bluegrass thing.
Whatever you want to call it is fine with me. Label, label, label....
Either way it has pretty traditional instrumentation and they are educated and the songs kick ass. I'm pretty sure Edgar calls Strength in Numbers a bluegrass band too, just FYI.
Oh and I have a pretty recent recording with him and Jerry Douglas that I would reccomend to someone looking for bluegrass thing.
Here's a really cool Bela Fleck album that is bluegrass (if it isn't I sure like it anyway):
The Bluegrass Sessions Tales From the Acoustic Planet Volume 2
Bela Fleck-banjo
Tony Rice-guitar
Sam Bush-mandolin
Mark Schatz-bass fiddle
Stuart Duncan-fiddle
Jerry Douglas-dobro
Special Guests:
Earl Scruggs-banjo
Vassar Clements-fiddle
Also, I have a Dolly Parton/Emmylou Harris/Linda Ronstadt album called Trio II. It's got some really great country/bluegrass players on it. The upright bass player just lays it down and his tone is beautiful.
The Bluegrass Sessions Tales From the Acoustic Planet Volume 2
Bela Fleck-banjo
Tony Rice-guitar
Sam Bush-mandolin
Mark Schatz-bass fiddle
Stuart Duncan-fiddle
Jerry Douglas-dobro
Special Guests:
Earl Scruggs-banjo
Vassar Clements-fiddle
Also, I have a Dolly Parton/Emmylou Harris/Linda Ronstadt album called Trio II. It's got some really great country/bluegrass players on it. The upright bass player just lays it down and his tone is beautiful.
I have to double underline a couple of earlier recommendations that are very important for bluegrass.
First, the Bluegrass Album Band CDs are excellent, and they include a lot of the great old tunes everybody likes, and ones you should know when jamming with other Bluegrassers. J.D. Crowe played banjo, and he is impeccable when it comes to timing; Tony Rice headlined, and he is the template for the modern Bluegrass guitar player; Doyle Lawson played mandolin, and his band Quicksilver is a training ground for a lot of the musicians you hear today; Bobby Hicks is flat-out my idol when it comes to tasteful, swining fiddle; and, finally, the great (did I say GREAT?) Todd Phillips is on bass, and you can hear every note he plays on the upright bass. Todd won award after award for years, and is one of the guys you need to be influenced by. The Bluegrass Album Band has out 4 CDs including an all-instrumental one.
Second, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band CD "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" is probably the best thing ever put on vinyl. The greats are there: Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Vassar Clements, Jimmy Martin, Mother Maybell Carter, Roy Acuff, and then there's Junior Huskey (not Roy Huskey, Jr, his son and equal) on the upright bass. Huskey plays the best combination of straight ahead Bluegrass bass and slap bass I've ever heard. You totally owe it to to yourself to buy this CD. Both this CD and the Bluegrass Album Band CDs are great recordings to play along with. Do it over and over until Bluegrass becomes a part of your consciousness!! By the way, Roy Huskey, Jr. can be heard on vols 2 & 3 of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," but these CDs are no where in the same league as the first volume.
Finally, get the Bill Monroe Box Set. Bill invented Bluegrass, he is the imprint for how the music should be played, and his music from the 40s sounds as fresh and lively as what is being played today. Next, get the Flatt & Scruggs Mercury Sessions compuilation for a collection of their good stuff (a lot of which is re-created in the Bluegrass Album Band CDs). Finally, pick up some Stanley Brothers material. Ralph is still recording, and he frequently digs into the old stuff, but you can hear it played with good recording techniques. His bassman, Jack Cook, is a journeyman picker, but not in the league of the other guys mentioned.
These are DESRT ISLAND CDs. You could go to the middle of nowhere with these recodings and have a lifetime of music to digest. Enjoy them.
First, the Bluegrass Album Band CDs are excellent, and they include a lot of the great old tunes everybody likes, and ones you should know when jamming with other Bluegrassers. J.D. Crowe played banjo, and he is impeccable when it comes to timing; Tony Rice headlined, and he is the template for the modern Bluegrass guitar player; Doyle Lawson played mandolin, and his band Quicksilver is a training ground for a lot of the musicians you hear today; Bobby Hicks is flat-out my idol when it comes to tasteful, swining fiddle; and, finally, the great (did I say GREAT?) Todd Phillips is on bass, and you can hear every note he plays on the upright bass. Todd won award after award for years, and is one of the guys you need to be influenced by. The Bluegrass Album Band has out 4 CDs including an all-instrumental one.
Second, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band CD "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" is probably the best thing ever put on vinyl. The greats are there: Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Vassar Clements, Jimmy Martin, Mother Maybell Carter, Roy Acuff, and then there's Junior Huskey (not Roy Huskey, Jr, his son and equal) on the upright bass. Huskey plays the best combination of straight ahead Bluegrass bass and slap bass I've ever heard. You totally owe it to to yourself to buy this CD. Both this CD and the Bluegrass Album Band CDs are great recordings to play along with. Do it over and over until Bluegrass becomes a part of your consciousness!! By the way, Roy Huskey, Jr. can be heard on vols 2 & 3 of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," but these CDs are no where in the same league as the first volume.
Finally, get the Bill Monroe Box Set. Bill invented Bluegrass, he is the imprint for how the music should be played, and his music from the 40s sounds as fresh and lively as what is being played today. Next, get the Flatt & Scruggs Mercury Sessions compuilation for a collection of their good stuff (a lot of which is re-created in the Bluegrass Album Band CDs). Finally, pick up some Stanley Brothers material. Ralph is still recording, and he frequently digs into the old stuff, but you can hear it played with good recording techniques. His bassman, Jack Cook, is a journeyman picker, but not in the league of the other guys mentioned.
These are DESRT ISLAND CDs. You could go to the middle of nowhere with these recodings and have a lifetime of music to digest. Enjoy them.
here's some info
Link Removed <-- my kid playing all the instruments
check out The Grascals
Randy Kohrs <--band my kid is currently in
Not to disrespect the older gents (Monroe, Stanleys, Flatt and Scruggs, that's the history where it came from)
They are my favorites too. They were the giants, back in the day before cut and paste recording technology.
If you're looking for bluegrass bassists, check out Barry Bales (Alison Krauss), Mike Bub (formerly of Del McCoury) Jason Moore (Mountain Heart) Dennis Crouch (bassman on Walk the Line Soundtrack) Terry Smith (The Grascals)
I play a little bass as well, (it's actually a small 7/8ths) check out my signature for links.
Hope this helps,
Link Removed <-- my kid playing all the instruments
check out The Grascals
Randy Kohrs <--band my kid is currently in
Not to disrespect the older gents (Monroe, Stanleys, Flatt and Scruggs, that's the history where it came from)
They are my favorites too. They were the giants, back in the day before cut and paste recording technology.
If you're looking for bluegrass bassists, check out Barry Bales (Alison Krauss), Mike Bub (formerly of Del McCoury) Jason Moore (Mountain Heart) Dennis Crouch (bassman on Walk the Line Soundtrack) Terry Smith (The Grascals)
I play a little bass as well, (it's actually a small 7/8ths) check out my signature for links.
Hope this helps,
It's cool to see you on TalkBass. Bluegrass bass player should always get their due respect on this forum. I'm sure Edgar Meyer would agree, playing good bluegrass bass isn't easy..... well maybe for him.
I come from playing Prog Rock, some Jazz Fusion, and a bit of Classical. I have played with some really good musicians over the years. Bluegrass players scare me thay are so good. The simplicity of the sound fools you because this stuff is actually so complex it makes me have to rethink what I have learned.
Its always so good to hear someone say something like this. It validates what us bluegrass players know about this music. It is musician's music that places a high value on virtuosity. Not that other genres do not hold this value, but go to a bluegrass festival sometime, if you haven't already, and you will be astonished by how many incredible players there are in the campsites and jamming circles. Bluegrass requires a great deal of technical proficiency and musicianship.
I think every recommendation so far has been excellent. I like them all, but I'd like to add one more recommendation with consideration that this is a double bass site:
The Lynn Morris Band
Lynn's husband Marshall Wilborne is probably one of the best bluegrass bass players around. If you really want to hear more of him go get his newest CD Root 5. Its all duets of banjo and bass with Marshall on every cut.
The Lynn Morris Band
Lynn's husband Marshall Wilborne is probably one of the best bluegrass bass players around. If you really want to hear more of him go get his newest CD Root 5. Its all duets of banjo and bass with Marshall on every cut.
I knnow this thread sat for a while, and maybe everyone is done with it, but nobody mentioned Todd Philips or Byron House, and they're both fabulous bass players IMHO and on a lot of bluegrassy records.
I know he's from California, but I don't think any list of great bluegrass should be without Chris Thile, and How to Grow a Woman is a great cd. Matt Flinner should get a mention too, as another amazing mandolin player, even if he strays from the roots.
I know he's from California, but I don't think any list of great bluegrass should be without Chris Thile, and How to Grow a Woman is a great cd. Matt Flinner should get a mention too, as another amazing mandolin player, even if he strays from the roots.
+10 on the NGDB's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." John Hartford is awesome, everyone should own "Aereo-Plane." I'd also go with Muleskinner (self titled), awesome lineup: Dave Grisman, Clarence White, Richard Greene, John Kahn, Peter Rowan, I think Bill Keith is on there too.
