Almost Live

 (6 customer reviews)

An outstanding recording by one of the finest flat pickers on the planet! On first listen, I thought it was going to be in the "Spacegrass" style but was pleased with the tasty mix of new and old sounds. Favorites include Wonder Valley Gals (who is the mystery banjo player?) and Loretta's Waltz. The duet with Russ Barenburg titled Dark Island has a wonderfully sad feeling, and Le Pont De La Moustache is an excellent nod to Django.

Bryan's partners in crime include some of the finest musicians in acoustic music; Chris Thile, Bela Fleck, Russ, Time O'Brien, Pete Wernick, Nick Forster (Hot Rize) and others. You should buy this CD!

first I am an ENORMOUS fan of Bryan Sutton. His last 3 were amazing. This has a little too much banjo backup for my taste. I can't hear the guitar because the banjo is racing around (is it Bela Fleck??/ it sounds like him the way it races around with no destination) anyway, it is also short. 10 songs is not alot. I really loved his last few albums, how he took old fiddle tunes and reworked them. I wish he would do that again, with less banjo backup and more fiddle tunes, just my opinion. Still a big fan, but if you haven't bought the last 3, get them.

Firstly, the production values exhibited from this release makes me wish that all CDs were as well Engineered and produced.

Secondly, I am previously completely unfamiliar with Bryan Sutton (and Friends) but am now encouraged to seek out the CDs that other reviewers thought were above this collection. Personally, I found these cuts quite enjoyable.

I stumbled across this disc through a local library collection- in the "Blues" section. Blue-grass is more accurate. In this case the miscatorized shelving was a blessing.