Ultimate Pickin': The Best of Instrumental Bluegrass

I don't know where these guys all hail from, but the sound of this pretty enjoyable album is that of bluegrass-trained Nashille-session caliber players, for better or worse. The tunes are note for note perfect, but they don't always sounds like they are really jamming or enjoying themselves. If you've been raised on new grass or West Coast-style bluegrass (that would be me), this disk sounds a little cold, a little too fresh-out-of-the -bluegrass-conservatory. On some of the songs like Forked Deer, Foggy Mountain Special, Leather Britches, and St. Anne's Reel, this group of ultimate-ace-pickers sounds like they are enjoying themselves and letting loose. But some of the tunes just sound rotely virtuosic (Clinch Mountain Backstep, eg.) So I would recommend this disk to someone who is already a lover of this music and who wants a great chronicle of key tunes performed well, some of which are standouts, others of which sound like the musicians must be getting paid by the note. There are...Read more

Playing Time - 67:30 -- Derived from the various Bluegrass '90s albums that the Pinecastle label released, "Ultimate Pickin'" features Jeff Autry (guitar), Wayne Benson (mandolin), Aubrey Haynie (fiddle), Scott Vestal (banjo) and Mark Schatz (bass). Rickie Simpkins also plays fiddle on half dozen cuts. Rob Ickes plays resophonic guitar on 14 of 20 tracks, and Randy Kohrs plays on the remaining six tracks. Although most of the tracks are staples of the bluegrass repertoire, these players are able to impart their own stylistic interpretations and breathe new life into them. For example, the bouncing tempo and key changes in "I'll Fly Away" are a pleasant surprise as the breaks get handed around. "Roanoke" is given the barn-burning treatment. As a matter of personal taste, I prefer one tune ("Red Apple Rag") at a more moderate tempo. The original CD releases from the 90s had two accompanying AcuTab transcription books (Scott Vestal's banjo and Wayne Benson's mandolin)...Read more

This record is pure, driving bluegrass. It is some of the best pickin' I have ever heard!