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Jerry Douglas | Lookout For Hope

Jerry Douglas brings extensive studio work to a well-set table.
CD, Sugar Hill/Munich

Tekst: Dave Weil

Publicatiedatum: 04 juli 2002

Back in the "golden era" of country music in Nashville, there was a small cadre of studio musicians called the A-Team. There are literally hundreds of studio musicians who make a full-time living supplying the sounds to a billion dollar country music industry. But there were only a handful of folks who showed up on many, if not most of the big country hits of the Sixties, and that was the A-Team. It was producer Owen Bradley's starting roster, and it was unstoppable.

Today, there's a handful of guitarists, a couple of keyboard players, a couple of drummers and bass players in a similar position, even as the number of session musicians continues to rise. They are informally called "The A List". There's only one dobro player in that group, and that's Jerry Douglas. His musical resume is a who's who of stars, from industry heavyweights like Garth Brooks to Nashville mavericks like Bela Fleck and Steve Earle. That was Douglas on the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou, and he appeared in the DA Pennebaker documentary of a tribute concert to the movie, Down From The Mountain.

Douglas has been putting out solo albums since the Seventies, managing to shoehorn them in between touring with the likes of Emmylou Harris, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Ricky Skaggs. If there's a dobro on a big country hit, chances are it's Douglas.

He's just released another solo album, and it's a nice showcase for his evocative dobro work. Pushing the boundaries of the instrument, Douglas opens with a song perfectly suited for the dobro style: The Allman Brothers' Little Martha. He takes the tune and gently improvises around the main theme, never subverting it like John Coltrane did with My Favorite Things, but breathing new life into the old chestnut.

Two artists that Douglas has worked with in the past - Irish singer Maura O'Connell and James Taylor - return the favour and bring vocals to two of the songs: Both songs are delightful.

The rest of the songs careen between widely divergent styles, from rip-snortin' contemporary bluegrass to atmospheric Mediterranean-like sounds. Douglas showcases his amazing skill, not by excess, but by a tasteful display of melodic composition.

The heart of the album is the title track, a Bill Frisell-penned song of over ten minutes. This song has a definite Mediterranean feel and even reminds one in places a little of Sixties spy thriller music. There are traces of Middle Eastern music, and Douglas keeps a nice sense of musical tension throughout.

The supporting cast features mavericks like mandolin player Sam Bush and bass player Viktor Krauss and has room for other notable studio big-wigs like Stuart Duncan on violin and Bryan Sutton on guitar. Trey Anastasio of Phish makes an appearance on the title track.

If I have a quibble with the album, it's in the production, specifically the way the bass was recorded. On several tracks, it sounds like the bass was recorded out of phase, and it drags way behind the beat. It's also indistinct and muddy on much of the album. This rare misfire doesn't diminish the effort, but is a definite distraction.

If you love the sound of dobro like I do, you'll seek this album out for a listening session. Chances are good that your next step will be the purchase of this record for your collection. It's not an album for all times and all moods, but it definitely satisfies in a way that many "vanity projects" don't.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/jerry-douglas/lookout-for-hope/1669/
Meer Jerry Douglas op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/jerry-douglas