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| Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby - Debut Album  On March 20th, SonyBMG/Legacy will release an album as fascinating and masterful as the two stars that created it, the eponymous debut collaboration of country and bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs (see photo) with renowned pianist and songwriter (not to mention Virginia native) Bruce Hornsby. "It's one of the most memorable projects I've ever done", raves Skaggs, and Hornsby agrees: "Ricky Skaggs is a deep musical soul, one of the great keepers of the traditional and mountain music flame. It was so inspiring (and educational) to make this record with these virtuoso musicians. And equally important, I learned a lot about Porter Wagoner and Lester Flatt, and we had a lot of laughs."The cross pollination was a great gift to both of us", continues Skaggs."Bruce turned me on to his heroes like Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett... I turned him on to Roscoe Holcomb, Doc Boggs, some old banjo players and singers from the mountains of Kentucky, Carolina, and Tennessee... " Backed by Skaggs' ace band Kentucky Thunder and a few special guests, the album's eleven songs draw from deep roots in mountain music -- adding piano and Hornsby's inimitable songwriting to the core bluegrass lineup of mandolin, guitar, bass, fiddle, and banjo. The album kicks off with "The Dreaded Spoon" an autobiographical story of youthful ice-cream thievery. "A Night On The Town", also a Hornsby original, invokes Appalachian storytelling traditions, with a jubilant chorus contrasting the verses' cautionary tale. Other highlights include two traditional arrangements, "Across The Rocky Mountain" and "Hills Of Mexico", as well as the driving Skaggs original instrumental 'Stubb.' Surprisingly, two of the most familiar songs prove to be at once the most startlingly innovative: "Mandolin Rain" is reinvented as an acoustic ballad transposed to a minor key. While the smash hit is as readily recognizable today as it was twenty years ago, here context brings the lyrics into sharp relief and prompts rediscovery of the song's setting -- the cool evening twilight of a bluegrass festival. Meanwhile the album's closer "Super Freak" (yes, the Rick James song) jumps out of the speakers as a tongue in cheek hillbilly rave-up. Skaggs and Hornsby are at work on a busy slate of appearances for the spring and summer. Highlights include a major CMT "Crossroads" special airing February 24th, and live engagements in the spring. The pair will perform a sneak preview concert in New York City on January 21st at B.B. King's, showcasing material from the new album. Eleven-time Grammy Award winner Ricky Skaggs is affectionately known as one of bluegrass music's most recognized ambassadors. From his beginnings in bluegrass, he went on to put his own stamp on the mainstream country format, resulting in twelve #1 hits and eight Country Music Association Awards. 1997 marked Ricky Skaggs' triumphant return to bluegrass and the establishment of his own Skaggs Family Records label, which has gone on to break new sales records in the genre. Now in his 36th year as a professional musician, he continues to record and tour with his band Kentucky Thunder as one of music's most sought after live performers. His most recent album "Instrumentals" is a current Grammy nominee for Bluegrass Album of the Year. Grammy winner with sales of more than ten million albums to date, for more than two decades Bruce Hornsby has been praised a a virtuoso pianist, singer-songwriter, and band leader. Known as a musicians's musician in addition to his remarkable career as a recording artist, Hornsby has collaborated with artists from Roger Waters and the Grateful Dead to Bob Dylan, Branford Marsalis, and Chaka Khan. Hornsby's bestselling recent 4-disc box set 'Intersections' contains the current Grammy nominated track "Song H", up for Best Pop Instrumental. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |