David Grisman › Hot Dawg

Personnel includes: David Grisman (mandolin); Stephane Grappelli, Darol Anger (violin); Tony Rice (acoustic guitar); Eddie Gomez (acoustic bass).

Personnel includes: David Grisman, Stephane Grappelli, Tony Rice, Eddie Gomez.

Personnel: David Grisman (vocals, mandolin); Mike Marshall (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Tony Rice (vocals, guitar, violin); Darol Anger (vocals, mandolin, violin); St?phane Grappelli (vocals, violin); Todd Phillips (mandolin).

Audio Mixer: Bill Wolf .

Recording information: 1750 Arch, Berkeley, CA (07/1978-10/1978); His Masters Wheels Studio (07/1978-10/1978).

Illustrator: Brian Davis .

Photographer: Mark Hanauer.

As the spearhead of a West Coast school of instrumental music that drew equally from bluegrass and jazz (particularly the European and Gypsy tinged string jazz of Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grapelli, and their Quintet of the Hot Club of France), mandolinist David Grisman founded a musical dynasty. Like those of other bandleaders from Bill Monroe to Miles Davis, Grisman's bands have served as a finishing school, and many alumni have gone on to forge solo careers of their own.

There is therefore a nice symmetry to the personnel on HOT DAWG. Violinist Darol Anger and guitarist Tony Rice are still on hand from the original David Grisman Quintet (1976's self-titled debut is highly recommended). Grapelli himself guests on two tunes-including "Minor Swing," a standard he composed with Reinhardt. The album maintains an organic feel despite a rotating cast of bass players and the use of overdubbing heard on "Dawg's Bull," where Grisman and Anger recorded multiple harmonies of their original parts to create soaring string section ensembles. As the title (a play on Grisman's nickname) implies, the material leans towards the jazz end of the jazz/bluegrass continuum.

Genre:

• Country & Bluegrass

Music Categories:

• Country: Bluegrass