Fourth Way Website

Here is the website that I created many years ago for a couple of Fourth Way teachers: Fourth Way and Esoteric Christianity.

It seems to still be up. How 'bout that.

Shindig on the Green

Well, you asked that I report on any new fun in Asheville.

I just attended another evening of Shindig on the Green and it was certainly a golden time. This time I arrived early and set up a folding lawn chair close to the front of the stage. The sun was still up and I knew it would set around a quarter after eight. So I hoped to relax for an hour or so listening to the formal presentation on the main stage. Included were some motley ensembles and a few dance teams. It was enjoyable enough.

After sunset, I collapsed my chair and went in search of fairer game. Passing up the kielbasa stand, I toured the grounds at City-County Plaza park and casually took in what variety of picking was offered. But I knew where I would land: In the "old-time" section of the park, nearest the main fronting street. Apparently it is a tradition for the bluegrass jams to take place around the inner side of the park and the old-time jams to have their own area at the other end. Up to four or five ever-changing ensembles will strike up a tune or two of droning acoustic mountain instrumentals to be followed by nothing in particular; but perhaps some light conversation until another tune comes to mind and is take up with enthusiasm and a fair amount of onlooking.

With dusk securely behind us, the little bands slipped into a comfortable rhythm of playing and resting. During any rest, onlookers could take in another fine tune simply by pivoting in place and taking a few steps forward; where faint noise now becomes a rich concert with fingers and wrists bending strings with energy and feeling.

As I listened, arms folded, to one muscular ditty showcasing four fiddles, two guitars, one mandolin and a bass, I heard "the laugh." This is the most distinctive laugh in the burgeoning hamlet of Asheville: the rapid, mousy titter of Cary Fridley. Slowly I turned. Yes, it was her. Then I knew that the night had begun.

I hovered around her little grouping like a gnat and came close whenever they struck up another tune. Of course, she was there with another innovation: An old-time, dixieland hybrid music including a kazoo-playing banjoist. This time Fridley was on the bass, plucking out a strict rhythm for her fellows on fiddle, mandolin and guitar.

These spontaneous offerings were later punctuated by Phil Jamison's flatfoot shuffling. How did Phil accomplish this feat in a city park? Why, by bringing his own floor. While the band played on, Phil simply plopped down a thin four-by-four slab of wood in front of the players, and, child-like, hopped on it and tapped out with precision his own percussive beat. Afterwards, others were invited to trip the light fantastic on this four foot dance floor to the lead of the commanding hard beat of Celtic-Appalachian string music played by the anonymous stars of the unruffled mountain acoustic music community of Western North Carolina.

A half-pivot reminded me that the main stage was still churning with tight bluegrass and joyous clogging performances. And looking up into the far distance from time to time, I could see lightning silently flash-flashing; briefly suggesting the silhouetted mountain skyline that surrounds the valley -- this oasis that is Asheville in summer; where the loveliest mountain music plays hushed and steady underneath low trees.

Dirk Powell

Dirk Powell is one of those rarest of sorts: an energetic young buck who knows old-time as well as the elders. He stokes the old-time flame and feels its warmth in his bones. The crème of the new authenticity, this is the man Tim O’Brien introduces as “my musical hero.”

Hailing originally from the small town of Oberlin, Ohio, in Lorain County near Cleveland, Powell began his musical journey there playing classical-style piano at age 8 and the harpsichord by age 10. He later came to genuinely and deeply appreciate the Appalachian style through the influence and character of his grandfather James Clarence Hay of Ashland, Kentucky.

Since then, Powell has come to the South himself and has taken on just about every musical instrument you can pick, strum, scratch, claw, bang on or squeeze. Powell is known to have played at one time or another the banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, fiddle and fife.

He is also a champion accordion player, having won top prize in 1994 at the Annual Mulate's Accordion Contest, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Powell teaches the instrument as well. And he’s a mighty fine singer too.

Dirk Powell has developed an impressive résumé that leaves one gasping at his range and energy. Besides having joined Christine Balfa in matrimony, fathering their first child in March 2002, and making a home for his family in his wife’s home state of Louisiana, Powell has engaged his energies in many other fascinating ways in his few decades in this world.

While Powell’s first love is playing in the old-time style with his immensely talented friends, he has been involved in such diverse projects as touring with a Cajun/Zydeco band, playing bass for Donna the Buffalo, the electric guitar for the Freewill Savages and the fiddle for Riverdance.

He has collaborated with rap and alternative rock artists, scored film soundtracks and has written commentary for literary magazines as well as Civil War and Celtic documentaries. He is featured in a series of Cajun accordion instructional videos. He has produced recordings by Ginny Hawker and others and has written many engaging original tunes for his own recordings and various other musical collaborations, such as with 10,000 Maniacs and the Mamou Playboys.

Powell has performed and recorded extensively with Tim O’Brien around the world and is featured prominently on the album “Songs from the Mountain,” a fine musical tribute to the Charles Frazier novel Cold Mountain. It was this recording that helped inspire the director of the Cold Mountain movie to partner Powell with T Bone Burnett as a technical expert on the set and as a performer for the film’s soundtrack.

Not to be outdone in this arena, Powell has recently written his own original screenplay entitled “Lost Branch” which addresses modern alienation from deep and direct family ties.

At any given time, Powell can be found picking in a recording studio, contributing to an important cultural project or sitting for an interview. Or perhaps sitting at a writing pad to pen a new song, a thoughtful print article, or some gracious liner notes for a friend.

Still, among his favorite things to do now and again is to spontaneously form or re-form a musical ménage and perform at home or abroad either as a coveted band-member or session man.

Dirk Powell does have trouble sitting still. But we don’t mind. He recently found time in his schedule to perform some old-time acoustic mountain music for us here in Asheville to a packed house at The Grey Eagle Tavern and Music Hall, along with Riley Baugus and The Foghorn Stringband.

Riley Baugus, who began fiddling at age 10 himself, worked closely with Powell on the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack. He has taught banjo, guitar, and fiddle at music camps throughout the U.S. and has toured Germany and France with The Farmer's Daughters. In 2000, he toured Ireland with Tim O'Brien and Dirk Powell.

Powell, this night, was clearly proud of his work on the "Cold Mountain" project, even though the audience grumbled under its breath. No doubt related to the controversy over farming the out whole production to Brits, Aussies, Italians, pop stars, punk rockers and Romanian locales and extras. Nonetheless, kudos are in order for Powell and Baugus for having infused the project with some much needed authenticity.

But tonight, The Dirk Powell Band would put all of that right. With this concert, Powell would demonstrate once again that he is giddy to leap feet-first into the thick, musty bog of mountain culture that informs so much of modern Americana.

The show was an unabashed offering of bedrock old-time music in its purest form. And the well-rounded sets featured a fair mix of fast and slow tunes, including several from the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack.

The ensemble gathered there consisted of twin clawhammered banjos, twin fiddles (with Powell on one), guitar, mandolin and a rather chewed-up old acoustic bass. In Dirk's words, "we've got the whole honkin' band up here."

For the most part, the whole honkin' band played a series of rousing numbers that brought many to their feet. But the band broke up periodically into smaller groupings. At times, Powell and Baugus performed duets on banjo and fiddle and at other times the two performed solo pieces separately. Particularly moving was the 'a cappella' singing of Riley Baugus at one point in the show. (Powell himself was almost brought to tear at this stark rendering.)

In between songs, Powell and Baugus treated the attentive crowd to a few humorous stories of their work on the sets of the "Cold Mountain" movie. Baugus even deftly impersonated thickly-accented film director Anthony Minghella as he instructed Baugus to cry out “coo-coo!” in a high voice at a certain point in the song of the same name. A suggestion that Baugus politely declined. The audience, though, joined in the jest when they sporadically cried out “coo-coo!” after the song was played.

The performances were authentic and first-rate and the crowd was enthusiastic. Well-known cloggers Rodney Sutton and Phil Jamison kicked up some dust in the rear open space behind the rows of fold-up chairs. And Cary Fridley arrived late but joined the party after the show was over to chat with the gathered friends of old-time. (One wonders when Fridley and Powell will share a stage.)

While at the Grey Eagle show, Powell did let slip that he has a new recording in the hopper. It is called “Time Again” and is due out January 2004. For this one he is joined in the studio by concert-mates Riley Baugus and The Foghorn Stringband, as well as by old friends Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott, and Jim Miller. It promises to be a good’n.

Dirk Powell’s fine old-time recordings, acoustic musical projects, original songwriting and compelling commentary show us quite clearly that he has solid roots in the fertile past and sturdy, bountiful branches extending toward a delightful future.

Dirk Powell's Detailed Résumé

• Played banjo in Edward Burns’ 1995 film “The Brothers McMullen.”


• Played banjo, fiddle and guitar with the London Symphony in Ang Lee’ 1999 Western “Ride With the Devil” (collaborating with pop star Jewel for end-credit song “What's Simple is True”).


• Wrote and performed music for the Appalachian Film Workshop documentary “Stranger With a Camera” of 2000.


• Played banjo in Spike Lee’s 2000 film “Bamboozled.”


• Wrote the score for the 2002 documentary “Stevie”.


• Wrote and performed music for the 2002 dramatic film “Coastlines” along with his impromptu band Louisiana Renegades.


• Composed and performed the score for the prize-winning History Channel documentary “The Unfinished Civil War,” produced and directed by Glenn Kirschbaum.


• Fiddled on stage with “Riverdance: The Show.”


• Provided expert music commentary and performed for the 2001 television series “The Irish Empire” documenting Scotch-Irish emigration to Appalachia.


• Collaborated with rapper Danja Mowf for the documentary “From the Holler to the Hood” about the growth of prisons in Appalachia.


• Toured with Cajun/Zydeco band Balfa Toujours (with his wife Christine Balfa), a band that, so far, has recorded the albums “Deux Voyages” (1996), “La Pointe” (1998), “Allons Danser” (1998) and “Live at Whiskey River Landing” (2000).


• Recorded the eclectic album “Tony Furtado and Dirk Powell” (1999)


• Recorded his own albums: “The Dirk Powell Band,” “If I Go Ten Thousand Miles” (1996) and “Hand Me Down” (1999).


• Recorded with Tim O'Brien on the albums “Rock in My Shoe” (1995), “The Crossing” (1999), and “Two Journeys” (2002).


• Recorded the spirited Celtic album “A Week in January” (1990) with Seamus Egan.


• Played bass and accordion on tour with the Tim O'Brien Band.


• Performed extensively with Geno Delafose, Preston Frank and 'Bois Sec' Ardoin.


• Played keyboards with certain 10,000 Maniacs members in an alternative band.


• Co-founded the band Donna the Buffalo and was their bass player.


• Played electric guitar, fiddle, banjo, and accordion with The Freewill Savages, with band co-founders James Leva, Al Tharp and Dave Grant.


• Wrote or co-wrote music for 10,000 Maniacs, Tim O'Brien, Hillbilly Idol, Critton Hollow String Band, Beausoleil, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Eddie LeJeune, Charivari, Courtney Granger, Ginny Hawker, Bruce Daigrepont.


• Produced the album’ “Letters From My Father” (2001) by Ginny Hawker, “Allons Danser” (1998) by 'Bois Sec' Ardoin, “Gambling Eden” (2003) by Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, “Un Bal Chez Balfa” (1999) by Courtney Granger, and “Swamp Ceili” (1997) by Sam Bartlett.


• Collaborated with Creole musician Keith Frank on a musical project aimed at challenging racism in Louisiana.


• Been involved with various projects by Tara Nevins (with Ralph Stanley), Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Geno Delafose, Darrell Scott, Bill Wellington, David Greer, Bruce Molsky, Courtney Granger, Wild Asparagus, Fresh Fish, The Humdingers, Scott Nygaard, The Wildcats, One Eyed Dog, and The Fiddle Puppets.


• Wrote commentary for the now-defunct national literary magazine on Southern culture, The Oxford American.


• Wrote an original screenplay for his own film “Lost Branch.”


• Filmed music instruction videos entitled “Learn To Play Cajun Accordion” (Volume I, II,III), with his wife Christine Balfa, using a single-row, diatonic button (melodeon) accordion in the key of C.


• Collaborated with Tim O’Brien and John Herrmann to produce the album “Songs From the Mountain” (2002), the official companion CD to the National Book Award-winning novel “Cold Mountain” (1997) by Charles Frazier, that aims to capture the authentic songs and sounds of the Civil War era.


• Wrote liner notes for “Letters From My Father” (2001) by Ginny Hawker, for which he won the award “Best Liner Notes” from IBMA, “Tony Furtado and Dirk Powell” (1999), “Songs From the Mountain” (2002) and his own recent recording “Hand Me Down” (1999).


• Collaborated with T Bone Burnett on the soundtrack for the 2003 feature film “Cold Mountain” based on the Frazier novel.

Pyper's Place

Located in Asheville's historic Montford district, Pyper's Place is a fairly new entrant in the neighborhood café business. And Pyper’s is quickly becoming a right fine jamming venue for the enjoyment of superb old-time music.

It was on Valentine's Day 2003 that Irish-born café owner and namesake Irene Pyper quietly launched her labor of love and, with little fanfare, opened the doors to food and music lovers. Followed by a more formal opening later in May, Pyper has pulled together a curious assortment of elements to realize her vision. Situated down the middle distance on Montford Avenue now lies a pleasant little café with many brilliant features to recommend it.

The street out front allows close-by parking for about as many people as the café can comfortably hold; and the doors are open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. from Monday to Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. The compact space inside is well-appointed with heavy, wooden tables in the dining room; comfy, padded chairs and sofas near the wood-burning fireplace in the rear lounge; a handsome service counter and kitchen; and thoughtful, interesting décor throughout.

À propos is the row of old-fashioned tea and coffee makers on a thin ledge high along the wall up near the decorative, pressed-tin ceiling. Tastefully strewn about are various 'objêts d'art' suggesting a nascent museum; among them is a display case of fine china, a bevy of iron Guinea fowl and a stuffed, full-size woollen zebra. Pyper's late mother's umbrella stands humbly at the front door forever at the ready should the weather become, shall we say, more "Irish". You can check your email from an oak phone booth in the main room or cozy up to a low reading table near the front window. The New York Times or the English Guardian Weekly are on sale at the register and an array of free local papers are grouped along the wall opposite.

The culinary offerings at Pyper's Place have a decided upmarket character. The menu is definitely BYOM (Bring Your Own Meat). On the largely organic menu are gourmet teas and "fair trade" coffees, home-made soups, sinful desserts and pastries, Italian smoothies, beers, fine wines. Try the house specialty: Pyper's panini with pesto and roasted garlic. Or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with amoretto wine and bazzini (come to Pyper's to find out what that is).

Tea is served loose and hot in small ceramic pots delivered to your candlelit table on a tray (try Pyper's Special Mix). Champagne is available nightly. But beware: the so-called “Pyper’s Burger” is made of suspiciously meat-like Quorn™ (that’s fungi mycoprotein to you and me). The straws and takeaway flatware are made from food starch and all the water is filtered—even the ice is made from filtered water!

Aproned baristas will take your food and beverage orders at the counter. (Don't take a number, just be polite and wait your turn). Service is generally down-scaled and customers soon learn to pitch in themselves to get through their meal. Get up to order; get up to salt your salad; get up to cream your coffee; and get up to tip a jar not your table: get up John.

All that 'gettin' up' amounts to a lot of activity in a small space already crowded with oversized tables, hefty antiques and thematic bric-a-brac. This is all very well if you don't mind an atmosphere with people bustling about a lot. So, along with the hissing and burbling of cappuccino-making, the sound of frequent chair-scooting becomes equally ambient.

Then there's the music. Ah, the music! Yes, Ms. Pyper-Scott has chosen to incorporate a schedule of live music in the mix offered at her place that happily includes a bit of old-time.

On certain Friday nights the mood is mountain high as Pyper’s Place becomes a sometime pickin’ parlor. And people who love acoustic old-time music can get their honey straight from the comb when some of the best local talent that ever played a corner sets up in the front of the house. This often occurs with little advanced notice or, at times, with players left unnamed to be later assembled by the headliner when the performance date comes nearer.

Sawing on the strings some nights might just be a sage John Herrmann. Herrmann contributed his considerable talent and knowledge of old-time to the original Cold Mountain soundtrack entitled “Songs from the Mountain” where he joined Dirk Powell and Tim O’Brien on a more authentic musical project. Herrmann has become something of a regular at Pyper’s Place, projecting the serene presence of banjer zazen. He is currently working with fiddler Rayna Gellert on their Afrolachian String Band project, currently performing at the Westville Pub. Rayna likes to fall by Pyper’s from time to time as well.

Belting out a bit of high-lonesome, you might also find a diminutive Cary Fridley leaning hard on her upright bass (or vice-versa). Fridley voice is as distinctive and appropriate in her genre as Sting or Jon Anderson are in theirs. After her stint with the fabulous Freight Hoppers, Fridley recorded a fine old-time solo album entitled Neighbor Girl that hearkens back to the very nub of mountain singing. She is presently a member of Devilish Mary, performing around town; sometimes on sidewalks without notice (very devilish). Fridley has recently graced Pyper’s Place, joined by banjo-picker Robby Robertson, to lend her extraordinary vocals to some quite sensitive and moving arrangements.

Other nights, banjo master Gordy Hinners might just scratch one off workmanlike as you sip and sup. The unassuming Hinners is not shy about frailing and is known to bring famed flatfooter Phil Jamison in for a set. Jamison teaches flatfoot dancing at Warren Wilson College, and helps direct the Swannanoa Gathering and writes for The Old Time Herald.

A jolly Don Pedi may fervently strum out a dulcimer tune from time to time. Pedi skips along the old-time circuit like a slick stone on a calm lake. You can find him at the Swannanoa Gathering, at the old train depot in Marshall sitting in with the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers, on an old friends porch, or in a movie like The Songcatcher. He has quickly become a Pyper’s Place favorite.

The resident group The Peg Twister might take a turn. On banjo, guitar, fiddle and vocals, Bob Gregory, Jerry Sutton, and Dona Cavanagh unwind with simple tunes and simple melodies that compliment many a pleasant evening at Pyper’s.

And what a pleasure it is. To be at Pyper’s Place on those Friday’s is to be at that other home. The all-night trance-inducing drone of authentic, old-time acoustic string music in this intimate space can transport you from a smallish, trendy Euro-café to a piney-wood cabin in your heart. It’s enough to make you hallucinate a goat. The surrounding mood slips into something casual and comfortable. Indeed, certain patrons are known to bring their knitting and pull on their own set of strings. Other musicians will likely stop by to take a listen and join the menage in dropping tips into the teapot bearing a sign enscribed "Feed the Artists."

Me?—I’ll have a little friendly conversation and some Welsh rarebit with my "Squirrel Heads and Gravy,” thank you very much.

[MP3: 'Squirrel Heads and Gravy' by Mary Z. Cox]

Occasional hot rhythms can prompt you to your feet, but you’ll have little room for dancing; unless you want to buck dance all the way back to the ample unisex bathroom. And if the bathroom is occupied, take a seat in one of the old wooden fold-down movie theater chairs nearby and give it a minute.

From the beginning, proprietress Pyper has maintained a diverse musical schedule at her Pyper’s Place. On different days you may hear classical, Celtic, swing, jazz or some variety of folk. You can attend shows featuring harpist Billy Jackson, singer Laura Boosinger, the Asheville String Band or flute duets by Clifford Tretick and Barbra Baker. You’re even likely to hear Irene’s own recordings piping through the sound system captured from a lifetime of traditional ballad singing in every English-speaking country.

But what's more, this café has embraced a mix of musical expression that happily makes wide room for those forms long familiar to the rustic ears of Western North Carolina. And Irene assures us that the future holds for more of the same. With some help from long-time friend and musical collaborator Peggy Seeger, as well as many newer acquaintances, she has plowed into deep connections here in Asheville ensuring that a regular schedule of old-time talent will be on hand.

And Pyper's Place shows no signs of slowing down. From its early tenuous beginnings last year up to today, Irene Pyper-Scott's vision has slowly materialized as she once saw it. The café now has grown from goodfellow word-of-mouth to the settled fullness of dedicated patronage.

As you might expect, some concerns have been raised regarding new competition from a pending Starbucks rubber stamp rollout in the city. Pyper remains unmoved, solid in the conviction that her café fills a felt need and is somehow uniquely fitted to its home in this vibrant town. Frankly, I don't imagine I'll hear many grinding fiddle tunes or clawhammer breaks resonating from a Starbucks drive-thru window in Biltmore Village. But then I expect our diverse community can comfortably contain both of these. Asheville contains multitudes.

At first blush, a sophisticated coffee bar might seem an odd setting for a rough-hewn old-time set. But Pyper's Place is well in keeping with Asheville's penchant for eccentricity and any initial sense of atmospheric dissonance can easily dissipate. Here, a bit of flavour from the Old Country meets a speck of grit from the New. And you can make the crossing in the space of a hour - or however long your latte stays warm. At present, this seems the only place in Asheville where you can drink champagne by candle-light while listening to "Coo-coo Bird" rendered by a local first-class old-time ensemble.

It has been said that "appetite furnishes the best sauce." True enough--and Pyper's Place does a dandy job of furnishing the rest. But if your appetite extends (as mine does) to a craving for a little taste of old-time jam, don' t fret: the dual natures of Pyper's on Friday fit quite nicely on the same plate.

King Pup Radio Show

I was happy to travel the lonely distance from Hendersonville to Spindale, NC, home of college radio station WNCW, to see a live taping of the King Pup Radio Show this November. This show was only available on the internet until WNCW took to broadcasting it on their Sunday morning lineup.

King Pup is the brainchild of the genial Carolinians Phil and Gaye Johnson who produce the show to mimic the "opry" style of entertainment programming. They themselves refer to the show as "small-time opry" and sitting in the library auditorium the night of the taping demonstrated to me just how small. The crowd assembled on the first of the two scheduled nights was more akin to a "friends and family" sized gathering. But the show must go on and Phil Johnson advised the handful of scattered attendees to applaud and cheer with greater gusto than usual to hopefully compensate for the poor showing. After all, the taping is audio only and stretching the bounds of enthusiasm is all part of the show.

Long a staple of the Western North Carolina old-time music circuit, the Johnson’s were in fine position to fill the bill with local talent for two nights of taping. Some raw and unknown, others familiar and masterful, and the rest filling in the middle.

Phil and Gaye would start things off with a big King Pup intro (“It’s a new day now.”) followed by a musical set of their own. Then each of four bands would perform a set. Phil and Gaye would return to their stage-right microphones after each band for a few delicate and divine duets while the next band set up, giving them a total of four mini-sets.

Normally the sight of unkempt sound engineers and scrambling pickers would be a distraction but in this case we were all in on the illusion and I was pleased to see the production proceeding apace with nary a hitch. Spotlit downstage, Gaye sweetly warbled standards such as “Angeline,” “Frankie and Johnnie” (“he was doin’ her wrong.”), and that spelling song where the end of each line is spelled out (“they had the brass to say they’re S-A-V-E-D.”).

When it came time to let the other bands to take center stage, Phil introduced each with a “big King Pup welcome” soliciting riotous applause and then retreating to the sound board or some darkened corner of the auditorium. Gaye cheerfully took a seat somewhere near the front to watch the King Pup Radio Show unfold in real time.

The performances were generally good and some were indeed quite excellent. The lineup was as follows: The Donna Hughes Band, The DesChamps Band, Campus Tradition, The Kilocycle Cowboys, The Cockman Family Band, County Farm, Alternate Roots, and Tommy Edwards & Friends.

A few bands had CD’s for sale while others had none. There was also the occasional website mentioned. I especially enjoyed mingling with the performers during the hushed intermissions.

Best of all, the bands played their hearts out for two great nights of informal music making all brought together a warm and sincere couple in the context of a great performance concept: King Pup.

Arf.

[Submitted to the NCMAMA newsletter "Mama Says."]

Alison Brown Quartet

7pm, October 9, 2003, Grey Eagle Tavern and Music Hall, Asheville, NC. I backed into a premium spot in the parking lot of the Grey Eagle Music Hall with great eagerness to find the lot empty but for two others and the lobby darkened, silent and inactive. I hate being too early. But tonight the Alison Brown Quartet would play to the small audience that the Grey Eagle would allow and I thought I might chat it up with a few fellow fans before the big crowds would gather for the 8:00 show.

As I sat in silence for a moment, a rather non-descript van pulled in to sidle up to the front door. A man with long brown hair stepped out to open the rear doors of the van. It was John R. Burr, keyboardist extraordinaire for the Quartet. I’d recognize that stringy mane anywhere.

Soon after, bassist and hubby Garry West joins Burr and drummer Kendrick Freeman to help unload odd bits of equipment in the hushed parking lot. A strikingly slender, blondish woman emerges from the front passenger seat. It is Alison Brown in faded jeans. Business-like, she opens the side door of the van to reveal a small child in a car seat who begins to utter a few baby-squeaks as she manages to dive forward and release the child into her arms and then into a stroller.

So, the band is all here -- and baby makes five. And, for tonight at least, the famed jazzy, grassy foursome is become the Alison Brown Quintet.

As the band quickly sets up to compensate for their late arrival, I take a plate in the club’s unpretentious Sassafras café. An even less pretentious barkeep serves a taste of stale coffee. The occasional thump and pluck from beyond the divider curtains tells me that the assembled music-makers are making progress. But 8:00 comes and I have seen two, perhaps three couples dribble in to the theater. Is the Asheville community too nonchalant to arrive on time? Are the band’s fans so jazzy and cool that they insist on arriving fashionably late? The club owner explains that “some ads say 8:30.” Very well, 8:30 it is.

By 8:30 a few more couples and others saunter in to the auditorium to take their seats. The crowd now totals just under twenty; myself included. Whatever has happened here?

Not to appear despondent, drummer Freeman coolly and cheerfully steps onto the stage and takes his perch at the cornered drum-set. The remaining three-quarters of the band soon followed on and began the casual rumble of tuning and testing. At times betraying a new composition.

The band is ready; with Burr on a small electronic keyboard unit, Brown with her banjo in hand and a guitar at the ready, West on electric bass and Freeman exposed behind a smallish set of drums, congas, cowbells and cymbals. Little Hannah is never far in her closely-attended stroller.

The always chipper Alison Brown approaches her microphone to thank everyone for coming to the show. Light laughter ensues and Brown apologetically informs us that tonight’s show will be “intimate.”

And intimate is was. The Alison Brown Quartet are professionals and craftsmen of the highest order and they quickly laid into their set with superb renditions of those favorites found on their recent Compass Records release entitled Replay, described in the liner notes as “playful, swinging and sweet . . . The musicianship, of course, awesomely accomplished . . . These are exquisite celebrations of simple pleasures.”

And the pleasures were all mine. The mastery and creativity gushed out into the audience like a waterfall of joyful noise.

In between the spray and mist, Alison would pad the set with bits of background. She reminded the spare audience of her former stuffy occupation in the Wall Street bond market and of her easy conversion to bluegrass babe as an early Alison Krauss banjoist. She explained the curious origins of the Wonderful Sea Voyage of Holy St. Brendan who set out for the Americas in a leather boat. She found a relaxed moment to introduce the fifth member of the quintet: Hannah, her toddling daughter. And she was proud to speak about her reciprocal tribute to astronaut Marsha Ivans entitled My Favorite Marsha. (It was Ivans who carried a tune of Alison’s into space on the shuttle and later wrote to tell her of it.)

Brown visited her own upper atmospheres in an oh-so-jazzy version of The Spiderman Theme along with a sprightly and energetic Leaving Cottondale. And the rest of the band joined her way up there in tune after glorious tune. This modest but powerful ensemble does indeed seem to hail from “out of the blue.”

Midway in the set, Alison graciously allowed pianist John R. Burr to showcase a little something from his own recent solo effort Piedmont Avenue with a lovely introspective piece entitled A Christmas Lullaby which he played on a baby grand piano without a spotlight. The mood was delicious and Burr emerged quietly from the shadows to beckon his band-mates to return and finish out the set.

The mood quickly returned to excitement as the Quartet rounded out the evening with several showstoppers that highlighted their soaring talents individually and as a tight, well-suited unit. Particularly impressive was the subtle, appropriate and sparkling percussion provided by newest band member Kendrick Freeman whom Brown described as probably the best bluegrass drummer around. Agreed.

The evening was an unquestionable success despite the poor turn out. CD’s and T-shirts were available out front to help make up the deficit and I can happily report that Burr’s Piedmont Avenue, featuring Paul McCandless, is brilliant. (Note: Burr and McCandless make for a perfect marriage of musical sensibilities.)

Leaving the music hall at the close of the show was easy. Everything had been done. And there was no bottleneck at the exit. The evening was pleasant, musical and fulfilling.

Sitting in my car ready to pull away I glanced into the lobby and noted that husband, father, bassman, producer and business partner Garry West had taken over the till. I slipped Piedmont Avenue into the CD player and drove off with Burr’s masterful eloquence finishing the night like a smooth glass of port. I remember thinking, “I am happy.”

For the several scores of others who obviously could not make it to last night’s performance, I truly hope you can overcome future obstacles and make an evening with the Alison Brown Quartet a priority.

Brideshead Revisited

The 1981 film adaptation of the brilliant Evelyn Waugh novel Brideshead Revisited was broadcast on American television in 1982. The miniseries won 3 British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards and 17 international awards.

For many years the videotape set has been available as well the unabridged audiobook -- narrated by Jeremy Irons (cassette and CD) -- and the classical film score by Geoffrey Burgon. The novel has even been adapted as a stage play.

On June 25, 2002, a digitally remastered version of the 11-hour miniseries was made available in a 3-DVD set.

"On a sheep cropped knoll, under a clump of elms, we ate the strawberries and drank the wine.... we lit fat, turkish cigarettes and lay on our backs, Sebastians eyes on the leaves above him, mine on his profile.....the sweet scent of the tobacco merged with the sweet summer scents around us and the fumes of the sweet, golden wine seemed to lift us a fingers breadth above the earth and hold us suspended. "Just the place to bury a crock of gold" Sebastian said. "I should like to bury something precious in every place that I've been happy and then, when I'm old and ugly and miserable, I could come back and dig it up and remember."

The delicious film features outstanding and memorable performances by Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Phoebe Nichols, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Diana Quick, Jane Asher, Claire Bloom, Nicholas Grace, Simon Jones.

I have loved this miniseries since the opening scenes at Castle Howard and I have even visited the film locations myself in London, Oxford and York, England. Besides the superb acting, the masterful director's hand, eloquent musical score and sensitive art direction, another marvelous aspect of this film is that the screenplay is throughout respectfully lifted almost verbatim from the late-penned masterpiece that is Waugh's novel and is the best film adaptation of a novel I have seen. And given the substance and sweep of the story, this is quite an achievement.

"I could tell him, too, that to know and love one other human being is the root of all wisdom. But I felt no need for these sophistries as I sat before my cousin, saw him, freed from his inconclusive struggle with Pindar, in his grey dark suit, his white tie, his scholar's gown; heard his grave tones and, all the time, savoured the gilly flowers in full bloom under my window. I had my secret and sure defence, like a talisman worn in the bosom, felt for in the moment of danger, found and firmly grasped. So I told him what was infact not the truth, that I usually had a glass of champagne about that time, and asked him to join me."

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DVD Features:

• Menu
• Scene Index
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Full-screen format
• Brideshead Revisited companion guide, director's introduction, episode descriptions, Evelyn Waugh biography
• Location shots
• Production notes
• Photo album
• Cast and crew biographies
• Facts and photos from Castle Howard, the real Brideshead

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FURTHER READING:
The Rocky Road to Brideshead. By Susan King, Los Angeles Times June 25, 2002. It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed since Anglophiles were in the throes of "Brideshead Revisited" fever. Every Monday night, viewers were glued to PBS' "Great Performances" to catch the latest installment in the 11-hour miniseries based on Evelyn Waugh's classic novel about the waning days of the British aristocracy between the two world wars.

A Companion to Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. By David Cliffe. Welcome to this website dedicated to understanding the historical and cultural meaning of one of the most popular novels of the twentieth century.

Brideshead Revisited: An Overview. By David Oswell and Guy Jowett, The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Brideshead Revisited was made by Granada television, scripted by John Mortimer and originally shown on ITV in October 1981.

Put Out More Waugh. A review of "Evelyn Waugh: A Literary Life" by David Wykes. Reviewed by Richard Eder, The New York Times, October 10, 1999. A bonanza for Waugh completists and an acute, affectionate interpretive biography.

Brideshead Revisited: A Book Review. By John K. Hutchens, The New York Times, December 30, 1945. [T]he brightly devastating satirist of England's Twenties and Thirties moves from one world to another and a larger one: from the lunacy of a burlesqued Mayfair, very glib and funny and masking the serious point in farce, to a world in which people credibly think and feel.

Brideshead Revisited: A Twitch Upon the Thread. By Paul Elmen, Christian Century May 26, 1982. The recently completed 11-and-one-half-hour Public Broadcasting System series based on Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited proved a smash hit. Across the country bridge parties and pancake suppers were rescheduled so as not to compete with Charles Ryder's memories.

Brideshead Revisited. Fansite by [unknown]. A tribute to the book and television series.

Doubting Hall. Fansite by John Porter. A guided tour around the works of Evelyn Waugh.

Down From The Mountain

My love of bluegrass music began when I was a kid. My father would bring his musician buddies to the house and leisurely bend the strings in our small suburban living room. He played the bass. Banjos and guitars were known to happen.

Bluegrass was not a popular form so there were few opportunities to indulge. Over the years there would be the occasional Bonnie and Clyde soundtrack or the Dillards on The Andy Griffith Show (as the Darling Boys). "You got time to breathe, you got time for music." And there was the groundbreaking double LP Will The Circle Be Unbroken. All in all, few and far between.

But it was really the 1980 Emmylou Harris vinyl LP Roses in the Snow and the live bluegrass at Paul's Saloon in San Francisco that solidified my love of the genre--and the people who played it. From Emmylou's album I took notice of the names Tony Rice and Ricky Skaggs and followed where those names led. And they led to JD Crowe, David Grisman and Jerry Douglas and many, many others. Paul's Saloon brought before me the names John Reischman, Kathy Kallick and Laurie Lewis.

Over the years I steadily added to my collection of recordings by these artists and the artists they played with and I felt that there was a sort of Renaissance of musical collaboration taking place. I honestly felt that the talent that had imbued the 1960s with an unprecedented creative outpouring had somehow transferred to the fine acoustic ensembles in the burgeoning bluegrass and old-time music circles.

I saw some defections. I saw mando-virtuoso Ricky Skaggs move his heart and soul to mainstream Country. I saw banjoman extraordinaire Bela Fleck move off into Grammy-winning experimental jazzgrass. And I saw song-bird mandolinists Rhonda Vincent courting the Country scene too. Although Roses In The Snow received the CMA Album of the Year Award, Nashville defected too; increasingly becoming an uninspiring twang-pop tune-mill.

But then like birds coming home in Spring I saw each of them return to the fold and strengthen the genre that had spawned them. Ricky Skaggs came back to bluegrass with Kentucky Thunder and four powerhouse straight-ahead bluegrass recordings. Skaggs, I'm sure, brought some of his Country fans with him too and he is on top of the charts. Rhonda Vincent gave up trying to please the critics and recorded Back Home Again and is now on top of the charts (she is IBMA Entertainer of the Year and her faces graces packages of Martha White Blueberry Mix). Eclectic Alison Brown has recently been seen heading for Fair Weather in her new highly-acclaimed release. Bela Fleck brought down the barn with Drive and Acoustic Planet. John Rieschman recently returned from his jazzy excursions to give us this charming number:

Bluegrass Signal from 'Up In The Woods', 1999 [Real Audio]

Then something strange and unexpected began to happen. Established mainstream artists began making a break. Dolly Parton recorded not one but two fully bluegrass recordings and New Country diva Patty Loveless recorded a rootsy Mountain Soul. Add to this the growing popularity of the three- and four-day bluegrass and acoustic music festivals now being held in every State.

And then the mother of all strangeness: O Brother Where Art Thou. O Joel and Ethan Coen, what hath ye wrought? T-Bone Burnett unleashed.

The film was great but the simple and authentic Americana soundtrack shot to number one on the Country charts and gladly stayed there for the longest time ("Over 4 Million Sold"). And just recently, this soundtrack returned to the number one spot and at no time was any of it played on any mainstream Country music stations. Hmmm. Yes, even after winning a Country Music Award and being nominated for several Grammy's. (Nice but less surprising was the IBMA top award secured.)

Well, now comes Down From The Mountain. This is the live performance of the soundtrack music by the original recording artists padded out with other similar tunes to provide sold-out venues across the country with a mountain of fabulous music and an array of talent and big hearts that is a joy to behold.

Who would have thought that this marginal genre and the earnest players devoted to it would have gained nationwide headliner notoriety and the ability to actually make money playing the stuff previously performed mainly on backdoor stoops and largely unnoticed vinyl. They're even saying nice things about Jerry Douglas in New York City.

I would not have thought. But last night I sat in a far seat with my father at the Atlanta Civic Center and felt a mixture of overwhelming joy and awe, with a dash of pride, as star after star (in my eyes) sauntered humbly on stage to wow the packed and tune-humming crowd with mostly material from a standard repertoire developed from decades of back porches, outdoor festivals and little-known ensemble recordings.

(I would not have thought I would see Emmylou Harris chasing a runaway dog clear across the stage behind The Whites singing a Kitty Wells standard while dobro king Jerry Douglas guffaws along with a pleasantly surprised audience.)

I would not have thought that I would shuffle into a key venue in a major city and join with the throng in a standing ovation inviting an encore from a cross section of the oft-neglected string-band performers that I had loved and admired for over two decades.

A lot of things have changed since I was a kid. But the steady thump of a smooth-climbing doghouse bass run remains as vivid in my atmosphere as the day those meaty strings were first pulled at the ends of my father's fingers.

FURTHER READING:
O Brother and the Bluegrass Boom. By Craig Havighurst, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, September 2002. Meanwhile, the record sold and sold and sold, racking up four million copies by the end of 2001 and nearly another two million since. More than two years after the Ryman show, where the buzz started, O Brother has swelled into a phenomenon. It has spun off a major concert tour and helped all roots and bluegrass music achieve a level of visibility, respect, and commercial success that rivals anything in its history.

David Grier

I'm happy to report that last night I and perhaps 15 or so other folks attended the recent performance by premiere flatpicking artist David Grier at the Red Light Cafe here in Atlanta.

David is that rare type of performer whose talents far exceed their draw at the ticket counter. Nevertheless, his technical mastery, perceptive creativity, sense of style and humble demeanor make his appearances a great joy to behold. It also makes him one of the most sought after sidemen in various bluegrass/newgrass recording sessions.

Additionally, Grier's enjoyable homespun stage banter fills in the gaps between groups of intense licks that make up his compositions and covers and provides a connection to the life of the artist. Last evening, Grier recalled for his hushed audience the tale of naming a particular song, a chore that he struggles with. In a road trip along California's coast, David attempts to make small talk to keep driver and dog house bass player Todd Phillips awake and alert by asking Phillips if he'd ever been to England. Phillips was inexplicably perplexed and later revealed that he'd heard David say, "Have you ever been dinglin'?" Presumably, Phillips thought not. They laughed themselves to tears and David named his next composition "Have You Ever Been To England".

In another story, Grier revealed that one tune he prefers was actually written, to his own surprise, by the father of long-time friend Doug Dillard, the lanky and pleasant banjoman for the Dillards band; formerly known as the "Darling Boys" portrayed in the 60's television sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show". The Dillard dad, Homer Dillard, did indeed write the tune High Dad in the Mornin'--and Grier gladly played it for us. But before he did, Grier went on to relate some insider tales of the time that Doug Dillard pulled some strings to get his father on the Gong Show. As a backwoods mountain man, Homer Dillard cut an intriguing figure with his integrated banjo, harmonica and clog-dance performance. So intent on pleasing the judges was he that Homer actually approached each judge in turn and at close range intensified his act to gain their approval in the form of high marks. Homer won the Gong Show top prize that day with a perfect 10 and David can attest to the fact that the trophy still sits quietly and unaccompanied atop the Dillard family's expansive mantle.

Those of you who have read this far will be please to know that David is working on a new solo CD to be made available at his website.