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Customer Reviews of The Telluride Sessions

THE seminal newgrass fusion album.
A few years back, two of the musicians on this album (Edgar Meyer and Sam Bush, along with Mike Marshall) were involved in a similar project, "Short Trip Home" (STH), for which Joshua Bell, the classical violinist, had been invited along for the ride. It had been a short-term "classical crossover" chartbuster, and more than likely drew the attention of listeners unfamiliar with this music genre to this group, and this album. It is not a stretch to say that this one is the better album of the two, with room to spare: A collaboration of Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor (the fiddler that Joshua Bell really couldn't be), Bela Fleck, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas never has an "odd man out," as is the case for STH. Here, on "Telluride Sessions," everyone is in his element.

Those wishing a direct comparison between the two albums should start at the end of this one, with "Blue Men of the Sahara." After a somewhat "reserved" start, this track winds up with a fury that is every bit the equal of "Death by Triple Fiddle" on the STH album (where Bell, try as he might, just doesn't fit in with the group, in a way that might charitably called painful). Continuing in reverse order for a bit, "Slopes" gives Fleck, on banjo, and O'Connor, here on guitar, the opportunity to swap hot choruses; in my humble opinion, the best track on the album, thanks to Fleck's finger-bending (and mind-bending) work.

The triple-threat (fiddle, guitar, mandolin) talents of O'Connor are found throughout the album. As one who came rather late to the appreciation of this man's monster talents, it is a pleasant surprise to me to hear that he was in as fine and as fully-developed a form in 1988 as he is today.

Of the five, Meyer seems always to be the catalyst (as can be seen from all the subsequent albums he's been the focal point of throughout the years, mixing and matching the talents of all the individuals). With his inestimable contributions to this and later albums, it is difficult - but necessary - to keep in mind that he leads a second, and equally public, life as a classical contrabassist and composer!

This is a seminal album, setting down a genre more than a dozen years ago that is as hot and as fresh today as when it was first released. May it never go out of print. And, with the benefit of 60 collective years of subsequent work by these five, may they soon go back into the studio for a long-awaited sequel.

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The Best of the Best
I think anyone who enjoys pristine acoustic music with bluegrass, newgrass, and classical influences will keep this album high on their list of keepsakes. The artists featured here are some of the best, men considered virtuosos at their craft. This album is a must have for fans of Bela, Sam, Jerry, Mark, and the unbelievable Edgar Meyer.