Lester Flatt & The Nashville Grass – Heaven’s Bluegrass Band
Years ago, a legendary jazz musician publicly stated on TV that country music & bluegrass wasn’t real music. It was hillbilly hokum & America can do without it. He was adamant that this music couldn’t stand alongside accomplished musicians of the jazz genre. I respected this jazz musician but I disagreed. Maybe he never heard Chet Atkins, Glen Campbell or Roy Clark play their guitars. Or Charlie Daniels & Doug Kershaw play fiddles. Maybe he never knew that Chet Atkins played with jazz musicians & orchestras.
That said, I’m assuming this jazz musician never heard the fiery & tasty performances of Lester Flatt (guitar/lead vocals). Education was lacking in the assessment. It surprised me. It bordered on ignorance. Right? Buddy Rich.
This set by Lester Flatt (Flatt & Scruggs) was recorded 30 years into Lester’s career & opens with an incendiary “Dixie Flyer,” & as he gets deeper into his repertoire the skills are even more prominent. I’m not a southern or country boy – I’m Italian, from New Yawk. But this music has fumes. It does heartily penetrate somewhere in the soul. “Great Big Woman,” is simply marvelous.
And it’s all found on this classic 11-track excursion into Lester Flatt & The Nashville Grass 1976 Heaven’s Bluegrass Band (Drops March 15-CMH Records/29:00) set. It’s the other American music. A music the majority of people understand easier than heavy doses of jazz. Even Dean Martin recorded country songs & Elvis did too. There must be something to it then.
I won’t diminish the jazz genre. It always played an important role in American music along with blues. And it’s for selective tastes. But what annoys me is the ridicule. The musicians in this showcase have an interplay that’s tight & potent, thus – exciting. It’s highly imaginative & has always had a place in popular music.
The great jazz sax player Charlie Parker was in a bar with his musicians. He went to the jukebox to punch a few buttons – the songs he chose were country. One musician walked up to him & asked why he was playing that honky music. Charlie’s reply? “Listen to the stories man, just listen to those stories.”
The instruments talk to one another – the arrangements are impeccable & expressive. I should add, that there are foreign musicians throughout the world who play this music. They probably learned it from Professor Lester Flatt. I’m done.
Highlights – “Dixie Flyer,” “Great Big Woman,” “The Night Daddy Passed Away,” “You Know You Caused It All By Telling Lies,” “The House of Bottles & Cans,” “Ten Years of Heartaches” & “Love Me Lorena.”
Musicians – Curly Seckler (mandolin/harmony vocals), Marty Stuart (mandolin/guitar), Paul Warren (fiddle/harmony), Kenny Ingram (5-string banjo/harmony), Charles Nixon (dobro) & Jervis Curum (bass).
Producer: Arthur Smith. CD cover photo: Ken Kim. CD @ Amazon & https://www.cmhrecords.com/products/lester-flatt-the-nashville-grass-heavens-bluegrass-band