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The Cumberland
Trio - Reunion Concert
Written by Cindy Hill - CDReviews.com
Influential
folk band reunites live for a rollicking good time.
[6.8.06]
Miles,
years, pounds. Forty years after their spectacular breakout concert
at the University of Tennessee that won them an RCA recording
contract, The Cumberland Trio returned to the stage at the Bijou
Theatre Center in Knoxville in November 2001 with quite a few
more of each under their collective belts. But nothing could stop
their magic folk-harmony vocals, hand-clapping rhythm guitar work,
and foot-stomping Scruggs and claw-hammer style banjo. If the
fingers might have moved a bit slower, if the hair no longer draped
in collegiate style over one eye, now one would have noticed,
as it was more than compensated for by voices that were richer
and more resonant, and an appreciation for the sheer joy of playing
music that grew deeper and larger with the passage of time. If
the rocketship energy of youthful certainty of shooting to stardom
had diminished, it was replaced by something that gets much better
mileage: maturity, peace, and the confidence to just be in the
musical moment instead of on your way to somewhere else –
and that makes for one powerful sound.
Cumberland
Trio founders Andy Garverick, Jerre Haskew, and Tom Kilpatrick
were joined on this two-CD live recording by Bob Wilkerson, whose
electric bass provides indeed a solid bottom foundation that ties
the group’s roots-music sound back to its seeds-of-rock
origins. The whole performance is enlightened by the incomparably
talented Louis Wamp, who floats in and out of most of the tracks
on dobro, violin, mandolin, or cello, infusing the sound with
a unique air of dignity, variety, and textural interest. This
guy is one of the greatest dobro players in the world, comparable
to the great Jerry Douglas – yes, he’s that good!!
The Reunion
Concert discs contain old favorites also found on the re-released
self-titled CD, like Barbara Short Haskew’s quiet and loving
protest song, ‘I Wish I Were a Babe,’ and Jerre Haskew’s
‘Lion Named Sam’ which is destined to ultimately displace
Puff the Magic Dragon as the king of kids-song favorites. But
the Reunion Concert discs go far beyond a rehash of old titles
and demonstrate a broader, more sophisticated range of musicality.
The boys poke fun of themselves in ‘Old Dogs,’ dash
north of the border to steal the French Canadian traditional silly
piece ‘The Chicken Song,’ and pay tribute to the advancement
of many genres of American songwriting with Harry Chapin’s
‘Circles,’ Dolly Parton’s ‘Coat of Many
Colors,’ and Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your
Land’ as part of a rousing patriotic finish.
The old
and the new blend on the Reunion Concert discs as seamlessly as
The Cumberland Trio’s silken harmonies, or the classic mix
of scotch, soda, and ice. Like all classics, this sound is ageless;
and like all things of true quality, it has only improved with
time.
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