Glide (CD - 2008)

Audio Mixer: Bil VornDick.

Recording information: Masterlink Studio; Mountainside Studio; Oceanway Nashville; Ronnie's Place; The Squirrel Nest; Tork's Place, New Orleans, LA.

Photographer: Patrick Sheehan.

Dobro wizard Jerry Douglas has been dazzling listeners with his mix of fleet-fingered chops and pure country soul for decades. GLIDE finds Douglas as soulful and agile as ever, mixing country, folk, bluegrass, and more. There are some stellar guest appearances that make for both compelling instrumental tunes like "Bounce," where Douglas trades syncopated licks with Sam Bush, and vocal tracks such as "Marriage Made in Hollywood," where Travis Tritt lends his distinctive twang. Whether he's sparring with famous pals or going it alone, though, Douglas is the center of attention throughout GLIDE, with a tone that's consistently pure and poetic, and a melodic sensibility that's unerringly lyrical.

Jerry Douglas is probably the most famous dobro player in the world, which might sound like damning with faint praise, except that he's also one of the most in-demand session musicians in the world, period, as well as a constantly sought-after producer, and the man John Fogerty describes as "my favorite musician, and I'm including Otis Redding and Elvis in that." Although he remains attached to his bluegrass roots, his playing expanded far beyond the strictures of that genre decades ago, and his latest solo album demonstrates the degree to which he has both thoroughly digested and transcended the formulae that gave him his start. On "Bounce," which opens the album, you'd almost swear that there was a Scruggs-style banjo being picked in the background, but in fact it's Douglas himself playing arpeggiated counterpoint to mandolinist Sam Bush; on "Marriage Made in Hollywood" he takes a wonderful story-song by Paul Brady and Michael O'Keefe, beefs it up with a modern country arrangement and invites Travis Tritt to sing. "Sway Sur la Route Royale" is a gentle, New Orleans-style funeral march, and his rendition of the classic banjo showcase "Home Sweet Home" is a dream-team project featuring Earl Scruggs and guitarist Tony Rice in a trio arrangement with Douglas. The danger with this kind of stuff is always that when boundaries are disregarded, too often the musical conception starts to get fuzzy around the edges and then it dissipates into a pleasant cloud of sound. Douglas flirts with that tendency on one or two tracks, but for the most part he retains a sharp focus; not only is every track played with the virtuosity that now seems to flow from his hands almost without conscious intent, but almost every track is brilliant on its own terms and makes a coherent musical argument. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson minimize