Book Reviews

Celtic Encyclopedia, mandolin edition
by Robert Bancalari
Mel Bay ISBN 0-7866-4809-0 (1999);
144 pages, $19.95
This book can be a source of tunes for the mandolin player who is looking to expand her/his repertoire. There is no instruction in the book, only tunes, divided into Irish music and Scottish music. They are then further subdivided into types (e.g. airs, reels, slip jigs, etc.), and the tunes appear in both standard notation and mandolin tablature (and are accompanied by chords). It would be nice to see some brief background on the tunes, especially for those new to the tradition. In addition, a few notes on how to adapt the mandolin to these tunes would not go amiss, and this would expand the audience for the publication.
That said, this is a nice collection of tunes (125 in all). In terms of standards, the Irish side offers (among others) "Hardiman the Fiddler," "Maid of Listowell," "Drowsy Maggie," "The Blackthorn Stick," and "Toss the Feathers." The Scottish section includes "Farewell to Whiskey," "The Banks of Loch Ness," "Drops of Brandy," "The East Neuk O' Fife," "The Rights of Man" and "The Deil Amang the Tailors." Most of the tunes are in mandolin-friendly keys (although there are a few exceptions), so beginning to intermediate players should have no significant difficulty in picking out the tunes. Some of the airs include not only single-note melodies, but also double stops and chording. The book will be especially useful for people who do not read standard notation, but only tablature (since many of these tunes are already widely available elsewhere in standard notation).
— Ivan Emke
(Corner Brook, NF, Canada)

Sam Bush Teaches Mandolin Repertoire & Technique
by Sam Bush
Homespun/Hal Leonard ISBN 0-7935-9950-4 (1999); incl. CD, $19.95
Sam Bush is one of the most accomplished mandolin players to grace a stage. After spending almost two decades with the New Grass Revival, he went on to lead the Nash Ramblers (Emmylou Harris's band) and release a number of solo albums. Bush, who has also toured with the likes of Lyle Lovett, is a session player in high demand.
Mandolin Repertoire & Technique takes the learner through eight tunes, from parking lot standards ("Cotton Patch Rag," "Leather Britches") to bluegrass canon ("Lime Rock") to originals ("Banjalin," "Norman and Nancy") to an old Dave Apollon gem ("Russian Rag"). Bush outlines the melodies, some harmonies, and a few tips on things like kick-offs and hammer-ons. Rather than learning licks and moves in isolation, they are included in the context of tunes, so students can see how they can be integrated seamlessly into one's playing.
The accompanying CD, which aptly augments the tablature in the book, is divided into 59 tracks. As there is a listing at the front of the book, you can simply find the section of the tune that you want to focus on and play it over and over without the hassle of rewinding tape. Bush tends to introduce the tune, play it through, and then break it down, emphasizing some of the more difficult sections. The instruction book provides all of the notation (and tablature) for the music being played on the CD. Designed for an intermediate player of the mandolin, this is a fine lesson from an accomplished teacher.
— Ivan Emke
(Corner Brook, NF, Canada)

Giants of Blues
by Neville Marten
National Book Network ISBN 1-86074-211-4 (1999), w/CD
Learning how to play the blues on the guitar can give you the blues. This 119-page instruction book on the blues is perfect for mastering a wide variety of guitar styles from Robert Johnson to Eric Clapton. Twenty blues artists are featured with special training tips on how to emulate their particular techniques. While the choices are mostly obvious with blues giants Buddy Guy, Freddie King, and Elmore James detailed, there are also sections on Gary Moore, Jimi Hendrix, and Chuck Berry. There are special playing tips in the beginning of the manual (blues scales, finger vibrato, and chording) and there is a great compact disc that you can play along with as you read the tablature. The back of the book features blues guitars that the masters use: the Gibson Les Paul, the Fender Stratocaster, the Gibson Flying V, etc.
— T.J. McGrath (Woodbridge, CT)

Modern Twang: An Alternative Country Music Guide & Directory
by David Goodman
Dowling Press ISBN 1-891847-03-1 (1999); 439 pp.; $22
Modern Twang is the perfect guide to alternative country music. It covers all the artists (or comes unbelievably close) that make up the rather large genre of alternative country. Virtually all of the bands are here — at least to some degree, including Jeff Black, Blacktop Rockets, and Frum the Hills. Modern Twang also explains connections between bands: clearly explaining the connections between Old 97s and Killbilly, for example. Goodman comes as close as anyone to explaining the differences in the subgenres of "no depression," "insurgent," and "cowpunk." He also includes remarkably complete listings of radio stations, venues, record companies, online mailing lists, and festivals.
If the book has a fault it is that there is little examination of the genre's selection criteria: why does some older music appear as Americana (which is a big part of the definition of the genre) but other styles do not? For example, why has jazz so little acceptance within roots musics? Considering the heavy reliance on roots music in this genre there are surprisingly few attempts to make connections to country-blues, a problem that this book repeats because of its perfect replication of the genre. This is not really a criticism of the book so much as a question about alternative country and Americana. But that said, this book is a remarkable achievement detailing hundreds of little bands to an unprecedented degree. Not only is this book extremely useful for keeping abreast of a lively and vital field of music, it would also make the perfect accompaniment in your millennium time capsule — in that it so perfectly represents the eccentricities of a musical genre.
— Char R. Leslie-Miller (Washington, DC)

Blues Guitar for Beginners
by Drew Giorgi
Alfred Publishing #14972 w/CD (1997)
If you're an absolute beginner at the blues, this will likely get you wailing. Giorgi starts lowdown basic — the parts of a guitar, how to hold the guitar and how to count beats. He's included a lot of helpful pictures that show hand positions and how to form chords. By page 20, he's introduced basic instruction in reading music rather than tablature. It's too bad that along with the practice exercises, there aren't any real blues tunes presented here for the beginner to learn. The accompanying CD offers recordings of 43 exercises from the book, giving students guides for their playing. The problem with this and lots of other instruction CDs is that the tracks are only about a minute long. By the time you hit the play button, grab the guitar and figure out when to start playing, it's practically over, and you have to start again.
— Jeffery Lindholm (Charlottesville, VA)

Play of a Fiddle: Traditional Music, Dance, and Folklore in West Virginia
by Gerald Milnes
The University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 0-8131-2080-2; 224 pp.; $35.00
For all that West Virginia is the heart of Appalachia, culturally as well as geographically, there have been few published studies of the state's great contributions, so this volume is welcome indeed. Milnes coordinates programs for the Augusta Heritage Center at Elkins, and is a very fine fiddler himself (Hell Up Coal Holler with Lorraine Lee Hammond is an outstanding record). He combines a musician's understanding and enthusiasm with an academic's appreciation of the importance of hard research. Unfortunately his writing style isn't the most fluid and the material is somewhat disorganized, but these are minor distractions in view of the great information about the legendary Hammons and Carpenter fiddling clans and the role of the dulcimer in the tradition. Milnes manages to capture and convey some important truths about mountain music and the people who make it.
— Duck Baker (Richmond, CA)

Essential Fingerpicking Guitar
by Stefan Grossman
Mel Bay ISBN 0-7866-4900-3 (1999); 24 pages, w/3 CDs, $24.95
Fingerpicking Guitar Exercises & Hot Licks
by Stefan Grossman
Mel Bay ISBN0-7866-4901-1 (1999); 32 pages, w/3 CDs, $24.95
As one of the finest fingerstyle guitar players and teachers on the circuit in the past several decades, Stefan Grossman has performed important work in maintaining and disseminating guitar styles of the past. He has recorded numerous solo albums and been a mainstay on folk stages since well before acoustic guitar music got its own bin at the big record stores.
Essential Fingerpicking Guitar is a good resource, and it includes both tablature and three CDs (each at least 60 minutes long), which represent three intensive lessons. On the CD/lessons, Grossman provides lots of tips and sets up something of a conversation, rather than a strictly didactic experience. One not only gets to hear Grossman doing the tunes, also a number of old tracks from other performers, showing the roots of the guitar styles. At times, as Grossman is playing through the tunes, he is also giving some commentary as he plays, encouraging the learner and alerting her/him to important techniques coming up.
Grossman offers a thorough introduction to the songs, spending maybe 20 minutes on a song. I really like the combination of instruction and listening to old tracks from people like Elizabeth Cotton, the Memphis Jug Band, Rev. Gary Davis, Mance Lipscomb, and Merle Travis.
A major focus throughout is on the alternating bass, as the firm foundation for fingerpicking guitar music. Grossman usually plays the tune up to speed, plays tracks of the song from other players, takes the song apart and gradually picks the tempo back up again. There are 10 songs in the package, including "Take a Whiff on Me," "Delia," "Sister Kate," "Shake Sugaree," "Spoonful," and "Struttin' Rag."
It would be nice to have more information on the content of the CDs' tracks, to help the student to find the sections needed. Also, more background on the performers and old tracks would not go amiss.
The second book (Fingerpicking Guitar Exercises & Hot Licks) focuses on developing your abilities and learning new techniques such as counterpoint lines, blues vibratos, walking the bass, chromatic runs, and end tags. The book and CDs are very much like a set of lessons as you work through exercises and bits of tunes with Grossman as both your guide and cheerleader. Sometimes there are many examples of each technique (there are 22 end tags alone!). The tablature in the book includes the exercises and the "hot licks." Grossman provides examples of techniques that have been taken directly from fine players like Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson and (of course) Stefan Grossman. Some techniques are for a beginning to intermediate guitarist, but others are taken directly from his advanced fingerpicking guitar instructional materials. A two-page explanation of the tab system appears in both of the books.
These are truly impressive packages of fingerstyle guitar instruction.
— Ivan Emke
(Corner Brook, NF, Canada)

Music for the Millennium Calendar
by Janice Dunn
Style Photo ISBN 0-9673091-0-7 (1999)
The Music for the Millennium calendar is essentially a portfolio of the work of photographer Janice Dunn. It's a small, classy package, with black-and-white photos of musicians on metallic-washed pages. It's best enjoyed for the snippets of musical info it provides (birth and death dates and anniversaries: "Bob Dylan makes his NY City debut at Gerde's Folk City opening for bluesman John Lee Hooker where he performs 'House of the Rising Sun' on April 11, 1961") and for the beauty of its crisp, live-show photos. The musical orientation is informed by VH-1: lots of classic rock and blues, with Ani DiFranco for the Gen-X set. I don't know who the target audience is, but the product is a pretty thing, indeed.
— Pamela Murray Winters
(Arlington, VA)