Frank Wakefield is in the area, performing at the Freight and Salvage tonight (Oct. 22nd), the RBA concert series in Mountain View (co-sponsored by NCBS) on Oct. 24th and Don Quixote’s in Felton on the 25th. This review of his latest CD was written by Stewart Evans and originally published in the May issue of Bluegrass by the Bay.

In 1981, Bill Monroe released the all-instrumental album “Master of Bluegrass”, featuring ten new originals. Coming in his 80th year, when he could easily have been coasting on his established repertoire, it was a startling burst of creativity, ranging from the now-standard “Old Daingerfield” to the haunting “My Last Days on Earth”. Like so many mandolinists, Frank Wakefield was heavily influenced by Monroe, and with his latest album, “Ownself Blues”, he has released his own mandolin tour de force.

“Ownself Blues” features thirteen instrumentals stretching to 64 minutes. One is by Beethoven, one by Bach, and the other eleven composed by Frank himself. Much of the material is recorded for the first time, starting with the opening track, the strutting “Ownself Blues”. This is one of several tracks where fiddler Michael Cleveland plays twin fiddles through the magic of overdubbing. The band is the best Frank has recorded with since the Don Reno and Chubby Wise lineup of the Good Ol’ Boys three decades ago. In addition to six-time IBMA fiddler of the year Cleveland, it includes Mike Munford on banjo, Audie Blaylock on rhythm guitar, Darrell Muller of Old School Freight Train on bass, and Jordan Tice on lead guitar. The band plays off Frank’s unconventional musical ideas, and he responds in turn. On the title track, Munford’s banjo break finds him playing odd syncopations, followed by Frank’s second break featuring cascades of notes that don’t seem like they should fit, but somehow do. Cleveland really shines on the bubbling “Saratoga Ride”, where he gets two breaks to show off some pretty syncopations and slides as well as fine double-shuffle bowing. Tice’s whimsical guitar break is punctuated with staccato notes left to hang in air like fireworks.

Several of the tracks show the unmistakable influence of Monroe, none more so than the aptly titled “This Is For Bill”, reminiscent of the moody, modal tunes Bill started writing around the time of “Master of Bluegrass”. “The Runaway Train” is a barnburner reminiscent of “Roanoke” in its first part, while the stop-time second section is pure Frank. Here Cleveland’s overdubbed fiddles conjure the sound of Monroe’s 1950s recordings with two fiddlers.

If you’ve seen Frank in his California tours of recent years, you’ve probably seen him play Beethoven’s “Theme and Variations in D” as a duet with guitarist Jim Lewin. The same arrangement is used here, with Jordan Tice ably taking the guitar part. The Bach piece, “Bouree from Lute Suite in E Minor”, is arranged for the full band. Frank plays the melody almost entirely in double-stops, over long drone notes from Cleveland and bowed bass from Muller. Cleveland is credited with “fiddles” but on this track, “violins” would be more appropriate; he changes his tone and phrasing to suit the material. “Flying Strings” takes the “full band” even further, becoming a bluegrass orchestra. Nate Leath, Muller’s bandmate from Old School Freight Train, adds a third fiddle part in harmony with Cleveland, and teenager Taylor Baker adds harmony mandolin. The tune starts with a stop-time section almost classical in its phrasing, then switches to a march like some forgotten John Phillips Sousa number.

Rounding out the album are “Double Stoppin’ The Blues”, similar to the title track in tempo but with more of an extended, jamming feel; “Sabbatical”, a pretty waltz first recorded on 1996’s “That Was Now, This Is Then”; and the upbeat “Rockville Special”. Even “New Camptown Races”, which Frank has recorded at least four times before, is freshened up; its form is tightened up (ABA instead of the usual AABA) and breaks are passed around, jam session style: Wakefield, Munford, Leath, Tice, Taylor Baker, his brother Jessie Baker on banjo, Cleveland, and finally back to Wakefield.

The set concludes with one of Frank’s signature solo mandolin compositions, here called “Mandolin Solo #2″. It’s a fitting end as he really is in a class by itself. This album is one of Frank Wakefield’s very finest, and shows he’s still going strong five decades into his remarkable musical career.

Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 by Stewart in Resources |