Various
European World of Bluegrass 2003
Strictly Country Records SCR-A17
By Marianne Ebertowski
 When last year
the IBMA chose the European World of Bluegrass as "Event
of the Year," this was not a patronizing slap on the back
of the weaker European brothers and sisters in bluegrass. EWOB
2003, the 6th issue of this annual festival, attracted 45 bands
from all over the world to the European capital of bluegrass,
Voorthuizen in Holland, 22 of which are documented on this album
released on the Dutch Strictly Country Records label. EWOB
2003 is a very fine demonstration of the skills and the passion
of these mostly European bands for a musical genre, which seems
to be so exclusively American that no one outside the state of
Kentucky could possibly feel predestined to play and sing it
properly. However, I'm pretty sure that even hardcore American
bluegrass fans will be convinced otherwise by many of the bands
contributing to this album.
All songs are recorded live and the production lay in the
experienced hands of Washington native Liz Meyer who has lived
in Amsterdam since 1985 and has become something like the European
queen of bluegrass. Almost half of the groups come, not so surprisingly,
from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, known strongholds of European
bluegrass. Most of the songs interpreted belong to the traditional
bluegrass repertory, some are bluegrass versions of country songs,
only a couple are self-written. The vast majority of the groups
sings in English, only two prefer to sing in their mother tongue
which works out remarkably well for Union City Grass whose Slovakian
translation of Ron Block's "In The Morning Light" sounds
so totally home-grown that it is one of the highlights of the
album.
Speaking of highlights, what makes EWOB 2003 so hard
to review is that there are too many of them provided by bands
most people know too little about. Czech band Monogram, voted
EWOB 2003's #2 band, is granted the honor to open the album.
It's not hard to understand why the audience loves them: Monogram
play a very fine brand of traditional bluegrass with outstanding
instrumental skills delivered by the brothers Jaromir and Zdenek
on banjo and mandolin respectively.
Last year's most popular band was, like already in 1999, Austria's
Nugget. The group around founder member Helmut Mitteregger,
featuring three musicians from the Czech Republic and Slovakia,
plays probably the most European type of bluegrass. Existing
since the late seventies Mitteregger and his fellow-musicians
have always tried to integrate various styles of music into the
bluegrass concept and with his Czech wife Katarina singing lead,
Nugget sounds remarkably like a European counter part of Alison
Kraus and Union Station. On EWOB 2003 Nugget also accompanies
American singer-songwriter Liz Meyer on her own composition "You
Run Away." With her almost androgynous voice, Meyer may
sound miles away from traditional bluegrass, but it is this dark,
emotional voice that has become her trademark in Europe.
The #3 of last year's EWOB event comes from Italy. The Mideando
String Quartet contributes the most surprising contribution:
a striking a cappella version of the gospel traditional "Talk
About Suffering." At the lighter end of the musical continuum
the award for the best bluegrass interpretation of a pop song
should have gone to Belgian band Sons of Navarone for their very
cool and swinging version of ABBA's "Dancing Queen."
Liz Meyer was not the only American present in Voorthuizen.
Brooklyn-born singer-songwriter Chris Jones, once a guitarist
for Lynn Morris' band, makes two appearances on this album: one
has a lead singer with his own composition "Just a Town,"
accompanied by the Czech Drivers and once as a guitarist with
the Czech Drivers accompanying another Czech Driver, banjoist
and vocalist Zbynek Bures. No offense to Jones, but it's Zbynek
who steals the show with an extraordinary Monroe-inspired interpretation
of Jimmy Rodger's "Blue Yodel #4." Bures is a spectacular
banjo player and singer, yodels almost as well as the famous
brakeman himself and he can hold a note for 20 seconds
really, I timed it - and the audience loved it!
If there is one American band that steals the show on EWOB
200, it is the Buddy and Tina Wright band. The heavily blues
and gospel influenced brand of bluegrass of these two Afro-American
youngsters, flanked by their parents Roy and Pat on guitar and
bass, is represented on this album with the instrumental "Lee
Highway." Buddy and Tina's twin fiddles are nothing short
of sensational they definitely would have deserved the
Runner-up award had there been anything like that.
The Petr Brandejs Band from the Czech Republic was voted the
best band at EWOB in 2001 and, frankly, I prefer their mixture
of traditional bluegrass, old time music and swing to Nugget's
Eurograss any time. Their interpretation of J. I. Frank and
Pee Wee King's "Sundown and Sorrow," would have made
my #1 spot, be it not that another Czech band, Bluegrass Cwrkot,
delivers a version of Hank Williams' " 'Neath a Cold Gray
Tomb of Stone" which simply makes the hair on your arm stand
up. Vocalist and mandolin player Marek Macak has the eeriest
tenor voice I have heard in my bluegrass life awesome.
If this is a hard act to follow, the Roll's Boys indeed,
and it's getting monotonous, another Czech band - do that incredibly
well with the Hank Williams jr. song "Blues Man."
Lead vocalist, born Dutchman Ralph Schut, has a lovely suave
singing voice (nothing like Hank jr.'s) which gives the whole
song a gentle, pleading interpretation.
The album closes with a heart wrenching version of Norman
Blake's "Lord, Won't You Help Me" by the Lonesome Mountaineers
from Sweden, a similarly passionate "In The Darkest Hour"
by the well-known US/Canadian band John Reischman & the Jaybirds,
and a real show piece of an instrumental, written by Slovak banjo
player Tomas Peska who performs his self-written "H Minor"
with his own band.
The album features many more fine bands who respectfully and
competently pay homage to .Bill Monroe's music. I can only recommend
to bluegrass enthusiasts and fans of acoustic (American) music
to visit their websites and listen to what they got to offer.
In the meantime, I would love to solemnly declare the Czech
Republic European Bluegrass State #1. Next time you visit the
golden city of Prague for its beauty and its beer, don't forget
to explore the country's thriving bluegrass scene. Czech it
out, guys!
For information about the bands, or about this CD, visit the
EBMA website: http://surf.to/ewobcd
Contact Marianne Ebertowski at ebertowski-at-rockzilla.net
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