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Five
Alive
By
Glenn Weiser
Crooked
Still
The
Egg, Jan. 8
It’s not the presence of the cello that makes Crooked Still,
the brilliant, youthful bluegrass quintet originally from
Boston, so unusual. After all, Nancy Blake first used that
instrument to back up her husband Norman’s flatpicking guitar
work in the 1970s. What’s so different about this group is
that they are perhaps the only acoustic band out there in
which the guitar plays only a passing role. The use of the
flattop in only a handful of their songs, along with the absence
of a mandolin with its relentless staccato backbeat, creates
a gap in their rhythm section which allows the group the freedom
to vary their musical texture in ways often resembling chamber
music. Passages of quiet, sustained chords in the strings,
for example, will give way to bursts of full-tilt swing, and,
as in operas, ritornellos are sometimes inserted between the
verses. Last Friday, their protean instrumental approach and
eclectic repertoire, together with lead singer Aoiefe O’Donovan’s
lovely if somewhat breathy soprano, brought to a three-quarters
full Egg an eloquent, shape-shifting sound that frolicked
on the frontiers of acoustic music.
Crooked Still’s current lineup of fiddler Brittany Haas on
five-string violin, Greg Liszt on banjo, Corey DiMario on
upright bass, Tristan Clarridge on cello, and singer O’Donovan,
who occasionally plays fingerstyle guitar and baritone ukulele,
kicked off their two-set show with “Lulu Gal,” an old-time
tune whose lyrics were a pastiche of “floating” lyrics often
heard in other traditional songs. O’Donovan sang without trying
to sound like an Appalachian native, and that, along with
her spot-on pitch, gave her vocals immense appeal. Cellist
and five-time national fiddle champion Tristan Clarridge also
contributed a socko solo to the tune.
Next, though, the band followed up with Gillian Welch’s “I
Am an Orphan Girl,” which because of its repetitious (and
overused) I-V-vi-IV chord progression in the verse, was a
letdown that not even O’Donovan’s sweet voice could save.
But that was only a brief lapse. With Ola Belle Reed’s “Undone
in Sorrow” the band rebounded. Liszt’s banjo intro, in which
his fingers scurried frantically up and down the neck, showed
that he has forged an original style on the five-string—no
mean feat.
In the second set, O’Donovan showcased her songwriting prowess
with “Ramblin’ Red Stick Blues,” a bluesy tune with a Tin
Pan Alley flavor written after a late-night drinking bout
at a bluegrass festival with fellow performers the Red Stick
Ramblers. Also noteworthy was Hass’ sizzling five-string violin
solo in “Darlin’ Corey,” which drew enthusiastic applause.
Kudos are due to Crooked Still for showing a way forward in
bluegrass.
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They
Can’t Dance, Either
Photo:
Joe Putrock
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Genesis
fans left their 12-sided dice at home and made their way to
the Egg last Thursday as tribute act the Musical Box brought
their current show to town. The band, known for their full-scale
re-creations of classic Genesis stage shows, were in downtown
Albany to present the A Trick of the Tail album in
full, as well as a handful of Peter Gabriel-era classics.
However, there were reportedly flaws in the performance’s
authenticity: As one fan noted, Phil Collins is left-handed.
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