Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » BlueRidge: Side by Side

80

BlueRidge: Side by Side

By

View read count
BlueRidge: Side by Side
The sacred and profane interface seamlessly in bluegrass music as they do in the blues. It could be argued that the only qualitative differences between bluegrass and the blues are cultural ones, African-American versus Western European. But the thematic common denominators are the same: love, loss, God, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.



BlueRidge is a South Carolina-based standard bluegrass quintet lead by master mandolinist Alan Bibey. The band is a heady mixture of old and new. Equally inspired by the Stanley Brothers, the Osborne Brothers and Doyle Lawson, BlueRidge wed the rhythm of bluegrass music’s past with the beat of rock & roll. In that, BlueRidge is not unlike labelmates Del McCoury Band, whose most recent recording, It’s Just the Night , boasts the same influences.



On BlueRidge’s new recording, Side By Side, the band explores all of the classical themes of bluegrass (and humanity). Guitarist Junior Sisk sings the lion’s share of the lead vocals, joined by the harmony of the rest of the band singing whatever is called for. The results are crisp mountain vocals, seemingly suspended over nimble acoustic music. However, the standout selection on the recording is the a cappella "Land of Light." A recording of this style of singing is definitely in order. "Land of Light" covers the Sunday morning variable of the Bluegrass equation, along with "Sailing with The Master." The love songs, "Back to Cana," "What If," and "All the Good Times," all smack of innocence. Even the songs about loss don’t have so much as a whiff of whiskey about them.



What characteristic endorses music like this? Genera, to be sure, but also the purity of talent and intention. This is music to listen to for sustenance.



Visit Sugar Hill Records and BlueRidge on the web.

Track Listing

What If; Brand New Tennessee Waltz; Ten Plagues; Side By Side; Avalanche; Land Of Light; You Better Get; All The Good Times; Do What You Want To Do; Back To Cana; Sailing With The Master; Before The Sun Goes Down; Pocket Full Of Money.

Personnel

Alan Bibey

Album information

Title: Side by Side | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Sugar Hill Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.