Search - Richard Greene & Grass Is Greener :: Sales Tax Toddle

The superb fiddler Richard Greene cut his teeth in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys before moving on to more progressive endeavors. Sales Tax Toddle, his third album for Rebel, was recorded immediately after Monroe's death, so Greene deviates from his usual all-instrumental format to include five vocal numbers from the Monroe songbook with two other Monroe alumni assisting--Peter Rowan on vocals and rhythm guitar and Sonny Osborne on banjo. As solid as those cuts are, the seven instrumentals remain the hands-down highlights as Greene whirls his way through traditional fiddle tunes and a pair of impressive originals--the nifty "Done Gone Waltz" and the furious "Last Ride." Newgrass standouts Tony Trischka (banjo) and David Grier (guitar) push Greene to unexpected places (is that I Love Lucy at the head of Trischka's solo on "Last Ride"?), and the results are uniformly excellent. Greene's masterful fiddle work is loose, dynamic, and spirited. --Marc Greilsamer