Search - Tony Rice :: Manzanita

The Best "UnBanjo" Album in existence

Mark J. Fowler | Okinawa, Japan | 04/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back about the late '70s 7-up had an advertising slogan calling itself the "un-cola". Mandolin Minor Deity David Grisman adopted this slogan calling his instrument, the mandolin, the "un-banjo". The idea was that the heavenly genre we call "Bluegrass" was thought of as "hick" music outside of it's core practitioners and followers - hick music which was instantly identified by the ring of a banjo. Grisman's "Dawg" albums (almost all of which feature Tony Rice) and Rice's "SpaceGrass" albums all applied the "banjoless" approach to string music. (Except Grisman's "Dawg Grass/Dawg Jazz" which featured no less than Earl Scruggs on the "Dawg Grass" side.) Manzanita is a land-mark album from the "unbanjo" era. It includes complicated and lightning fast "Dawg/SpaceGrass" instrumentals such as the title cut, inventive orchestrations of traditional fiddle tunes like "BlackBerry Blossom", insightful sparse arrangements of contemporary folk classics like "Old Train" and "Home From the Forest" and Bluegrass classics like "Hold Whatcha Got", all sans banjo. Tony's vocals are from the era when his voice was strongest and most passionate, and the harmonies are Everly-Brotherlike-Tight from Ricky Skaggs and others. The other instrumental gunslingers include Grisman, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas.In the liner notes to "Cold on the Shoulder" - another brilliant Rice collection - Tony says that he considered COTS to be a follow-up to Manzanita. I recommend that album highly as well. The style is similar, differing only in that the "unbanjo" approach was abandoned with the appearance of 5-string wizard Bela Fleck. Bela adds banjo to the sequel to the "unbanjo" project.This album is "desert island" material. When Allison Kraus won 4 CMA awards the year of her breakthrough album "Now That I've Found You" she specifically cited Rice and Skaggs as major influences in one of her acceptance speeches. Manzanita MUST have been one of those influential recordings."

Landmark recording

stranger2himself | Down Here | 08/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Saying that Tony Rice is "one of the best bluegrass guitarists around" is like saying that Coke sells a popular soft drink. Tony Rice is one of those rare musicians whose gift is so spectacular that he transcends categories. Though this is not Ralph Stanley-style bluegrass, if you like bluegrass you'll like it. Even if you don't, get it if you would like the tightest acoustic music ever, accompanied by his fantastic (and now sorely-missed) baritone vocals. If you think Nickel Creek and Union Station are good (they are), get Tony's CD's to hear how the ground was broken and standards were set for "new acoustic" music."

Manzanita - WOW

stranger2himself | 05/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I heard Tony Rice was 1987 at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. The crowd kept asking him to play Manzanita. Once he played it I was hooked. It took me about a year to find the album. It goes everywhere with me. A great combination of songs and talent, this is by far my favorite collection of his work. The collaboration of Ricky Skaggs and David Grisman enhance Rice's superb guitar talent. Every time I listen to the first few notes of Old Train, I still get chills. The intro is so clean and crisp, no one, in my opinion, comes close to Rice's talent. The album is a fabulous collection of vocal and instrumental pieces, and if you like the songs of Gordon Lighfoot, you will love the arrangement of Home from the Forest."