Peter Rowan's Bluegrass Band in Berkeley

[Paul Kotapish]

Peter Rowan's Bluegrass Band with Jody Stecher on mandolin, Keith Little on Banjo, and Paul Knight on bass did a bang-up concert at the Freight & Salvage last night.

Most of the show was rooted in traditional bluegrass and old-time music, with a few side trips through Peter's imaginative originals, some classics from "Old and in the Way," and one long foray into space.

The band includes three of my favorite singers, and their trios and quartets were loose but powerful and often spine-chilling. Peter shared lead vocals with both Jody and Keith. Jody's mandolin playing was amazing throughout the evening, deeply rooted in Monroe style, but adventurous and edgy and new in the way that only Jody can pull off. Keith's banjo work was always tasteful and understated, and Peter's rhythm and occasional lead guitar playing was lovely. Paul Knight provided just the right underpinnings on the bottom end.

The sound was nicely understated, too. If anything, the banjo was a bit too soft for the first hour or so, but Jody's solos were right out front, and the overall volume was perfect--not the ear-crunching overload typical of too many shows in recent years.

They played two long sets and about 40 minutes of encores. In all, a three-hour show, with every indication that they could have easily gone on for another hour. Peter did a number of requests, and the ensemble struck a near-perfect balance between well rehearsed and rough-edged spontaneity.

Recommended. Catch them when you can.

[AlanN]

Now that sounds like a great evening of music.

I have a tape of Jody at a mandolin workshop, one in a line which included a young Chris Thile, Sam Bush, Compton, Emory Lester, Jim Gaudreau, Tim O. When it came to Jody's turn, he played the blues, and got the biggest hand. What an honest talent.

[Jim Roberts]

Was Jody playing his Miller A5?

[J.Albert]

As an aside, I believe Jody has one of the great voices of acoustic music. I didn't specifically say "great voices of bluegrass" because much of his work is outside that genre, but he fits right into it as if that were his _only_ music.

Another aside: if I had the knowledge on how to put such a project together, I'd entice Jody and Ron Thomason (someone else who is one of the finest voices in bluegrass music) to team up for a session of guitar/mandolin duets. I consider Jody to be the perfect tenor to Ron's lead.

- John

[Rick Turner]

I just saw these guys last night in Felton (think upper Santa Cruz...) at Don Quixote's, and what a great show. Lots of Stanley Bros., so there was that bit of funk that is such a nice alternative to how too slick much of Bluegrass can be. Jody was on fire on mandolin, and he was clearly having fun in spite of first set monitor problems.

Interesting that Jody and Peter both represent major milestones in Bluegrass...Jody with the New York Ramblers going to Galax in the very early 1960s and blowing the southerners away and then Peter being one of the first northern city-billies to be anointed worthy of being a Bluegrass Boy. Peter's got some great Monroe stories...

[sgarrity]

They need to do a recording!

[woodwizard]

Wish I could have been there ... :crying:

[Paul Kotapish]

Was Jody playing his Miller A5?

Jim,

He was playing the Miller, and it sounded great. One of the interesting things about Jody's approach to picking is that he keeps a little tray on the mic stand with a selection of different picks of various thickness and flexibilities. He swapped them around during the course of the show depending on the details of the sound or attack he was trying to get, although I didn't note much change in the basic tone throughout the evening. I think he prefers one kind of pick when he's doing a lot of tremelo and another if he's doing a lot of fast picking.

PK

[Rick Turner]

One of the things I really liked about Jody's playing is that he took chances...and then nailed it every time. The guy really knows how to play with time and at the same time, he's rock solid. I don't know that he's put this kind of drive into his playing in a while, but he's an absolutely world class Bluegrass player in addition to all the other stuff. I was knocked out.

[Dagger Gordon]

I found some Youtube stuff featuring that line-up, and I have to say they sound great. Stecher seems completely at home playing mandolin like that, and the singing is tremendous.

Rick notes that Jody hasn't put this kind of drive into his playing in a while. I've not heard much of his mandolin. I saw him with Alastair Fraser once and I've seen a Celtic flatpicking video he's done on guitar. My impression is that this line-up suits him very well. He seems to have something of a reputation as a musician's musician.

I hardly ever listen to bluegrass nowadays, although I did buy the Rowan/Rice Quartet CD last year.
I saw Peter solo a few years ago. Hardly your typical bluegrass musician, I would say. For that matter I don't suppose Jody is either.

[Paul Kotapish]

Here is a note from Jody about picks, picking, and pick trays. The peanut butter jar lid in question is the pick tray noted above. It is fitted with a little clamp that clips neatly to a mic stand.

Hi Paul,

Paul Knight called my attention to the thread you started on Mandolin Cafe. Thank you for the kind words. Here's the scoop on the peanut butter jar lid:

1) It's a handy place for a guitar or banjo player to put a capo when not in use, a place other than the tone and volume killing option of the peg head or the time consuming option of the black hole of the player's pants pocket. One can also lay extra picks there, and even a small electronic tuner, a better option, once again, than reducing the resonance by clipping the tuner on the peghead.

2) You noted that after plectrum swaps there wasn't much change in sound and you are right. When I change picks it's usually so that I can continue to sound the same, to sound good, after a change has been made in EQ or volume of the stage monitors or the house speakers. It's really a defensive move. I use different sorts of picks so that I can get *my sound* (to stay within the parameters of the sound I prefer) no matter what the circumstance. The other pick change happens when I go between mandolin and mandola. My "dola" is pretty loud and responds better to a lighter gauge pick than the substantial picks I use for my Stan Miller mandolin.

But when I play mandolin I don't change picks for tremolo versus fast picking, that's not the issue at all. I'll stick with one pick for the whole gig whenever I can. I change picks when there is trouble in the stage monitors. I'll use whatever pick produces the sound I want in the particular sonic circumstance I'm in.

3) I've used the tray for years on guitar or banjo gigs but I started using the tray for mandolin picks only recently because my picks were getting tangled up in my keys, banjo fingerpicks, coins, pens, lint, bus transfers, debris, and what-have-you in my pocket, which is where I used to keep my picks during a gig.

4) here i am in the attached photo for instance, at a recent festival where the sound man, who just moments before was unaware that the cable for Peter's guitar mic had gone dead, is now ignoring my requests to turn up my mandolin to a level where it is audible without my pounding the strings. So I'm looking for a heavier pick I had in reserve in the depths of my pockets. The amount of time this took convinced me to start bringing the clip-on peanut butter jar lid tray to mando gigs.



5) When people watch me change picks or hear me ask for changes in monitor level or tone, they are surprised because they hear very little difference before and after the change. What they don't know is how hard it was to produce the desired tone and volume prior to the change and how much easier it is after the change. Once I sound right to myself I can relax and concentrate on music, instead of on applying contorted technique.

6) once again, thanks for posting your comments and getting a discussion going. It's gratifying to get some recognition for my playing.

Happy New Year,
Jody

[AlanN]

What a cool, down-to-earth description of what he is going for. And am in complete agreeement with the tone-defeating clip-on tuner business.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Keith Little did sterling work on the Banjo with the Vern Williams band,a really great player & much under-rated IMHO. Maybe being with Peter Rowan will get him some of the praise that he deserves.
Jody Stecher is at home playing almost any (music) style of Mandolin.I saw him with Kate Brislin
back in '92 at the IBMA Festival in Owensboro KY,& they were superb,
saska;)

[Eddie Sheehy]

This just released by McCabes in Santa Monica, CA.
"The great PETER ROWAN makes an all-too-rare appearance at McCabe's this Friday at 8PM. From his early days with Bill Monroe, his work with Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, collaborations with Flaco Jimmenez and Tony Rice, Peter Rowan has been there, done that, to say the least. He absolutely floored us at our 50th anniversary show at Royce Hall in October, and we can't wait to have him back on our stage after a long, long time."

[Paul Kotapish]

Saska, I completely agree with you on Keith Little. He's a wonderful singer, guitarist, banjo player, and--if I recall correctly--a pretty darn good mandolinist. He's also a dandy songwriter.

For a little more on a completely different side of Jody's music, check out this page. (http://lutherie.net/live.music.html) Scroll down a bit.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Paul - Right on there !. I MAY be mistaken,but did Keith Little perform with Laurie Lewis's first band "The Grant Street String Band" ?. I saw that band at the Edale Bluegrass Festival in Derbyshire,England years ago. It was a Saturday afternoon,the first weekend in June of that year, & it was SNOWING !!. Laurie & her band came on,they'd only flown in from California the day before & they were frozen to the core.She said it was the coldest place they'd ever been - all the audience agreed !,
Saska ;)

[Gerry Tenney]

One more vote for this band. I was at the Berkeley concert and could and would have written exactly what Paul said, but he beat me too it. By the the way Paul is a great player himself.
:mandosmiley:

[Russ Jordan]

Keith Little has a mighty fine disc of his own, "Distant Land To Roam", Copper Creek-0189. Mike Compton is on mandolin.

[Fred G]

I am really excited now because they are on the bill for Greyfox BG festival this year, hopefully it is the same line up. Only 7 months to go!

[Bluegrass Boy]

Saw them at hardly strictly in October. Jody's playing was great. He held that mandolin like a baby and coaxed the sweetest music out of it. Certainly not of the "whip it like a mule" school (not that I don't love that style as well).

I think Keith has been in everybody's band at one time. He's one of those players that make whoever he plays with sound better. That's something I strive for.

[SternART]

Keith was living here in Benicia until recently. Still plays once a month at the First Street Cafe with Jim Nunnally......for free......of course Jim plays with Reischmann's JBirds & in duets with Dix Bruce,
but as most folks know, they are both in Grisman's Bluegrass Experience as well. Keith can play all the BG instruments, and probably sing all the parts too. He is the real deal.....

[Paul Kotapish]

I MAY be mistaken,but did Keith Little perform with Laurie Lewis's first band "The Grant Street String Band"

Saska, you are correct about Keith playing with Laurie Lewis in an fledgeling version the Grant Street String Band in the early '80s. I think Cyd Smith was on bass, and Greg Townsend on guitar. Tom Bekany came on board with mandolin a while later, before Tom Rozum's moved to town.

Laurie and Keith were both in the Vern Williams band--one of the great trad bluegrass ensembles ever. Laurie played bass--she's a fabuous fiddler, singer, and guitarist, but she's an absolutely killer bass player.

Keith's Schoolhouse record is one of those great not-for-kids-only CDs that my little ones and my wife and I all enjoy.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I have both of The Vern Williams Band CD's & yes,they were a terrific band.In fact i was having a 'twum along' to one of the CD's yesterday. I really love Keith's banjo work on those recordings.Good,'straight ahead' Scruggs style picking - it doesn't get better than that for me,
Saska :)

[Patrick Melly]

I just returned from Peter Rowan's show at McCabe's in Santa Monica - not a mandolin or 'dola in sight, but Peter's surprise guests for the second set were Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Peter said they are recording together in LA. Some highlights: a very bluesy and soulful Walls of Time, a Free Mexican Airforce with lines about George Bush, and Gillian singing Dylan's "I dreamed I saw St. Augustine." Great show.

[testore]

Just a quick note about Jody's mandolin. I saw them last week in No Cal. I was blown away by the sound of his Miller. It had a great bluegrass tone, woody but compact too. It was my first Miller to look at and it was nice to see. Great group of guys!

[jim simpson]

It sounds like a great gig with good combination of musicians. It was good to hear Jody's thread and stage experience discussed.

One of my favorite recordings with Jody is "Rasa", Jody Stecher and indian sitarist Krishna Bhatt.

I like to hear Keith Little in any grouping.

[mandolirius]

I can't stop thinking about the vocal trio of Rowan, Little and Stecher. What a combo! I'd buy their CD.

[testore]

one of my alltime favorite BG recordings is High Country "Home to Me"with Keith Little. Great stuff

[evanreilly]

I remember seeing Jody Stecher when I was a mere callow wet-behind-the-ears noobie. That guy was an inspiration. I may have taken my first mandolin lesson from him, way back.
And, thinking about it, I wonder whether or not he influenced Rowan in Peter's holding the guitar up and punching the runs out the way he did in Monroe's band. I remember seeing Jody doing that, tho it could have been a common thing in that era..

[fishdawg40]

Fyi, I was just at Suwannee Springfest in Live Oak, FL and Peter Rowan announced that his bluegrass band is making an album on Compass Records in April.

[Pete Hicks]

I wish I could have seen that show. Paul Knight, the bass player, also happens to be a world class sound man, especially for bluegrass. Call him up for your next festival ot show. He has always done superlative work for us.
Does this group have a CD out yet?