Todd Phillips Released

[tmsweeney]

Glad to see this obscure Gem of a Gem available , so woody, smoky, and heavy on the Bebop. Some of my favorite string band music ever.

・Todd Phillips (Bass, Mandolin)
・Tony Rice (Guitar)
・John Reischman (Octave Mandolin, Mandolin A4)
・Darol Anger (Octave Violin)
・Jerry Douglas (Dobro)

Fat Kid - who can write this out for me ?
Nardis
Daniel's Dream
Redhill
Ants on the Moon -with Barry Phillips Cello
Alone
Released
T's Please
Miles Mode

[Drew Egerton]

Just listened all the way through, that is great stuff! Makes me wonder what else Todd would have done with the mandolin if it was his main instrument instead of the bass!

[tmsweeney]

I do recall on the DGQ recording from the Great American Music Hall where Dawg introduces Todd Phillips- "If you're gonna play mandolin in my band, you have to be good"

I think he does do more mandolin on "In the Pines" more of a traditional sounding record.

[jefflester]

Great stuff! Never came across this album before, it appears to be pretty obscure. Deciphering through the poorly formatted discography on his official website this album doesn't even appear.
https://www.toddphillipsmusic.com/discography.html

[tmsweeney]

I had the original vinyl ( but I don't anymore) it was a cut out, can't remember where I bought it though. My friend managed to move it to digital round the turn of the century, so luckily I have had the Mp3s available, has never gotten old for me yet. I remember talking to Todd about it at a Psychograss show, he said he was thinking of re -releasing it, but that was at least 10-15 years ago we had that conversation. One of my goals is to learn Fat Kid, but so far that has been challenging.

[tmsweeney]

and that octave violin solo by Darol Anger in "Miles Mode" -epic doesn't quite cut it

interestingly enough I detect similar strains in "Gator's Dream" with Mike Marshall on Mandocello, from their Duo album.

Jerry's wobbles holding those tension points, so groovy, Tony Rice is Mr. Chromatic through out, and I can't get enough of Todd's mando playing, not to mention those continual Bass Lines. Reischman's octave is perhaps understated, but cool to keep it down in the tenor voicing.

Similar to the Hot Dawg album cover I can picture the 5 of them crammed into a corner of a smoky, dimly lit Jazz Club, carving this music out of the thick air with their instruments.

[BrianWilliam]

That was cool. Thanks for posting.

[Denny Gies]

What's the name of the recording and where can I get it?

[tmsweeney]

Denny just click on the the youtube link - the entire album is posted as one file
I use media to human to download the mp3 and then mp3 cutter to save to individual song files

[Denny Gies]

tmsweeney, thank you.

[Russ Jordan]

Nice, and thanks for posting. After reading the subject line, it was great to see that Todd hasn’t been incarcerated or in the hospital!!

[DSDarr]

One of my favorite albums from this era. I bought it (vinyl!) back when it first came out.

David

[Paul Cowham]

Thanks for sharing this, I wasn't aware of this album, although I am familiar with, and really enjoy the Tony Rice jazzy albums from the same era such as Backwaters. This has a similar "vibe" which is probably not that surprising given the personnel involved.

My impression is that there aren't a great deal of jazz albums with string bands such as this, although I'd be very happy to be proved wrong and educated if this isn't the case

[lowtone2]

Thanks for sharing this, I wasn't aware of this album, although I am familiar with, and really enjoy the Tony Rice jazzy albums from the same era such as Backwaters. This has a similar "vibe" which is probably not that surprising given the personnel involved.

My impression is that there aren't a great deal of jazz albums with string bands such as this, although I'd be very happy to be proved wrong and educated if this isn't the case

There were a few like this, but many were various mixes of the same musicians. This album is very much like a David Grisman Quintet album of the same period, minus David Grisman. Mark O'Connor, Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, were involved in the movement. The Tim Ware Group released something. Barry Mitterhoff, something, Andy Statman, a few others...There was even a label for it: New Acoustic Music.

But you are right, there haven't been a large number of albums like this. Maybe a few dozen, just guessing.

[tmsweeney]

to me the only thing that comes close to this is Bill Keith's "Something Old Something Newgrass, Something Borrowed Something Bluegrass", some of the cuts on Early Dawg as well have that kind of wild abandon quality. I think Flux did "Redhill" on one of his early records? Bela Fleck's "Acoustic Planet" comes to mind, as well as Tony Rice Unit "Mar West" , "Still Inside", "Acoustics" and "Backwaters" ,Darol Anger "Fiddleistics" and Mike Marshalls "Gator Strut" and the Marshal Anger Duo album. I suppose David Grisman Rounder Album, the Kaleidoscope DGQ, Hot Dawg and DGQ 80, though to me these seem much less improvised.
I have to say the Pat Metheny album "Bright Size Life" has a similar Jazz feel , but is not acoustic.

[lowtone2]

John Reishman’s North of the Border album is pretty nice.



This is the one that made me aware of the mandolin.

[tmsweeney]

Lowtone2 those are classics to be sure currently working on 14 miles to Barstow, not for the nervous, I was also thinking Edger Meyer "unfolding" and some of the "Strength in Numbers" output would also be similar to the "Released" sound.

[lowtone2]

Lowtone2 those are classics to be sure currently working on 14 miles to Barstow, not for the nervous, I was also thinking Edger Meyer "unfolding" and some of the "Strength in Numbers" output would also be similar to the "Released" sound.

That’s a great tune! Hate to admitt it but I liked the Dawg Grass side even more than the Dawg Jazz side. 14 miles to Barstow might be the tune that prompted me to buy a mandolin.

BTW, there’s an interview with Todd Philips on youtube. When he started with Grisman, he did not read music at all. He’s one of the giant ears guys.

[tmsweeney]

in the book "Still Inside - the Tony Rice Story" I was pickled to read Tony saying his solo on "Miles Mode" was some of the best guitar playing he had ever recorded, the fact that he even mentioned this obscure record raises its "cultural value" and speaks to Tony's passion for performing instrumental Jazz.

[Drew Egerton]

thanks for bringing this thread back up. I just found a nice copy of Released on Discogs. A nice addition to my collection!

[DougC]

The Neon Tetra tune got me to flat-pick guitar and I can't count how many times I've listened to this cut on the other release; Hot Dawg.
Mar West 1980 is a little less polished and more tuneful IMHO. Tony's guitar sound's so deep an sonorous. Credit should be given also to the sound engineer, I suppose.

This music that they called Dawg, is it not inspired from some Latin American music? Rumba for example. Or mambo via the Backwaters album.

[tmsweeney]

DougC I hear the "similarities" and referring back to the Tony Rice Story - while he loved Bluegrass and traditional music, he was huge into high fidelity audio and liked to listen to instrumental Jazz (Oscar Peterson being one of his favorites, as well as Miles Davis and John Coltrane), so I would be surprised if his interest in Jazz did not introduce him to some Latin style music.

[keith.rogers]

I wonder where the tapes went from that album. Seems like a good project for DG's Acoustic Disc!

I probably spend too much time (and some money) at Discogs, myself. Unfortunately, or luckily, this one was only released on vinyl, and I no longer have a turntable. My last obscure purchase was a (still wrapped!) cassette that I digitized.

[tmsweeney]

I wonder where the tapes went from that album. Seems like a good project for DG's Acoustic Disc!

I probably spend too much time (and some money) at Discogs, myself. Unfortunately, or luckily, this one was only released on vinyl, and I no longer have a turntable. My last obscure purchase was a (still wrapped!) cassette that I digitized.

Keith you can use Media to Human ( free) to download as MP3 from you tube - it will make one large MP3 - I then use MP3 Cutter ( free) to make the individual songs into MP3s.
I do this with hard to find stuff (Thank You Take's Bluegrass channel)
I would love to see Acoustic Disc re-issue that (Dawg- if you are reading this), being a Rounder album, not sure how the legalities work.

[j. condino]

John Reishman’s North of the Border album is pretty nice.



This is the one that made me aware of the mandolin.

Does anyone have a transcription of "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" ?