Rowan & Rice Ride Again

Quartet
Peter Rowan and Tony Rice
(Rounder)

The first recorded collaboration between Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, 2004's "You Were There For Me," captured the shared vision of progressive bluegrass luminaries. Rice, who developed his mind-blowing skills and impeccable sense of rhythm as a member of the Bluegrass Alliance, J.D. Crowe & the New South, The David Grisman Quintet and his own formidable Tony Rice Unit, is a giant of the acoustic guitar. Several years ago, before damaging his vocal cords, he was a great bluegrass singer as well. Rowan, a veteran of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, Earth Opera, Seatrain, Old and In the Way and Muleskinner, more than filled that void with his tenor, and his top-notch songwriting made "You Were There For Me" a strong debut from the frequent tour mates.

Rowan and Rice's new disc, "Quartet," captures more of the same, but minor changes to the formula made it even better. Don't just take your friendly critic's advice. Here's Rice's take on "You Were There For Me," from an interview in the current issue of Performing Songwriter magazine: "In retrospect, had it been my call," Rice said, "I would have recommended that the first album not be put out."

That comment seems to indicate a perfectionist streak. One thing we can agree on, though, is that "Quartet" is a more consistent representation of the Rowan/Rice group. For starters, "Quartet" was recorded at one studio instead of the multiple locales used for "You Were There For Me" (which was Rice's main criticism in the Performing Songwriter piece). The guest players are gone, too, meaning that the touring unit of Rowan (guitar/vocals), Rice, Bryn Davies (bass/vocals) and Sharon Gilchrist (mandolin/vocals) get to display on 11 tracks the chemistry that comes from playing together night after night.

Though it lacks fiddle and banjo, much of the music on "Quartet" is bluegrass. When she isn't taking a solo, Gilchrist provides plenty of mandolin chop. Rice offers up several variations on the basic G run. "Walls of Time," Tony Trischka explains in his excellent, conversational and educational liner notes, was written by Rowan during his mid-'60s stint with Monroe. The disc also features the bluegrass classics "Rain and Snow" and the Jimmy Martin hit "Sunny Side of the Mountain."

The material is only a framework. The players repeatedly distinguish themselves in their improvisations. Rice delivers a bluesy solo on "Walls of Time." Rice, Gilchrist and Davies take inspired solo turns on Rice's arrangement of the standard "Shady Grove." On Rowan's "Moonlight Midnight," which he first performed with Old and In the Way, all of the players take a solo. Rowan's break is chord-based, and when you hear Rice encouraging him it hits home just how magical it can be to hear songs that were recorded by musicians playing together in the studio. Rice's inspired solo defies accurate description, and stands as yet further proof of his instrumental prowess.

"Quartet" is far from all high and lonesome; singer-songwriter material also fares well. Townes Van Zandt's "To Live is to Fly" and Patti Smith's "Trespasses" both get beautiful treatments complete with lovely harmonies from Gilchrist and Davies.

The disc closes with a Rowan-penned gospel number, "Perfection," that practically begs for the listener to join in with Gilchrist and Davies in singing "Hal-le-loo." "Quartet" might not be perfect, but I'm not sure even Rice could find much wrong with it.