Various - Italian String Virtuosi (Rounder)

Dave Grisman nearly ruined the mandolin for me. Guys like bluesmen Yank Rachell and Johnny Young along with the Italian gents on this Rounder compilation rescued it. Grisman’s self-styled dawg music, an amalgam of bluegrass, folk and jazz idioms, has its moments. But more often than not it carries too many of the conceits of his friend a colleague Jerry Garcia. The assemblage of vintage ensembles resuscitated by this survey are relics of a different age. Most carry their own conceits including a straight-laced propensity for toeing the melodic line and only occasionally venturing beyond genteel tweaking of the rondo structures. But there’s an umbrella of authenticity here that makes these conventions easy to forgive. The pieces range from lively mazurkas to moody tarantellas with occasional tangos and polkas tossed in. The bands cover an eclectic range of instrument combinations. Most revolve around a core of mandolin, banjo, violin and guitar in various ratios. Several incorporate castanet percussion and even saxophone and brass bass in a couple of instances. Performances like Giovanni Vicari’s “Visione,” a tango brought to sonic life through a string of parceled arpeggios, are perfect vehicles for the pinched pitches of the mandolin’s taut tunings. The Giovali String Trio gives Vicari a run for his lira with “Costumi Siciliani” as webs of scalar notes reel out from two mandolins, their respective melodic threads embelished by the loping counterpoint of a single guitar. Listening to society plectrists like Frank Fazio and Mario De Pietro strut their stuff it’s easy to imagine reclining on a vine-laced veranda in Sicily, sipping a goblet of aged Marsala and soaking in the Mediterranean sun. Programmed for variety and playability the twenty-five tracks serve as a generous and accessible time capsule. The bold nomenclature of the title may not fit every selection, but there’s plenty of impressive string-picking on display. Some that I’m certain would leave Mr. Grisman’s mouth agape.