A “Traditional” Music Scene and Its Fringes: Experimental Bluegrass of 1970s New York City — American Music

Claims

1. 1970s-subgenres
   Several bluegrass-related strains emerged around the 1970s. Progressive bluegrass, beginning in the late 1960s with bands such as the Country Gentlemen and the Osborne Brothers, incorporated folk, rock, country and contemporary songwriting while keeping traditional bluegrass timbres, rhythms and ensemble roles. Newgrass, beginning with John Hartford's 1971 album Aereo-Plain, featured extended jams over simple progressions or vamps and sometimes used grooves not found in first-generation bluegrass and odd-meter time signatures. Dawg music, pioneered by David Grisman, drew on bluegrass, swing, modal jazz and Gypsy jazz. Progressive bluegrass became a template for mainstream bluegrass of later decades.

   "Beginning in the late 1960s, bands like the Country Gentlemen, the Osborne Brothers, and the Bluegrass Alliance began to incorporate aspects of folk, rock, country, and contemporary songwriting and arranging while adhering to the timbral, rhythmic, and ensemble roles characteristic of traditional bluegrass. ... Collectively, they established a template for mainstream bluegrass bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Newgrass Beginning with the 1971 album Aereo-Plain by John Hartford, a new type of music known as newgrass emerged. ... Like some progressive bluegrass, newgrass often featured extended jam sections, typically over a simple chord progression or a vamp. Unlike progressive bluegrass, newgrass sometimes employed grooves not found in first-generation bluegrass and occasionally featured odd-meter time signatures. ... Dawg music is the label for a more eclectic style of instrumental music pioneered by David “Dawg” Grisman ... Dawg music drew from bluegrass, swing, modal jazz, and the “Gypsy jazz” of Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt."

   Locator: page: 170-172 · Quote language: en
2. keith-note-for-note
   Bill Keith, a Massachusetts native who played in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in 1963, developed a novel technique for playing fiddle tunes note for note on the banjo.

   "A previous lineup of the Blue Grass Boys in 1963 featured Massachusetts native Bill Keith, who had developed a novel technique for playing fiddle tunes note-for-note on the banjo."

   Locator: page: 187 (note 19) · Quote language: en
3. monroe-sources
   Bluegrass takes its name from Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys. Monroe drew on the old-time fiddle music of his uncle Pen Vandiver, the country blues of the African American guitarist and fiddler Arnold Schultz, singing in the Baptist and Methodist churches of western Kentucky, and popular music he heard on the radio. His 1940s tent show band could perform the whole range of tent-show entertainment, including old-time and show fiddling, novelty banjo, brother duet and trio singing, gospel quartets and blues-influenced music.

   "Bluegrass music takes its name from Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys. Monroe drew from a number of rural and urban styles in creating his band's sound, including the old-time fiddle music of his uncle Pen Vandiver; the country blues of his neighbor the African American guitarist and fiddler Arnold Schultz; the singing in the Baptist and Methodist churches in western Kentucky, where he grew up; and the popular music that he heard on the radio after moving to Chicago “around 1929.” ... Monroe was able to assemble one band that could singlehandedly perform the spectrum of entertainment found at a tent show, including old-time fiddling, show fiddling, novelty banjo tunes, comedy, exhibition dancing, brother duet singing, trio singing, gospel quartets, blues-influenced music"

   Locator: page: 166 · Quote language: en
4. prototype-genre
   A classical definition of bluegrass would require an acoustic ensemble of some combination of fiddle, mandolin, guitar, resophonic guitar, bass and Scruggs-style banjo, with two- to four-part harmony singing, semi-improvised instrumental solos and a "boom chick" rhythm. Following Joti Rockwell, Krakauer argues that bluegrass is not such a category but is continually negotiated with reference to prototypical performances. Many canonical recordings fail the checklist; for example, Bill Monroe's best-known "Blue Moon of Kentucky" has no banjo. There is no universal agreement on the prototypical sound, so the term means different things in different times and places.

   "Joti Rockwell writes that bluegrass is not a “‘classical’ category” into which music fits by meeting a set of “necessary and sufficient conditions.” Conditions of a typical classical definition would be that bluegrass is music played by an acoustic ensemble with some combination of fiddle, mandolin, guitar, resophonic guitar, bass, and Scruggs-style banjo, with two-to four-part harmony singing, semi-improvisational instrumental solos, and a “boom chick” or “boom chick chick” rhythm. Rejecting such classical definitions, Rockwell argues that bluegrass music is continually negotiated with reference to prototypical performances ... “Is Bill Monroe's best-known recording of ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’ (1954) bluegrass or not? According to Bangs's one-size-fits-all definition, it's not (no banjo).” ... Rockwell's study helps to explain why the term bluegrass means different things in different times and places: there is no universal agreement on the prototypical bluegrass sound in the world of bluegrass."

   Locator: page: 165-166 · Quote language: en