By Sue Zalokar, Staff Writer
David Grisman is iconic in the world of bluegrass, having
played with a who’s who of artists, including Doc Watson, Bela Fleck and Bonnie
Raitt, to name a few. He is a mandolin player, composer and producer. While
still just a pup (Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead gave him the nickname,
“Dawg”), Grisman was gleaning insight into the world of music from some of the
greatest players in the “old time” music scene.
Grisman has spent 50 years celebrating, studying and playing
the old-time music of rural people and places and bringing that musical style
to a mainstream audience. He has cultivated the respect of other musicians and
a loyal fan base that spans generations.
The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience will play two New
Year’s Eve shows in Portland at the Alberta Rose Theatre. Grisman spoke with
Street Roots to share his thoughts about music, its heritage and its future.
Sue Zalokar: You currently have four active
groups: a quintet, a sextet, Bluegrass Experience band and Folk Jazz Trio —- it
boggles the mind. bluegrass and jazz are seemingly very different kinds of
music. In your experience, how are bluegrass and jazz alike?
David Grisman: Well, I keep going back to what
Duke Ellington said: “There are only two kinds of music — good and bad!”
Actually there are many similarities for me between bluegrass and jazz. They
are both truly American art forms in that they both developed here and are
rooted in many European and African traditions. Bill Monroe’s biggest musical
influence was a black guitarist named Arnold Schultz, and his music is steeped
in blues, which is also a major foundation of jazz. They are both “virtuosic”
musics that require a great deal of instrumental and vocal technique, and they
both involve a great deal of improvisation, although bluegrass is much more
grounded in traditional melody. But I guess for me, they are both extremely
challenging and very enjoyable, as well as allowing for a great deal of
individual expression. I also love many other styles of music and they all have
influenced my playing, arranging and composing.
S.Z.: For you, what is the allure of
mountain music?
D.G.: Well it’s not so much mountain music as
folk music or music that originated in rural environments. I listened to a lot
of “old-time” and ethnically derived music that was more or less unaffected by
the popular culture of the day and reflected earlier times when music was
developed for purer reasons than having a hit record or appealing to huge
audiences in the mass marketplace. The influence of commercialism really has
nothing to do with aesthetic values, and I find those values largely missing in
most contemporary music of all styles.
S.Z.: Often, the themes of bluegrass
speak to the simple life of ordinary people — people who have experienced
poverty on some level. Are there any social, political or personal connections
for you to themes of poverty or homelessness?
D.G.: I’m definitely sympathetic to the huge
numbers of people all over the world living in sub-standard conditions. I even
devoted a recording project to songs of human suffering and tragedy, “Life of
Sorrow,” but my interests have always been rooted in the music, not the lyrics.
I certainly can appreciate the great collaborations in songwriting between
composers and lyricists. Yet my ear is usually attracted to the melodies,
grooves and other musical elements. I’m not a big fan of mixing music with
politics either, although I’m passionate about political issues. That could
change, perhaps!
S.Z.: You credit much of you musical
aesthetic development to Ralph Rinsler. (Bill Monroe’s manager and director of
the Folklife Institute at the Smithsonian). You have said that he did more to
preserve American folk culture in the 20th century than anyone else. Please
elaborate on Mr. Rinsler’s contributions to both the musical community and to
your own personal musical journey.
D.G.: Ralph was an incredible human being and
my guru in many things. We actually met when he was 12 years old and I was two.
My mother was his art teacher —and a big
influence on his aesthetical outlook as I later found out — and she brought me
into class one day. He turned me on to so much music (everything from Bill
Monroe to Charlie Poole to Welsh sea shanties) and was himself a great mandolin
player. I was 15 years old when I heard the recordings he made of Clarence
Ashley, the old-time banjo player and ballad singer who he rediscovered and of
course, Doc Watson who he discovered. Ralph helped organize the Friends of
Old-Time Music, which was devoted to bringing rural musicians to urban
audiences and also helped run the Newport Festival, ultimately becoming the
director of the Smithsonian Folklife Institute before his untimely death in
1994.
S.Z.: When you were 17 years old, the
first musician to invite you up on stage to play was Doc Watson. What do you
remember about that rendition of “In the Pines”?
D.G.: Not much, but it was very exciting for me
to play with a musician of Doc’s caliber and “authenticity.” Much later, when
we toured together in the 1990s we reprised that tune, and a live recording of
it is available on “Dawg Plays Big Mon,” my tribute to Bill Monroe, available
at AcousticOasis.com. Losing Doc this year was very sad for me as I’ve had a
personal and musical relationship with him for over 50 years. He is truly one
of the great masters of American music.
S.Z.: You have collaborated with some
of the greatest musicians in the world spanning many genres of musical style.
What is the importance of collaboration in music?
D.G.: Unless you’re playing solo, which I
rarely ever do, music is a team sport. To me that’s the greatest attribute to
the entire art form, the fact that it is collaborative and dependent on the
interaction between musicians who develop common artistic goals to realize the
artistic intentions of the music. A key element in this is time, not just
rhythm-wise but in actual hours, months and years spent in developing a group
and musical relationships. Three members of my quintet/sextet have been with me
for multiple decades and the Bluegrass Experience has been playing together now
in this form for nearly a decade. I’ve known and played with my friends Andy
Statman or Martin Taylor or Frank Vignola for many years now. That time spent
really starts to pay off in the way those collaborations sound and getting better
all the time.
S.Z.: Acoustic Disc and Acoustic Oasis
are remarkable sites – amazing catalogs of some of the greatest musical
collaborations. What’s the story behind the creation of Acoustic Disc?
D.G.: Acoustic Disc came about in an almost
accidental fashion. In 1989 I was under contract with MCA records. They had
released (the album) “Mondo Mando” which had originally been recorded for
Warner Brothers (how it got to MCA is another story) and “Svingin’ with Svend”
(with the great Danish jazz violin master Svend Asmussen) and due to its, in
their opinion, poor sales, they were hesitant to let me record a new project
which I was planning. At the same time I was building my own recording studio
(in my garage) and two friends, Artie and Harriet Rose, had just moved to the
Bay Area and were looking to start a business. I was fed up with the mainstream
record business, and we decided to start our own company with the help of my
manager Craig Miller. Although from that point on, I didn’t have the benefits
of a “major label,” I certainly had complete artistic freedom to produce any
music that I wanted, but of course, we had to pay for it. Within a year I was
back recording with my old friend Jerry Garcia, at his suggestion, and we were
in business!
S.Z.: In August, on Jerry Garcia’s 70th
birthday, you released a hi-def version of the original “Garcia Grisman” album
(1991) that was nominated for a Grammy. You also released an alternate album
with studio tracks that differ from the original — a lovely tribute for a good
friend. Can you tell a favorite tale of yours that exemplifies the spirit of
Jerry Garcia as you knew him?
D.G.: After one of our recording sessions,
“Decibel Dave” Dennison, our fabulous engineer, accidentally knocked over
Jerry’s old Martin D-28 guitar and it received a small scrape in the top. Dave
felt terrible about it but Jerry had already left. The next time we were
together, Dave sheepishly shows Jerry the slight damage, apologizing profusely and
offering to pay for any repair costs. Jerry just took his pick out and
purposely made a huge scratch down the face of the instrument, just smiled like
a Cheshire cat and never said a word. That was Jerry Garcia!
S.Z.: “Old and in the Way” only actually
existed for about nine months in the early 1970s, yet the impact of those
months has been monumental in bringing bluegrass music to a whole generation of
young people then and bringing it to folks of all ages for generations to
follow. When you reflect on those nine months, had any of you a sense of what
you were a part?
D.G.: “Old and In The Way” was a lot of fun and
I was certainly aware of the talent in that band, but I really had no idea of
the impact it would have in creating a wider audience for bluegrass music. At
the time we were playing almost exclusively in small local Bay Area venues, and
the recording wasn’t released until two years after we were no longer playing
together.
S.Z.: American musical heritage — Is it
being lost or is it being found in today’s musical soundscape?
D.G.: That’s a great question and one that I
think about a lot. I’d say the answer is both — the great American musical
heritage is being lost and found! On the negative side, this great heritage of
blues, jazz, bluegrass and folk music, all created here in the last century,
receives little or no exposure or positive reinforcement from the mainstream
media. On the other hand, more of this material is readily available than ever
before. It’s now possible to obtain the complete recordings of everything from
Louis Armstrong to the Carter Family to Bill Monroe to John Coltrane, almost
instantly and there are many talented young musicians who are capably carrying
on these great traditions as well. The problem is that John Q. Public is being
brainwashed on a daily basis with gaga music or whatever it is that big
corporations peddle on TV, so there is little chance that most of those folks
might suspect that there is something better. I try to do my part, but I’m
afraid without mainstream exposure, we may be losing this cultural battle.
S.Z.: In November, both Colorado and
Washington state voters passed referendums to decriminalize pot. And
Connecticut and Massachusetts joined 16 other states and Washington D.C., when
they passed medical marijuana legislation. You have your medical marijuana
card, grow your own pot in your backyard and are coming up on 50 years of
smoking. What are your thoughts about the decriminalization of marijuana?
D.G.: We’re moving to Washington! What’s up with
Oregon?
S.Z.: You will be playing two shows at
the Alberta Rose Theater to ring in the new year with the kind folks of
Portland. For those of us planning to be at the show, what can we expect?
D.G.: The Bluegrass Experience
is looking forward to welcoming in the new year with some high powered
traditional bluegrass. We’ll be playing some of our greatest hits and debuting
a whole bunch of material that we’ve been working up for a Doc Watson tribute
recording project to be recorded first thing next year. We hope y’all can come
out and join us there.
This article appears in 2012-12-21.