Joe Craven's Trio, which may actually be a quartet, have just released their first project and it is, easily, one of the most joyful, musically interesting pieces of work I've heard in years. Joe and company demonstrate what happens when you mix together jazz, blues, bluegrass and, what nowadays we call, world music. Except under the broad heading of "terrific" you can't really classify this stuff.
But what else could you expect from Joe, whose primary instrument seems to be his quirky irrepressible spirit; along with mandolin, fiddle and all things percussive. (Anything this guy doesn't play?). 
Of course it helps that he's pulled together a group consisting of top tier under appreciated players.
Kendrick Freeman, late of Alison Brown's group, is a rhythmic force of nature who is masterful at providing exactly the right percussion support for any form of music; jazz to folk to bluegrass.
John R. Burr has long deserved more recognition than he's got, despite stints with Robben Ford, Alison Brown and others. John's articulate, lyrical, emotionally expressive work is always spot on and nothing short of genius.
Ric Kuhn, unknown to me before this, appears to be a monster accordianist with both a tremendous technical facility, on this much maligned instrument, and a composer's ear for catchy melody.
What a delight to listen to these masters as they create music unencumbered by rules or definitions from the music industry. This is what creativity and musical joy sounds like.
Do yourself a favor, don't miss this one.
                            Read more...