Pelt - Pearls From The River LP

All acoustic epics from the "classic" Pelt trio lineup of Jack Rose, Mike Gangloff, and Patrick Best. Recorded in a single March 2003 session in VA by Mikel Dimmick, this was a superb distillation of their interests at the time (both alone and together - Jack's first solo records, the emergence of the Black Twigs as a busy working band, etc). "Up the North Fork" is a trio for banjo, baritone banjo, and cello - after the snakey bowed introduction, the fast thwacking of the banjos and forcefully strummed cello take over and whip up a storm. The other two tracks are lengthy ragas (one in C, one in D) with the virtuoso modal guitar of Jack Rose front and center. "Pearls From The River" features Jack on 12 string, dueling with Mike Gangloff on Esraj. Pat Best's thick, sonorous double bass bowing anchors the duet between the lightning thrumming/plucking of Jack's guitar and mike's arcing, sharply bowed half-time melody. "Road To Catawba" has Jack on 6 string, with Mike moving to tamboura. Best's bass is again the foundation, with whistling overtones rising from his bow over the low drone.