Detached notes (video department)

Thanks to Vincent Cross for this link to a YouTube video of his song 'Home away from home', from the album of the same name. Vincent plays guitar and mandolin (it may be the first time in any bluegrass video that a mandolin has appeared from a refrigerator) with solid bluegrass backing by Bruno Bruzzese (fiddle), Andy Cartoun (banjo), and Allen Cohen (bass).

We [editorial 'we'] like Vincent's style, both as singer and songwriter, a lot; and while the reviews quoted on his MySpace site are very positive, the reviewers and/or their readers may not have been in a position to appreciate how good he is as a bluegrass writer and singer. He and the band deserve to do well, and we look forward to hearing his songs used by other artists.

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Thanks also to Tim Rogers for this YouTube link to a version of Aaron Copland's 'Hoedown' played on the Japanese shamisen (a banjo-cum-bouzouki instrument). If that whets your appetite, listen to Takeharu Kunimoto & the Last Frontier, a fine East Tennessee State University bluegrass band which uses shamisen as a lead instrument, and some lead vocals in Japanese by Takeharu. They have two CDs, Appalachian shamisen and Sushi and gravy. And this video has been attracting some attention lately - it shows the traditional fiddle tune 'Katy Hill' being performed by the Chinese classical music group Red Chamber, together with the excellent John Reischman & the Jaybirds.

Finally, Tim also sends this link, quoting his niece: 'everyone needs a little John Hartford in their lives.' No argument about that.