Dirty Linen (2-3/00, p.71) - "...gorgeous, deviant bluegrass with roots firmly planted in traditional country-tinged bluegrass....Ambient speaking voices here and there give the recording a pickin' parlor feel..."
Personnel: Bela Fleck (banjo); John Hartford (vocals, banjo); Tony Rice (guitar); Earl Scruggs (banjo); Sam Bush (mandolin); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Vassar Clements, Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Mark Schatz (bass fiddle); Vince Gill, Tim O'Brien, Ricky Skaggs (background vocals).
Includes liner notes by Bela Fleck.
THE BLUEGRASS SESSIONS: TALES FROM THE ACOUSTIC PLANET VOL. 2 was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.
Banjo master Bela Fleck takes a time-out of sorts from the dizzying NewGrass/Jazz-Country-Funk fusion for which he has become famous and returns to his bluegrass roots. THE BLUEGRASS SESSIONS: TALES FROM THE ACOUSTIC PLANET, VOLUME 2 runs the gamut from the humorous, old-time "Polka on the Banjo" (lead vocal by John Hartford) to the straight-ahead bluegrass of "Ode to Earl" (Scruggs, that is, the legendary banjoist). In the mysterious and beautiful "Katmandu," the music of the hills of Kentucky meets that of the hills of Asia. "Spanish Point" is the most Flecktones-sounding tune. This album, which contains fine contributions from Tony Rice, Vassar Clements, and Jerry Douglas, should appeal to the more adventurous bluegrass fan.