upcoming

David Grisman Quintet

What:

For decades master mandolinist David Grisman has been at the forefront of a fusion of Old World stringband music, Django jazz and Appalachian bluegrass known in some quarters as newgrass. In Grisman’s world, it’s Dawg music — Dawg being the nickname he was given by the late great Jerry Garcia, one of his many storied musical partners over the years.

While he plays in many contexts, his prime vehicle over the years is the David Grisman Quintet, a well-oiled Dawg machine with a  variable, but always stellar cast. DGQ has played regularly at HSU’s Van Duzer Theatre as part of the CenterArts season for years. In advance of the band’s coming visit, Saturday, May 8, we engaged the big Dawg in a virtual interview.

I’m told you’ve been in the studio rehearsing new material for the upcoming tour. What have you been working on? What should we expect when the David Grisman Quintet plays in Arcata?

We’ve been playing quite a few tunes of mine that have never been recorded by the quintet. Some were written years ago and were recorded on other projects (“Waltz for Gigi” with Denny Zeitlin and “Dan’l Boone” with Sam Bush) and others are recently written — “Corrado’s Breakdown,” “Slinky,” “Bells of Camoglia,” “Purple Grotto” and “Newly Wedding.” We are also playing a wonderful tune written by Grant Gordy, “Blues to Dawg,” which I helped him record on his new CD. And, of course we’ll be playing some of our “standards” as well.

How did Grant Gordy end up playing guitar in DGQ?

Grant started sitting in with the DGQ at gigs in Colorado (where he lives) when he was a teenager. He started playing with us three years ago, initially as a sub for Frank Vignola when Frank was unavailable. After a while, Frank became too busy with his other projects and Grant became our guitarist full time.

You describe Grant as part of “the new elite family of American acoustic practitioners who are pushing the ever-expanding envelope of a musical frontier.” What’s your role in that family?

Friendly uncle.

It’s an understatement to say that the business of music has been going through major changes in recent years. How do you fit in? How did you come to establish the independent label Acoustic Disc?

I actually don’t fit in. I’m an independent free thinking musician who feels comfortable ignoring popular trends. Establishing Acoustic Disc was part necessity and part invention. I’ve been a record producer and recording artist since 1963, and having my own label was an extension of those activities that came together 20 years ago with the help of my partners, Craig Miller and Artie & Harriet Rose. It’s been a wonderful endeavor and now we’re looking to do a lot more in the digital domain with Acoustic Oasis.

Your latest endeavor, Acoustic Oasis, would seem to be acknowledgment of the shift away from CDs to fully digital music distribution. Do you find that liberating in some way? Where do you want to go with Acoustic Oasis?

Yes, absolutely liberating! Now I can make available many more projects that would have been questionable business decisions as CD releases. We’re literally going everywhere with quality acoustic music from the past, present and future — both live and studio recordings. And of course having a product that you don’t have to manufacture or ship is a retailer’s dream come true.

Can we expect more Jerry Garcia recordings we haven’t heard yet? How important is he in the Acoustic world?

One of our first releases is the 170-minute “Extra Large Pizza Tapes” and there is plenty more material in my archives - from Old & in the Way on. I think Jerry is important in the acoustic world particularly because of his importance in the electric world. He proved you could do both successfully and retain the same emotional content and even the same tonal qualities, even in these seemingly disparate musical universes.

Another thing you’re doing with Acoustic Oasis is reissuing recordings from the past by artists from around the world. Do you see yourself as a historian or a musicologist of sorts? What else can we expect along those lines?

Well I am a musical history buff, which has been reflected in the releases of Dave Apollon, Jethro Burns, Jacob do Bandolin, Bill Monroe, Oscar Aleman and George Barnes that I’ve produced through the years. Acoustic Oasis will continue this research, and we’ve already released a collection of recordings made by the great Italian string virtuoso, Giovanni Gioviale, as well as a 4-CD set of the great swing violin master and my dear friend Svend Asmussen, who’s still “svingin’” at the age of 92!

Anything else?

Please go to AcousticOasis.com everyday and get a free download (find the dawg bone marked “free”) and check out what we’re up to.

interview by Bob Doran

CenterArts presents The David Grisman Quintet on Saturday May 8, 2010 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre, HSU. Tickets are $35 general, $30 Senior/Child and $25 HSU students. Tickets are available at the Works in Arcata and Eureka, University Ticket Office at HSU or at centerarts.humboldt.edu.

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