Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer - Short Trip Home (1999)

Bassist Edgar Meyer, equally at home in Nashville or Lincoln Center, likes to invite his classical friends to mix with his country friends in performances of his hybrid brand of bluegrass chamber music. In SHORT TRIP HOME, he has assembled a team long on bow arms. Featured are guitarist Mike Marshall and mandolin player Sam Bush, both of whom double on fiddle, and star violinist Joshua Bell, the name above the title, who not only fits well into the proceedings, but soars right above them when the occasion calls for it. What makes this disc more rewarding than many crossover assemblages is that Meyer is not crossing over, this melt of classical and country, Bill Monroe and Béla Bartók, is exactly what he writes and writes most successfully. At its best, such as in 'Death by Triple Fiddle' or the extended four movement 'Concert Duo' it can be mighty satisfying stuff, whether heard from an aisle seat or a front porch swing.