Rounder Records has brought back a couple of classic recordings from 1978, capturing a moment when what we might call progressive bluegrass music was still in the process of defining itself. Both albums are brimming with innovative ideas, and should be of interest to all bluegrass fans, perhaps most particularly banjo players.

In 2009, Béla Fleck’s name is familiar to music lovers all over the world, both in and out of bluegrass. In 1978, however, he was a teenaged phenom, just coming to the attention of… well, anybody not following the minutia of banjomania.

For most folks, even those who had heard rumblings of this mega-talented youngster from “up north”, Tasty Licks’ self-titled debut on Rounder was their first taste of Béla’s burgeoning banjo revolution.

When this album first hit on LP, the “names’ on the album were mandolinist Jack Tottle and resonator guitarist, Stacy Phillips, both of whom had prior Rounder projects and popular instructional books on the market. Though Tottle and Phillips have gone on to make lasting contributions to our music, this reissue’s import is now focused on its glimpse of the young Béla Fleck.

Rounding out the group were Robin Kincaid on guitar and Paul Kahn on bass. This album was billed as “Northern bluegrass” when it was released in ‘78, as the band was based in Boston, MA, at a time when this was worthy of note on its own. Bobby Hicks also provides fiddle on two tracks.

Butch Robins has a hard-earned reputation as a raconteur, envelope-pusher and controversialist. He is also, of course, a banjo innovator whose impact might have rivaled that of Fleck, had his music been more widely heard. Butch spent many formative years playing with Bill Monroe, an apprenticeship that informs his approach to music, none less than Monroe’s constant admonition to “make your own sound.”

Fragments Of My Imagicnation offers a fascinating look at Butch as he is transitioning from a more traditional Scruggs-style player to the sort of inventive, groundbreaking picker that fully emerged on his later releases Forty Years Late and Grounded, Centered, Focused.

On Fragments he was joined by then New Grass Revival members Curtis Burch, John Cowan and Sam Bush, plus a second banjo cameo from Béla himself. Butch had played bass briefly when New Grass was starting up. Can you imagine where they would have gone had he been the banjo picker from the start?

Both of these reissues are being offered as digital downloads in iTunes, with audio CDs available exclusively from Amazon.com.

• Tasty Licks – iTunes Amazon.com
• Fragments Of My Imagicnation – iTunes Amazon.com

Casey Driessen is not only a fiery fiddler, a fearless improviser and a very talented musician overall. He is also a skilled photographer, with a great eye for a good shot.

Casey was tapped to play fiddle on Béla Fleck’s Throw Down Your Heart tour earlier this year, along with a number of the African musicians who were featured in the film and CD of the same name.

While on the road with the show, Casey captured a great many images with his camera, with the best of them displayed on his web site.

Casey agreed to let us show a few of the photos here, but a trip to his site will let you see them all.

Monday night fans and musicians filled the Grand Ole Opry house in Nashville to help Rounder Records celebrate forty years in the record business. I really feel like we did help them, because the show was not only a concert, but a television taping. That meant that we had to do a lot of extra clapping and look pretty for the camera’s audience shots. It also meant that everything took longer than it would have in a typical live show, especially resetting the stage between acts. (And pictures were absolutely forbidden, so all you’re getting today is text.)

But the performances made all the waiting around worthwhile. There was a lot of music on the show that wasn’t bluegrass (Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, the amazing Irma Thomas, and the emcee, actress Minnie Driver), so I won’t talk about that here. Suffice to say it will be well worth tuning in to the PBS special when it airs in March 2010.

Of bluegrass interest was Bela Fleck, who played a couple solo pieces. The one he played on the cello banjo was really cool. It was some music that he learned in Tanzania and Mali on the trip to Africa that resulted in the documentary film Throw Down Your Heart, and the CD of the same name. His second tune started out solo but quickly turned duo when he was joined on stage by Abigail Washburn, who sang I’ve Got The Keys To The Kingdom. His final tune was another duet—this time with Jerry Douglas. He said that they were “kids together on Rounder.” Indeed Bela was only 19 when the label first signed him.

The final act of the evening was Alison Krauss + Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. It was great to see the band play together again, since they’ve been off doing individual projects for so long. They did five numbers including the first song that Alison recorded for Rounder back when she was a teenager, Too Late to Cry, written by John Pennell, who was in the audience. They sang their last song, A Living Prayer, gathered around one mic. The magical performance earned them a genuine standing ovation long enough to merit an encore, Ghost in this House.

After Ghost everyone pretty much thought the show was over and started leaving until Minnie Driver came back on stage and said that there’s a big finale with everyone singing on stage and “don’t leave!!” The feel-good medley of Angels Watching Over Me/I’ll Fly Away/Down By The Riverside was the perfect ending to the celebratory show.

One last note—part of the background set for the show were huge versions of album covers. It especially tickled me that one of the covers blown up was J.D. Crowe and The New South (Rounder 0044) in colors much more vibrant than they ever were on the cardboard LP jacket. It was, by the way, the second cover. Not the original one with J.D. signaling his intentions.

It seems like only yesterday that we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of bluegrass music, marked by the first Grand Ole Opry performance in 1946 by the “Original Blue Grass Band:” Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Cedric Rainwater (Howard Watts). 60 years seems like both a long time, and the merest sliver in the larger scheme of things.

Well, now we have Rounder Records with a big anniversary of their own, choosing Monday, October 12 to commemorate 40 years in business. They have been recording bluegrass, roots, alternative and Americana music since 1970. A special concert at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House will be filmed for a later broadcast on PBS stations during 2010.

The show will feature performances by Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Irma Thomas, Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas along with host (and performer) Minnie Driver. A portion of the proceeds from Monday’s concert will go to the NARAS Grammy In The Schools Programs.

From a recent Rounder press release…

Rounder Records was founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy and Bill Nowlin.  With only their passionate enthusiasm for American roots music lighting the way, the three Boston area college students cast their lot into the perilous music industry. “Before founding Rounder, we were basically music fans,” says Rounder Records co-founder Ken Irwin. “None of us,” echoes co-conspirator Bill Nowlin, “had any record industry experience whatsoever.”

“I doubt that ‘industry experience’ is a term we would have comprehended at the time we started Rounder!” interjects the third member of the Rounder triumvirate, Marian Leighton.

Ticket information can be found online.