A collection of music created by a disparate group of musicians over a series of albums, this set effects a melding of a number of musical styles, most notably 'classical' chamber music, bluegrass, and Irish folk, to produce a whole which is subtle, stirring and really, really good. It's basically instrumental (though James Taylor guests on the traditional song "Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier" and Alison Krauss lends vocals to another); a lot of the tracks are violin-driven (violin/fiddle played by Joshua Bell or Mark O'Connor), but cello (Yo-Yo Ma), bass (Edgar Meyer), banjo (Béla Fleck), mandolin, guitar, and other instruments (including, poignantly, the pennywhistle) are a vital part of the mix.
The result is a wonderful synthesis which is neither 'classical' nor 'popular' nor 'roots' but meaningfully partakes of all three streams, and others besides - it's unashamedly melody-driven at times, and quite tone-based and abstract at others, sprightly and mournful by turns, but it's never less than captivating. In some ways, the title of the set is misleading, for bluegrass - the 'appalachian' musical style - is less prominent than either the Celtic-styled folk (with which I'm primarily familiar through the recorded output of acts like My Friend The Chocolate Cake and various incidental film scores, rather than with traditional sources) which most directly shapes the songs' melodies or the 'classical' instrumentation and leanings which frame the music. But above and beyond that, the music does have a distinctly americana feel to it, seeming to 'fit' very well with the whole mythos. It's a bit beyond words - well, my words, at least - to explain why or how this is so good beyond the way it makes me feel, and the sorts of images it summons...
