Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride
Opening with a chant summoning the faithful to worship their idol, Sam Bush's fourth solo recording documents the joy, musicianship, and weirdness that is the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Held every June in the mountains of Colorado, Telluride has become the premier hippie-grass event, and you can chalk up its success in large part to Bush and his oldNew Grass Revivalcohorts. If these 1990s concert recordings are not the best music Bush has made, they're among the most fun. The set moves from a zippy "Girl of the North Country" to blistering jams such as "Big Mon"--featuring the mind-boggling banjo ofBéla Fleck--and the seven-minute, electric noodle-off "Speak of the Devil." He also duets withJohn Cowanon a gorgeous version ofVan Morrison's "Hungry for Your Love" and a joyous cover ofLittle Feat's "Sailin' Shoes." Along the way, Bush offers electric guitar licks in addition to his usual fiddle and mandolin breaks, all fascinating as fractals, as well as some underrated lead singing. Beside comrades-in-jam such as Cowan,Jon Randall Stewart,Jerry Douglas, and Larry Atamanuik, Bush couldn't be more in his element or more entertaining.--Roy Kasten