Quartet
Two eclectic acoustic music veterans are better than one, as this second collaboration by singer-songwriter Peter Rowan and guitar virtuoso Tony Rice attests.  Doubling their fun is the addition of bassist Bryn Davies and mandolinist Sharon Gilchrist, who provide female harmonies as well as instrumental support. Five of the eleven tunes are Rowan originals, highlighted by an almost eight-minute expansion of his "Moonlight Midnight," a favorite from his Old and in the Way days, giving Rice's guitar plenty of room to roam; as well as a revival of "The Walls of Time," written with Bill Monroe.  The selection additionally ranges from the bittersweet beauty of Townes Van Zandt's "To Live Is to Fly" to a surprising dip into the songbook of Patti Smith, transforming her "Trespasses" into a tone-poem waltz with lilting three-part harmonies.  Three straight spirituals bring the set to a soul-stirring close.--Don McLeese