Mystery Bag

In the mid- '70s, David Grisman, Tony Rice, and others made a big splash with new acoustic music, a style that combined snappy guitar and mandolin solos with '30s-style jazz (think Django Reinhardt jamming with Bill Monroe). Some 30 years later, the genre has spread in all imaginable stylistic directions, from light easy listening to the cutting edge of abstraction. String Zone smartly draws from various sources to create an eclectic mix on Mystery Bag. Violinist Stig Roar Wigestrand, guitarists Per Einar Watle and Øivind Wang Tollefsen, and double-bassist Per Mathisen touch upon reggae, straight jazz, and funk over the course of a dozen original pieces. "Drop in Meditation" floats along in a dreamy fashion, reminding one of an early Rice composition. It opens with lovely violin work, before switching -- in an unexpected manner -- to a bass solo before finally climaxing with a great guitar workout. String Zone keeps each of these pieces somewhere between three and six minutes, which allows everyone a chance to solo without overstaying their welcome. While the music is always beautifully performed on Mystery Bag, one wishes at times that it were less polite. There's also a certain amount of stylistic repetition from piece to piece, despite the album's eclecticism. Still, these are minor bumps in the road of a nice album with fine ensemble work and excellent solos. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.|