King Of My World

Mandolin and fiddle maestro Sam Bush helped pioneer "newgrass" in the 1970s by deftly mixing and matching traditional bluegrass influences with contemporary rock, reggae, and jazz sensibilities. On this outing, Bush is joined by a tight-knit coterie of fellow super-pickers--including Brad Davis (guitar), Jon Randall (vocals and guitar), Byron House (electric and acoustic bass), and Chris Brown (drums)--to forge a similarly exhilarating, genre-bending blend of traditional and cutting-edge influences. These 11 masterful cuts--ranging from a spirited, old-timey reprise of Grandpa Jones's "Eight More Miles to Louisville" to a soaring instrumental extravaganza called "The Mahavishnu Mountain Boys"–-are every bit as soulful as they are super-charged. --Bob Allen