Bluegrass Europe
Grateful
Reviewed by Richard Hawkins
A real musician is one who could play hot licks but doesn't, and the distinctive individual voice of Dalla Vecchia's work comes from his lyrical, imaginative approach to the guitar.
Eight of the ten tracks here are his own compositions, and no fewer than seven tunings are used. The
album title is significant: a sleeve note lists for which he has reason to be grateful, and the title track is warm and expressive. C.A. Bosi's song
"Addio, mia bella addio" and Dalla Vecchia's instrumental "Maple Leaf" are similary moving (both are about leaving, whether to war or emigration to
Canada), but in any case there's not one flat, mechanical lick on the album.
Two "Celtic" tracks are guitar duets with Beppe Gambetta - a setting of
the traditional "Flowers of Edinburgh", and the single jig "Ghost to Ghost", which Irish musician could well adopt. Elsewhere, Dalla Vecchia is
accompanied by Stefano Versolato on upright bass and Martino Coppo (Red Wine) on mandolin.
Expressive, experimental, and attached to his own land as he is, Dalla Vecchia remains an outstanding bluegrass guitarist, as is clear from the very fisrt
track "Ticket to Cesuna". And "Red Rock" has more in common with "Foggy Mountain Rock" than the break for bowed bass might suggest.