JERRY DOUGLAS
Lookout For Hope (Sugar Hill)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Jerry Douglas has made a career out of making other people's music sound better with the inclusion of his unique skill as a slide guitarist. On dobro, lap steel or Kona guitar, he's not just an A-list player, he's virtually a one-man A-list. He's also a talented composer and interpreter in his own right, though, and when he sets out to do a solo album it's only natural that some of the very best in the business will line up to do for him what he's done for so many. That's certainly the case on Lookout For Hope, which features, among others, the talents of such renowned pickers as Sam Bush, Barry Bales, Chris Thile, Trey Anastasio and Viktor Krauss, along with vocal contributions from Maura O'Connell and James Taylor. Another notable contributor is saxophonist Jeff Coffin, whose presence is especially felt as Douglas pushes his music beyond the bluegrass and Americana realms with which he's generally associated into jazz space and beyond.

Whether it's a Douglas original (of which there are six), a gospel chestnut or a new interpretation of a piece by anyone from Duane Allman to Bill Frisell, there's a remarkable consistency to the album's remarkable diversity, and that consistency is firmly grounded in the consummate skill of the leader and of everyone who gathers around him. Jerry Douglas may be a player's player, but he's made an album that provides pure joy for the listener.

Track List:

Little Martha * Patrick Meets The Brickbats * Footsteps Fall * Monkey Let The Hogs Out * Lookout For Hope * Cave Bop * Senia's Lament * The Wild Rumpus * The Sinking Ship * In The Sweet By & By * The Suit

© 2002 - Shaun Dale