Fiddle legend Vassar Clements, the father of Hillbilly Jazz, passed away from lung cancer on August 16, 2005. He had a long and illustrious career, beginning with a seven-year stint in Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, then with Jim & Jesse and the Earl Scruggs Revue. One of the most important milestones in his career was his participation on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1972 landmark album 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken". Within a few months, Vassar was recording and/or performing with Dicky Betts, Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Grisman, Paul McCartney et al. In May 1973, the classic "Old & In The Way" album was recorded in San Francisco during a live performance. It remains the best-selling bluegrass album of all time.
Now available on DVD is "Vassar Clements & his Holiday Band", which is the last recording the great man made, and one of his last performances. The concert was recorded in Athens, GA on December 18, 2004, and features a hot 10-piece band including Mark Van Allen (pedal steel), David Blackmon (fiddle) and Grisman alumnus Joe Craven (mandolin, percussion). Fiddler Andrea Zonn (of James Taylor's band) makes a guest appearance.
Kicking off with "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", Clements leads the band through a varied set including Gordon Lightfoot's "Redwood Hill", "Cherokee", "Old Joe Clark", Django Reinhardt's "Swing 39" and his own "Vassillie". Smiling and ramrod-straight at 76, his playing as fiery and fluid as ever, the legendary fiddler is clearly having a great time, and the Holiday Band plays its collective butt off.
Worth a special mention is guitarist Bobby Lee Rodgers, leader of The Codetalkers, whose picking chops are up there with the likes of Tony Rice, and who leads the band through three of his original compositions.
The DVD is available from AthensMusic (www.athensmusic.net). In honor of Vassar's birthday (April 25, 1928), orders received by April 27 will be shipped at a special discount price.