"Echoes of a Legacy"
CD Review:
Eighteen musicians contribute in some form to Jack Sanbower’s new project called “Echoes of a Legacy.” That’s because, with the exception of two newly-recorded tracks (“Lady of Spain” and “Emma’s Little Lullaby”), they are selected from five previous album releases from Jack and his band. One observance is that the band has apparently had considerable turnover in personnel over the years, but No Leeway’s current band members (Jack Sanbower-banjo, Scott Eager-mandolin, Richard Sell-guitar, Carolyn Kellock-bass) appear on the first two tracks.
Interestingly, the 14 instrumentals are presented in reverse chronological order, most recent to most historic. “Polka in the Eye” and “Cactus Jack” come from their 2002 “Same Old Fools” release. Then, we jump all the way back to 1993 for a fiery tune called “No Leeway” from an album called “Thinkin’ of Old Memories.” Nine additional cuts are gathered from their 1992, 1991 and 1990 albums, “Let Loose,” “Throwing Caution to the Wind,” and “Just Monkey’in Around.”
The common element throughout is Jack’s artistic and proficient banjo playing. The reason I like these guys is because they pick with a lot of energy, and they’re full of tricks. I think they’d be especially entertaining in a live setting.
Based in Maryland, Jack Sanbower plays with a lot of chromatic creativity and innovation. For example, check out “Down Shift” or “Phantom Train” as the band members share breaks among themselves. That band configuration in 1990-91 seems one of their best -- Ronnie Webb (guitar, mandolin), Pat White (fiddle), Mike Leasure (electric bass), and Darren Beachley (resophonic guitar). Although this album’s title refers to echoes, I don’t find many repetitive sounds included. Perhaps these are simply his reflections about a body of material from the past.
Besides being a fine picker, “Echoes of a Legacy” is a strong showcase of Sanbower’s skill at writing instrumentals with a lot of bluegrass hustle. All but “Lady of Spain” were composed by Jack. He has a knack for catchy melodic riffs, and a tune like “Just Monkey’in Around” also has some rhythmic twists and turns that might even have been inspired by Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy jazz music. “Custer’s Last Stand” demonstrates a mastery of harmonic bell tones. Many of Sanbower’s tunes really kick and are played presto, in rapid tempos of about 180 beats per minute. And this review of his instrumental work during the last 14 years tells me that Sanbower is showing no signs of slowing down.
Joe Ross
Writer and Reviewer
Bluegrass Now Magazine
"Same Ole Fools"
Bluegrass Music Programmers Comments:
"This is good hard-drivin' bluegrass and a collection of superbly crafted tunes. I especially enjoyed the title track, "I Dreamed of An Angel," "West Virginia Gal" and Jack's two instrumentals. Congratulations on a fine job.
I'll be doing my best to help spread the word." Dave Higgs - Bluegrass Breakdown - WPLN-FM Nashville, TN
"Same Ole Fools" by Jack Sanbower & George Garris is just what bluegrass radio has needed - a breath of fresh air. This is good hard-driving bluegrass that doesn't try to fit into any mold. Its pure individualism is what makes you pay close attention to what's going on here. The instrumental work on the album is superb and, for me, is the glue that holds the project together. "West Virginia Gal" and "Cactus Jack" are two songs that will hopefully get around to becoming bluegrass standards." Marvin O'Dell - Bluegrass Express - KCSN-FM Northridge, CA
"These boys just grab you and take you for a bluegrass musical wild ride that leaves you breathless and panting...and you want to get right back on!" Joe Willis - Burlington County Bluegrass - WBZC 88.9/95.1-FM Burlington, NJ
"Kickin' CD, the whole project is spirited... I especially liked "Cactus Jack". It's probably my favorite.
"Lost Tears" was a big one on my show. Thanks for the CD. I loved your material and look forward to many more in the future. Keep up the good work and way-to-go." Ed Steiner - The Lakeway Bluegrass Show - WJFC-FM Jefferson City, TN
"I enjoyed the whole CD, but I really liked "West Virgina Gal" a lot. I'll be adding it to our rotation in the next few weeks. Thanks for the good music!" Bruce Ross - Sunny Side Up - KZSU-FM Stanford, CA
"Thanks Jack for my copy of the CD. You have a fine project here that I know bluegrass fans will surely like. When I was listening to the cuts, at times I felt like I was listening to John Hartford singing Seldom Scene tunes with Karl Shiflett's band. I hope you sell a million of them too. Now let's get to work on the next one." Mark Dyer - The Fiddler's Grove Bluegrass Show - WANT-FM ~ WCOR-AM Lebanon, TN
"A nice CD filled with harmonies covering the range from low lonesome "Lost Tears" to high lonesome
"I Dreamed of an Angel" with many fine rollicking banjo rolls thrown in" Matt Winters - WKCR-FM New York City
"Sounds like music - Great Music! Love that bass work! My favorites are "Same Ole Fool," "West Virginia Gal," and "Polka In The Eye." "Polka In The Eye" is a real hoot! " Rik James - American Backroads - KGLT-FM Bozeman, MT
"This is great material, and it's easy to use. My listeners tell me they enjoy this type of bluegrass, so it's easy to fit in my programming. I want to thank you for my listeners for this really great music. It's nice to have this great material to play for them." Bob Dunn - Nuttin' nut Bluegrass - WDBX-FM Harrisburg, IL
"I think it is great and do play it alot" Wayne Pittman - WKGX-AM Lenoir, NC
"Excellent! Good music, good harmonies and good songs. Great for airplay! We have added the whole CD to our rotation.... This CD will receive lots of airplay." Nadine Hopkins - WLIJ-AM Shelbyville, TN
"Thanks for your CD "Same Ole Fools". I played some of it on my "String Fever" show today. I LOVE "Polka in the eye"! Great title and great banjo sound." Barb Heller - String Fever - North Country Public Radio Canton, NY
"Thanks for the CD. I'll definitly give it some airplay." Davis Tracy - Friday Bluegrass - WDCV-FM Carlisle, PA
"I have played about every cut on there... Yours is good hard driving bluegrass and I like it." Zeke Mullins - WNXT-AM - Portsmouth, Ohio
"Wonderful! Started using the CD right away!" Henry Fulcher - WFLO-FM Farmville, VA
"What Can I Say; Good songs, produced well, played well, and I really enjoyed it." Gary Irving - WVUD-FM Newark, DE
"Nice Sounds" John Leebrick - Bluegrass Ramble - WKDE-FM Altavista, VA
"Sounds Good. I definitely love the "old timey" sound. Keep up the good work and keep the tradition alive" Tim St. Clair - WWVV-FM Morgantown, WV
"Good Traditional Bluegrass, to help pep up our radio shows." Al and Jean Shade - WWSM-AM Myerstown,PA
"Good Solid Bluegrass. We are using it on our bluegrass shows." Program Director - WELO-FM / AM Fisher, WV
" We should be able to find a spot for it on the "Bluegrass Jam". Good luck in the future!" Wilson Moore - Bluegrass Jam - CHMA-FM Sackville, New Brunswick,
Canada
"I've listened to it and expect to play several tracks over the next few weeks." William Moffett - Country Corner - WCOJ-AM West Chester, Pa
"I've been enjoying your music. I aired 2 of your songs between 9-11pm on WBZK" Ann Freese - Ha Ha Helen Show - WBZK Charlotte, NC
CD Reviews:
Jack Sanbower and George Garris are well-known around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore,Md. Here they have amassed the No Leeway Band along with several guest pickers to create "Same Ole Fools." However, there is nothing foolish about this production which consists of a dozen selections mostly written by Sanbower (banjo and lead guitar) and Garris (guitar and vocals). Some of the more intriguing are "I Dreamed Of An Angel," Over The Edge," and the instrumental "Polka In The Eye." While Jack Sanbower,George Garris and the No Leeway Band are primarily a regional group, "Same Ole Fools" could very well be the vehicle to introduce them to a national audience.
Les McIntyre
Bluegrass Unlimited
I give this album 4 stars out of 5. By definition, nothing's perfect.
It's one of those CDs where everything seems to be ... well ... right.
In the right place. Nothin' missin'. Nothin' overdone. Modern
parlance may call it organic. I call it natural. Real. Balanced.
Now for my confession: I put on the disc without checking out any info. I was two-thirds the way through - already enthralled, I might
add - before I realised I was NOT listening to contemporary versions of old bluegrass, stringband and country songs. There's really only one song that doesn't sound like it could have been written in the first half of the 20th century. I embarrassed myself the moment I noticed that the excellent production was "modern". The exactly-right musicianship, singing and harmonies are also of more modern times, but they sure do ring true to tradition.
George Garris writes songs that, dammit, should have been written before I was born. They are that good. And they're not pastishes.
Someone gold-plate the guy and put him on display in a Hall of Fame!
Hopefully Central Maryland has such an institution.
This is not a super-duper smack-ya-in-the-head album, but it's one you won't lend to no-one for fear of it not being returned.
Eddie O'Strange
Town & Country
Since 1990, the Maryland-based Jack Sanbower, George Garris and the No Leeway Band have been presenting professional traditionally-based bluegrass music up and down the eastern seaboard characterized by memorable original material, soaring harmonies, and superb instrumentation. Besides being a distinctive singer with a uniquely deep, gutsy and breathy voice, Garris has a keen ability to write new bluegrass material that has the old-time sentiments and feeling. And then there's Jack Sanbower, a real master of the five-string banjo. Throughout the album, Sanbower's personalized banjo style stands out as daring and clever, yet sturdy and sound. He's a picker as good as they make 'em. George Garris started his professional music career at age twelve, and he has been with The No Leeway Band since 1994. If Sanbower's picking is the heart of the band, then it's Garris' messages in his well-crafted songs that convey the group's soul. While Doug Moats holds down the bass, I understand that he's also a fine old-time banjo player, and it might've been fun to hear something like that also offered on this album. Multi-instrumentalist Merle Johnson tears up the mandolin and also provides solid tenor harmonies for Garris' leads and baritones. Guest artist Tad Marks, also a luthier, has built a reputation of being a fiddler of international renown. Another guest, Troy Engle, hails from Pennsylvania, and he has much experience playing both country and bluegrass.
Together, the group bills their music as "traditional bluegrass music with a contemporary flair," and this album illustrates wonderfully how that approach to music has won them a legion of bluegrass fans. "Same Ole Fools" includes eleven original songs and one traditional cover (My Home's Across the Blueridge Mountains). Of the originals, Garris wrote nine of them, and Sanbower wrote two tasty instrumentals (Cactus Jack and Polka in the Eye). Cactus Jack is a hard-trucking contemporary piece with some catchy melodic riffs. Polka in the Eye, a novelty piece, shows that the band has great sense of humor too. A fast, upbeat ¾ time "I Dreamed of An Angel" and the hard-driving and humorous "West Virginia Gal" about a "wild, wonderful and willin'" woman are receiving considerable airplay around the country. "I Guess I Don't Live Here Anymore" and "Over the Edge" sound a lot like the way old country music used to be played back in the forties. Garris seems more comfortable singing the slower songs, such "Lost Tears," a tale of lost love, and "The Light I Could See" which closes the album with an illuminating message. Although they've released a number of projects over the years, I was not familiar with this entertaining band. I consider them front page news for bluegrass fans and encourage you to check out this marvelous collection of crackerjack picking and swell new material.
Joe Ross
Staff Writer for BG Now Magazine
11 of 12 tunes are original. This central Maryland band, founded in 1990, is pure bluegrass energy, fusing Gospel, traditional and originality into one excellent project. George Garris, pens 9 original tunes, provides guitar, lead and baritone vocals. Virtuoso banjoist Jack Sanbower has two original instrumentals, Cactus Jack a very intense and excellent newgrass style (#1 project pick) tune, and Polka In The Eye, another flaming tune, where the banjo player cannot take it anymore, and smashes Matt Koch’s accordion near the end of the tune. Doug Moats weaves some real tasty acoustic bass tracks throughout project. John Sanbower’s finger style guitar is a nice touch in Garris’ gospel tune, The Light I Could See. Other players are Merl Johnson, mandolin and tenor and Mark Baker on resophonic guitar. Tad Marks and Troy Engle are special guests. There are two signature elements of the No Leeway Band, the dominant banjo of Jack Sanbower and the excellent original vocals of George Garris. Other band members are always in perfect compliment and harmony.
Acoustica Magazine
CD Reviews
Don't worry if you've never heard of these performers. The bluegrass world is surprisingly huge and there are way too many talented folks involved for anyone to hear them all. I was fortunate that the folks at Buck Hollow Records elected to send me a copy of this tremendous bluegrass disc; otherwise I would never had a chance to hear this very talented combo of musicians who make their homes in Maryland.
This is the band's fourth album and is as fine a collection of original bluegrass songs and performances as one is likely to discover this summer. George Garris has a deep, resonating lead voice and he also wrote nine of the songs. The title track, "Lost Tears" and "West Virginia Gal" were among my favourites.
Banjoist Jack Sanbower contributes to self-written instrumentals with both "Cactus Jack" and "Polka In The Eye" deserving of repeated listening. The album is dominated by fairly traditional bluegrass sounds.
As I hear more and more bluegrass, I am becoming increasingly choosy in my listening habits; I've been listening to Same Ole Fools for a couple months now and while albums by name artists fall by the wayside, this disc stays in the machine.
Donald Teplyske
The Red Deer Advocate newspaper
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