Word: grass
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Blue Grass music features high and unusual vocal harmonies. Breaks between verses and strictly instrumental numbers show off the extreme virtuosity employed on fiddle, mandolin, and banjo: the playing incorporates, like jazz, a great deal of improvisation within set patterns. Lead work is supported by the rhythmic foundation of guitar and string bass. Musicians in the field are known for the astounding sophistication of their techniques; most do not read music and have received no formal instruction on their instruments...
OVER the years, nearly every musician who has apprenticed with Bill Monroe has gone on to make a name for himself in the Blue Grass field. A partial list includes Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, Mac Wiseman, Carter Stanley, Benny Martin, Sonny Osborne, Jimmy Martin. Clyde Moody, Jim Eanes, Gordon Terry. Stringbean and Chubby Wise. Shortly after Bill Monroe's music began to be heard other musicians saw the possibilities the music had and borrowed from it. The Stanley Brothers were the first group to do this, followed by Flatt and Scruggs and Reno and Smiley. Soon there were...
...October of 1939 Bill Monroe became a permanent member of the world-famous "Grand Ole Opry." For eleven years the Blue Grass Boys never missed a Saturday night and Bill Monroe has been one of the most popular acts ever presented. The governor of Kentucky designated October 18th of this year "Bill Monroe Day," coinciding with the DJ Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Although Bill plays on shows with Nashville musicians. Blue Grass has been recognized increasingly in its own right. Presently about twenty Blue Grass Festivals are held each summer in different parts of the country. The largest of these...
Bill Monroes adherents say that the real Blue Grass music has never been learned from anyone other than Bill Monroe. People who play with him can present the right sound, but they have to approach the music as Bill does. Some go so far as to claim that a musician's ability to play Blue Grass can be measured by the number of years he has been away from Bill Monroe. It would be a little easier for others to imitate his music if they had his famous Gibson P-5 mandolin; Bill bought it 25 years ago from...
...South, as well as having sung in most of the major cities of the United States and Canada. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall. Boston's Jordan Hall, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and at most of the nation's major folk festivals. In addition, the Blue Grass Boys have appeared at numerous colleges and universities across the country. Recently Bill has even made appearances overseas. An exclusive Decca recording artist, Bill Monroe can be heard on thirteen L.P.'s on that label, as well as on recently re-issued old masters on Columbia and R.C.A. Victor...