Five-string art

On Bend, Tony Trischka stays true

by David Ritchie

For 28 years, Tony Trischka's innovative cross-genre experimentation has mystified banjo skeptics and ruffled the feathers of bluegrass purists. You'll probably always find his CDs in the bluegrass section, but he's an artist who has no intention of being pigeon-holed. Instead, he draws from bluegrass, jazz, rock, and classical styles to create a unique and awe-inspiring sound of his own. Bela Fleck, his most famous former student, calls Trischka his springboard, giving credit for the genesis of his own very atypical style. Particularly in a live setting, Trischka wows audiences with his grace on the five-string banjo.

Trischka used his last two CDs, World Turning and Glory Shone Around, to explore, among other things, the earliest roots of American banjo music. With his new CD, Bend (Rounder), he attempts to bring his disparate influences together into a single unified and electrified sound.

Bend, by the Tony Trischka Band, is something akin to Bill Frisell's Nashville album in reverse. Frisell, a New York jazz guitarist, employed bluegrass musicians for his foray into American roots music. On Bend, Trischka, who appears this Friday at the Center for Arts in Natick, steps away from his usual list of friends within the acoustic bluegrass arena in favor of a new group comfortable with jazz fusion and progressive rock. For the most part, it's a great success. Featuring all original compositions (two-thirds by Trischka himself), the music still has hints of bluegrass but is best compared to earlier King Crimson or Mahavishnu Orchestra records or perhaps to one of Bill Bruford's jazz jams of the '80s.

The CD features superb musicianship and gives a clear sense of the freedom afforded each contributor. Bassist Marco Accattatis and saxophonist Michael Amendola are Berklee-educated and reinforce Trischka's jazz leanings. Drummer Grisha Alexiev has 26 years of collaborative experience with jazzmen like Anthony Braxton, as well as stints with people as different as soul artist Archie Bell and minimalist avant-garde composer John Cage.

The strangest presence in the band is the guitarist, Glenn Sherman. An accomplished self-taught player who sounds a little like Alan Holdsworth, Sherman has roots that are far different from his bandmates. He learned by listening and playing along with records and considers himself a student of Billy Jones of the Outlaws, as well as Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Despite this, his progressive-rock playing meshes quite well on the instrumentals. Unfortunately, Sherman's one original vocal number, "Feed the Horse," is a great misstep, dramatically breaking up the flow of the CD (it's here that Sherman's '70s Southern roots shine through, though not to good advantage). To his credit, Trischka gives his collaborators free reign to stretch -- Sherman has said, "Tony allows everybody to explore the music in their own way."

Perhaps that's because Trischka is so well-rounded himself. Like most music fans, he's not just into one type of music, having been raised on a combination of jazz, classical, folk, '60s protest tunes, and the Beatles. Trischka started playing banjo in 1963, after hearing the Kingston Trio's recording of "Charlie and the MTA," and went on to perform in Country Cookin' during the '70s. It was with the New York band Skyline in the '80s that Trischka hit it big, and his name became associated with progressive bluegrass or newgrass (Skyline are currently on a reunion tour). Trischka has also collaborated with fiddler Darol Anger, mandolinist Mike Marshall, guitarist David Grier, and bassist Todd Phillips in the extremely progressive band Psychograss.

It's certain his influence will be felt for years to come, as people like Mike Gordon of Phish and Bela Fleck watch his constantly evolving and boundary-breaking music. In typical fashion, at this year's Merlefest concert in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, Trischka walked from one stage where he played progressive jazz-influenced jams with Psychograss to another, 10 minutes later, where he played traditional music alongside Earl Scruggs, the inventor of bluegrass banjo. Scruggs's 1945 contribution to Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys is about as far back in history as most banjoists look. Despite the debt he owes Scruggs, Trischka has spent his career tracing the roots of the banjo as far back as the 17th century, becoming educated in every banjo-related tradition and trying to apply its assets to every genre imaginable. He'll be interesting to watch for quite a while.

Tony Trischka and Skyline play at 8 p.m. on August 13 at the Center for the Arts in Natick. Tickets are $12. Call 647-0179. The Tony Trischka Band play on Saturday at the Berkfest '99, the Berkshire Mountain Music Festival at the Butternut Basin Ski Area, Great Barrington. For time and ticket information, call (888) 245-7081.