Jerry Douglas, Traveller

I don't know about you, but a new Jerry Douglas record is a much-awaited event in my household, ever since the release of one of the best records of the 21st century, Best Kept Secret, in 2005, followed by a very nice little record called Glide in 2008.

Lookout for Hope (2002) is the only other "real" Jerry Douglas record of the century, by the way, though hundreds of records pop up in the discography on Jerry's Web site. But most of these are greatest hits collections and collaborations and side sessions. So a "real" Jerry Douglas record is a rare and wonderful thing, which ("wonderful") is what Lookout for Hope, Best Kept Secret and Glide all have been.

Which brings us to Traveller, just out. The conceit here is that Douglas and his dobro travel the musical landscape from Dr. John's New Orleans to Paul Simon's New York and thence to Spain and Ireland and other points of interest. Ho hum.

The fact is the formula is familiar as Douglas plays instrumental tunes in a variety of styles, augmented by vocal tunes featuring a variety of voices such as Eric Clapton, Keb Mo, Marcus Mumford, Paul Simon, Marc Cohn and Alison Krauss, herself not much of a musical excursion as Douglas is a full-time member of Krauss' band, Union Station.

So the form and format of Traveller is nothing new, with the exception of a rare Douglas vocal on "On a Monday." But it is not, as has been reported, Douglas' 1st recorded vocal. That would be "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" from 1987's Everything Is Gonna Workout Fine, a mere 25 years ago.

Bottom line: Douglas' vocal, while understated to a fault, nevertheless reveals a voice worthy of carrying more of the load in Douglas' repertoire--in much the same way that Clapton's supports but does not challenge his guitar playing for the spotlight. Another Douglas vocal might have been preferable, in fact, to those of the over-exposed guest artists he's chosen to showcase here, including Clapton.

The best of the guest vocals by far is Mumford's on Simon's "The Boxer." Simon himself shows up, imperceptibly, on piano, harmonium, percussion and vocals, according to the liner credits. The vocal is of course vastly stronger than anything Simon could provide and there's a short but tasty dobro solo, but otherwise there's nothing in this arrangement that the songwriter hadn't already thought of. Still it's a pleasant treatment of a song worthy of remembering.

More to the point is Douglas' dobro solo coupling Simon's "American Tune" and Chick Corea's "Spain." As a rule, the vocal pieces supply filler to a Douglas recording while the instrumentals are center stage. Here a vocal treatment of Simon's greatest song would have been welcome. Not by Simon himself nor Douglas. This is too tricky of a song to sing. And not Mumford, it would have to be sung by an American. So, Krauss is the obvious choice. Perhaps Douglas regarded the lyrics as too controversial. Just my point. Sing 'em, sing 'em loud.

Likewise the coupling with "Spain" seems rather pointless.

So overall you've got a lot of vocal filler, and an "American Tune" that represents a huge missed opportunity yet still represents a highlight.

That leaves "So Here We Are," written and played by Douglas, Viktor Krauss and Omar Hakim, and featuring a fuzzy lap steel similar in tone to the beautiful "U R My Flower" from Best Kept Secret. Nicely done.

Next is a repurposing of "Duke and Cookie" from the incredible Telluride Sessions. If you're familiar with the original, this one is a bit sparse as a duet with Sam Bush.

"Gone to Fortingall" features Douglas on everything, Bela Fleck, and the rhythm section of Krauss and Hakim. As the title suggests, it's the "Irish" tune and it's pleasant enough but nothing special.

Traveller concludes with "King Silkie," a fast-paced bluegrass jam written by Douglas and Dan Tyminski, and featuring Bush, Tyminski, Charlie Cushman on banjo, and Luke Bulla stealing the show on fiddle. Douglas suggests that "American Tune/Spain" is the recording's heart and soul. I'd say this is it.

All in all, the featured instrumentals add up to substantially less than those from Douglas first two recordings of this century--Lookout for Hope and Next Best Secret--and whose guest vocal tracks, with the exception of "The Boxer," are lacking in anything new. By comparison, "Swing Blues" from Next Best Secret was a home run because you don't get a chance to hear John Fogerty very often.

So I've found lots to lament about Traveller. Yet it's one of the two best recordings yet this year, along with Kathleen Edwards' Voyageur (wow, there's a nice little bit of parallelism in Traveller and Voyageur as co-records of the year, don't ya think?). This says a lot about the year in music, but it also says that with Jerry Douglas, even a miss is not to be missed.