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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Tony Rice (born in Danville, Virginia, but raised in Los Angeles, and residing in Kentucky since 1970) is one of the great innovators of American folk guitar; but above all, he is one of the men who, along with David Grisman and Norman Blake, created the idea of folk music performed in the style of classical music. In the early 1970s, Rice was part of the New South (with Ricky Scaggs on violin and mandolin and Jerry Douglas on dobro), with whom he recorded a milestone of modern and progressive bluegrass, J.D. Crowe & the New South (Rounder, 1974).
His first solo albums were Guitar (1973) California Autumn (1975) Tony Rice (1977).
He then joined the Quintet of David Grisman, with whom he remained until the end of the decade.
He then formed his own band
(with Sam Bush, Richard Greene, Mike Marshall, and David Grisman) and
recorded Acoustics (Rounder, 1979),
in a jazz-influenced style, followed by
Church Street Blues (1983).
He also founded, with other mavericks, the Bluegrass Album Band, which recorded modern variations on the old genre.
His solo albums did not reach the level of his early work, somewhat overshadowed by his friend Gordon Lightfoot.
Manzanita (Rounder, 1979) is a simple collection of covers.
Cold On The Shoulder (Rounder, 1984) is perhaps the best of his
albums.
Me & My Guitar (Rounder, 1986) and Native American (Rounder, 1988) continue the halfway formula between singer-songwriter and jazzgrass.
Mar West (Rounder, 1980), Still Inside (Rounder 150, 1981), and Backwaters (Rounder, 1982) are instead ensemble albums in which he gave his best vision of acoustic music for a folk-jazz orchestra.
He returned with the all-instrumental Unit of Measure (Rounder, 2001).
Rice died at the end of 2020 at the age of 69.
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