Swing Low, Sweet Mandolin

Chronique

Kenneth Jethro Burns' reputation was built on the country comedy records he made with Homer Haynes over several decades as one-half of Homer & Jethro, though it was only after his partner's death that many fans began to comprehend how talented a mandolin player he was. Fortunately, David Grisman (a master mandolin player himself), like many fellow pickers, had long admired Burns' musicianship. He was delighted to learn that guitarist Don Stiernberg had recorded a series of intimate duo sessions with him in 1987 and 1988, prior to Burns' death from cancer in 1989, so he released an initial CD of some of this music on his Acoustic Disc label in 1995. Stiernberg, who set up the microphones and wrote some of the charts, sticks exclusively to rhythm guitar in order to feature Burns exclusively in the lead. The choice of songs reflects Burns' wide taste in great American music: standards ("Just Friends," "Body and Soul" and "Stella by Starlight"), country tunes ("You Win Again"), jazz compositions ("Solitude"), and even a spiritual ("Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"). In spite of his ill health, his musical sense of humor was still present, with a brief detour into the corny pop song "Mairzy Doats" in the middle of "Body and Soul." Though he must have been feeling the effects of his fatal illness, Burns is in top form, managing to record eight to ten usable takes per session. The sound is exquisite and there is not one track that isn't delightful. Grisman later issued a second volume of music, Bye Bye Blues, from these same sessions in 1997, so one can only hope that additional tracks await release in the years to come.
© Ken Dryden /TiVo