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Matt Flinner - The View From Here
Reviewed by David McCarty

If you can truly tell the value of a musician by the company he keeps, then Matt Flinner is sitting awfully pretty these days. His trio album (reviewed in the last Mandolin Magazine) with David Grier and Todd Phillips, is certainly one of last year's most important and influential CDs.

That CD alone would have been enough to solidify Flinner's growing reputation not only as a world-class mandolinist but also as an extremely gifted composer. But, he's also released a solo CD, The View From Here, which brought him together with such outstanding players as Stuart Duncan, Tim O'Brien, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall and Jerry Douglas, in addition to the aforementioned Grier and Phillips.

Over the course of ten original tunes, Flinner ranges from progressive bluegrass, jazz-tinged melodies like Another Alley, Celtic-sounding pieces and more material that's just simply original in its musical expression. Generating a sweet, singing tone from his Gilchrist F-5 on the endearingly lyrical The Village Road, Flinner has great chops as a soloist and plays brilliant backup rhythm and accompaniment.

As a composer, he creates arresting, memorable melodies and challenging chord progression that give each soloist an interesting musical foundation over which to perform.

Red Shift and Black's Fork are the kinds of tunes many other mandolinists will be challenged to try to unravel, and don' be surprised if someone calls out a Flinner original at your next festival jam session.

Throughout The View From Here, the listener has the sense that this is a seasoned, mature work filled with great musical interplay and dynamic interpretation of some unusually creative and compelling material. Look for much, much more from this bright, inventive musician in the future. (Compass Records, 117 30th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212)

Song List: Red Shift, Black's Fork, Nowthen, City Chickens, Cold Quarters, Wilson Bridge, The Village Road, DnA, Another Alley, The View From Here.

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