From the MAy 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine, the world's most prestigious jazz and instrumental music magazine...
What’s old is new again for bassist Dave Pomeroy, mandolin/fiddle player Andy Leftwich and dobro master Rob Ickes on Three Ring Circle. The thin line between jazz and bluegrass has always been permeable, and the working definition of an acoustic jam-band is not so far removed from this old-fashioned-fusion-Americana. These three guys are monster players; there’s nothing that they can’t handle instrumentally. As a group, they play mostly original material---showcasing huge chops and smart, concise interplay. No one player ever stands out in this well-balanced trio.
Opening with a clever, funky, tuneful rendition of “You Know What I Mean” (the opening song on Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow), the band struts and solos with confidence and restraint. Pomeroy is a propulsive bas splayer, while dobro player Ickes and mandolinist Leftwich can both fly at top speed. The group’s interaction is a highlight, as are the album’s shifting musical landscapes and impressive solo voices.”
With all this nuanced virtuosity it would have been nice to hear a few more cover tunes---thereby injecting a little more humor into the proceedings as well as further juxtapositions of disparate styles.
Mitch Myers - Downbeat
Opening with a clever, funky, tuneful rendition of “You Know What I Mean” (the opening song on Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow), the band struts and solos with confidence and restraint. Pomeroy is a propulsive bas splayer, while dobro player Ickes and mandolinist Leftwich can both fly at top speed. The group’s interaction is a highlight, as are the album’s shifting musical landscapes and impressive solo voices.”
With all this nuanced virtuosity it would have been nice to hear a few more cover tunes---thereby injecting a little more humor into the proceedings as well as further juxtapositions of disparate styles.
Mitch Myers - Downbeat
From NO DEPRESSION magazine...
"A self-described "jamgrass acoustic power trio", Three Ring Circle consists of Blue Highway's resonator guitarist Rob Ickes, Ricky Skaggs' fiddler and mandolin player Andy Leftwich and Nashville bassist-about-town Dave Pomeroy. The trio have been making regular appearances in Nashville for several years, and the experience has given them a chance to develop a tight familiarity with one another that belies their nominal "side project" status. What they've come up with is a sound and repertoire cohesive enough to make one forget that there's no conventional rhythm section. Melding sweet lyricism, audacious virtuosity and greasy funk in extended takes on both originals and well-chosen covers, Three Ring Circle's debut is both bold and engrossing in a way that's likely to take listeners who know Ickes and Leftwich only from their main gigs by surprise."
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Exceptional bassist lends his talents to special trio project
By Ron Wynn
Bassist Dave Pomeroy has been featured on more than 350 albums as a session player and bandleader, been voted Nashville’s Bassist of the Year in 1997 and Studio Musician of the Year in 1991, and had both instructional and concert videos released both domestically and internationally. But he considers his latest CD Three Ring Circle both one of his most challenging dates and also among the most enjoyable.
The set teams him with Rob Ickes on dobro and Andy Leftwich on mandolin and fiddle and the trio flawlessly perform everything from spectacular bluegrass, country and folk tunes to jazz and pop. Pomeroy and his musical companions will be performing selections from Three Ring Circle tonight at the Station Inn, and he’s quite outspoken regarding the music’s quality and the skills of his band mates.
“This was a real high energy project from start to finish,” Pomeroy said. “We really approach things like some of the power trios from the late 60’s and ‘70s. There weren’t any vocalists on it, so there was really no situation where you could kind of hide behind something or someone. We were all going for it from start to finish. We alternated roles the entire time between doing melody, harmony and rhythm, and it was a completely collaborative venture, both in terms of playing and also the writing.”
The threesome sounds energized and completely at ease with each other in their exchanges and interplay on such songs as “Haywire,” “In The Morning” and “Isn’t She Lovely.” In fact Three Ring Circle may be the only acoustic music project recently released that contains examples of “hot” jazz alongside bluegrass breakdowns and brisk country excursions.
“This trio is something that we want to keep going, even though all of us are very busy with other projects,” Pomeroy said in what’s unquestionably an understatement. Pomeroy’s various endeavors have included heading a bass orchestra with anywhere from 13-22 bassists on stage, contributing to numerous country, folk and bluegrass sessions and even doing the engineering for Three Ring Circle, which was recorded locally at his home studio, the Groove Palace. Ickes is a member of Blue Highway and Leftwich is part of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, but the trio will be doing a limited series of dates over the next few months, including tonight’s Station Inn CD release party.
The disc is currently available online at threeringcircle.com, and Pomeroy said it will eventually also be released to retail stores.
A Nashville music mainstay since 1977, Dave Pomeroy also sees Three Ring Circle as yet another illustration of the amount of musical talent that’s available locally.
“I’ve traveled all over the world and played everywhere and there’s no city with more great players in more styles than Nashville,” Pomeroy said. “This kind of project is a testament to how many different styles the three of us like to play and how much all of us love all types of music.”
The set teams him with Rob Ickes on dobro and Andy Leftwich on mandolin and fiddle and the trio flawlessly perform everything from spectacular bluegrass, country and folk tunes to jazz and pop. Pomeroy and his musical companions will be performing selections from Three Ring Circle tonight at the Station Inn, and he’s quite outspoken regarding the music’s quality and the skills of his band mates.
“This was a real high energy project from start to finish,” Pomeroy said. “We really approach things like some of the power trios from the late 60’s and ‘70s. There weren’t any vocalists on it, so there was really no situation where you could kind of hide behind something or someone. We were all going for it from start to finish. We alternated roles the entire time between doing melody, harmony and rhythm, and it was a completely collaborative venture, both in terms of playing and also the writing.”
The threesome sounds energized and completely at ease with each other in their exchanges and interplay on such songs as “Haywire,” “In The Morning” and “Isn’t She Lovely.” In fact Three Ring Circle may be the only acoustic music project recently released that contains examples of “hot” jazz alongside bluegrass breakdowns and brisk country excursions.
“This trio is something that we want to keep going, even though all of us are very busy with other projects,” Pomeroy said in what’s unquestionably an understatement. Pomeroy’s various endeavors have included heading a bass orchestra with anywhere from 13-22 bassists on stage, contributing to numerous country, folk and bluegrass sessions and even doing the engineering for Three Ring Circle, which was recorded locally at his home studio, the Groove Palace. Ickes is a member of Blue Highway and Leftwich is part of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, but the trio will be doing a limited series of dates over the next few months, including tonight’s Station Inn CD release party.
The disc is currently available online at threeringcircle.com, and Pomeroy said it will eventually also be released to retail stores.
A Nashville music mainstay since 1977, Dave Pomeroy also sees Three Ring Circle as yet another illustration of the amount of musical talent that’s available locally.
“I’ve traveled all over the world and played everywhere and there’s no city with more great players in more styles than Nashville,” Pomeroy said. “This kind of project is a testament to how many different styles the three of us like to play and how much all of us love all types of music.”
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Three Ring Circle makes musical magic
By PETER COOPER
Staff Writer
Rob Ickes is a busy fellow, what with his concert appearances with bluegrass supergroup Blue Highway, his session work with a who's who of country and bluegrass artists and his devotion to mastering the Dobro, one of music's most difficult and idiosyncratic instruments.
"When I was growing up, I thought if you were going to play music you would have to push the boundaries, and I still believe that," said Ickes, a seven-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Dobro Player of the Year award. "There's always more to say on this instrument."
Ickes has found that one means of expanding his musical vocabulary is to place himself and his Dobro in settings where they haven't been before. With that in mind, he and two other acclaimed players — mandolin player Andy Leftwich and bass virtuoso Dave Pomeroy — have formed a border-leaping "jamgrass acoustic power trio" called Three Ring Circle, which plays a show on Friday at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant in Leiper's Fork.
On its eponymous debut album, the Circle plays practically unclassifiable music, much of it composed by the members. The three cover songs are from tellingly disparate sources: Stevie Wonder, Jeff Beck and gypsy jazz guitarist Bireli Lagrene.
"Every time I do a gig with these guys, I feel like I've learned a lot about my instrument and what I can do on it," Ickes said. "Three Ring Circle is sort of a laboratory, but it still sounds good. I don't know if anyone's done a Dobro/bass/mandolin trio before. It makes you think differently about how you play. Our motto is 'Three is all you need.' "
By PETER COOPER
Staff Writer
Rob Ickes is a busy fellow, what with his concert appearances with bluegrass supergroup Blue Highway, his session work with a who's who of country and bluegrass artists and his devotion to mastering the Dobro, one of music's most difficult and idiosyncratic instruments.
"When I was growing up, I thought if you were going to play music you would have to push the boundaries, and I still believe that," said Ickes, a seven-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Dobro Player of the Year award. "There's always more to say on this instrument."
Ickes has found that one means of expanding his musical vocabulary is to place himself and his Dobro in settings where they haven't been before. With that in mind, he and two other acclaimed players — mandolin player Andy Leftwich and bass virtuoso Dave Pomeroy — have formed a border-leaping "jamgrass acoustic power trio" called Three Ring Circle, which plays a show on Friday at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant in Leiper's Fork.
On its eponymous debut album, the Circle plays practically unclassifiable music, much of it composed by the members. The three cover songs are from tellingly disparate sources: Stevie Wonder, Jeff Beck and gypsy jazz guitarist Bireli Lagrene.
"Every time I do a gig with these guys, I feel like I've learned a lot about my instrument and what I can do on it," Ickes said. "Three Ring Circle is sort of a laboratory, but it still sounds good. I don't know if anyone's done a Dobro/bass/mandolin trio before. It makes you think differently about how you play. Our motto is 'Three is all you need.' "
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"Many thanks for sending us a copy of Three Ring Circle's jaw- dropping debut. Rob, Andy, and Dave have no equals on their instruments so it's no surprise that the disc just explodes with fiery picking and mesmerizing arrangements. I especially enjoyed "Thompson's Camp/Oscar's Dream," "Haywire" and "Moon Over San Bernardino."