None But One/High Hills and Mountains (1992)

A pair of Jean Ritchie's albums from the 1970s and early 1980s, one amazingly enough originally issued by Sire Records (actually, Sire had a commitment to all kinds of music in the 1970s, and issued one major bluegrass soundtrack, to the movie Banjoman, at the time). The music -- played in a simple yet virtuoso manner on traditional instruments -- crosses from the secular to the religious and back, and there's one piece,"Wondrous Love," that's an amazing choral workout and worth the price of the CD by itself. The music ... Read More

A pair of Jean Ritchie's albums from the 1970s and early 1980s, one amazingly enough originally issued by Sire Records (actually, Sire had a commitment to all kinds of music in the 1970s, and issued one major bluegrass soundtrack, to the movie Banjoman, at the time). The music -- played in a simple yet virtuoso manner on traditional instruments -- crosses from the secular to the religious and back, and there's one piece,"Wondrous Love," that's an amazing choral workout and worth the price of the CD by itself. The music itself seems to have come from another world and another time, which makes the fact that much of it was recorded in New York City seem totally incongruous. The sound is excellent, but the layout of the combined sleeve notes is downright confusing. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi Read Less