Track Listing

1. Big Bug Shuffle
2. Why Don't You Go Back to the Woods
3. Hymn of Ordinary Motion
4. From Ankara to Izmir
5. Travels of Mr. Hulot
6. Big Sciota
7. Squeezy Pig
8. Monkey Bay
9. Years Between
10. Earl of Hyndford/Open the Present
11. Here on Earth

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15789 in Music
• Released on: 1993-10-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

The ultimate desert island disc!
How much do I love this record? My apartment was robbed while I was buying one for a friend, and I still can't get enough of it. Now that I'm living in France, I've already ordered a copy from this site and figure that that's only the beginning. "Skip, Hop & Wobble" features three of America's greatest national treasures, Douglas on Dobro, Barenberg on guitar, and Meyer on arco bass. For added measure, and pleasure, Sam Bush and his mandolin guest on a couple of tunes. Though bluegrass traditionalists might take initial, acoustic offense at the jazzier cuts, and be bewildered by Meyer's bass fingering (why stop at the end of the fingerboard when there's still another sound expanse?), even the old-timiest among them will eventually come round. Proof positive?--the trio honed its licks at many a bluegrass festival. Owning this disc is the next best thing to keeping the guys around as your permanent nonstrolling troubadours.

Satisfies My Desire for More "Strength in Numbers!"
"The Telluride Sessions" by Strength in Numbers has been one of my favorite recordings since it came out around 1990. So far, the instrumental masters Jerry Douglas (dobro), Edgar Meyer (string bass), Mark O'Connor (fiddle), Bela Fleck (banjo) and Sam Bush (mandolin) have only done one complete--and superb--album together. Fortunately, they continue to appear on each other's albums, and often in new groups, such as this one featuring Douglas and Meyer, with the outstanding guitarist Russ Barenberg.

While Strength in Numbers explores a blending of bluegrass, jazz, classical, folk, blues and even reggae, here Douglas/Barenburg/Meyer stick closer to the bluegrass and folksy side of things, probably because of the presence of a guitar player on all the cuts.

This is a pleasant instrumental CD to put on and listen to, especially as background music in my school library. While the virtuosity of these guys is apparant on all the cuts--and they blend together nicely--it never comes out and "wows" you like it does on "Strength."

I gave this CD a 5 star rating because I really do enjoy it. But on those days when I really need a musical pick-me-up, I still put on Strength in Numbers. I hope all five guys get together again, but in the mean time, this is one of the albums that satisfies my cravings, along with Bela Fleck's "Tales from the Acoustic Planet," as well as "Appalachia Waltz" and "Appalachian Journey" by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor and "Uncommon Ritual" by Edgar Meyer, with Bela Fleck and Mike Marshall.

Open Your Ears
I am constantly astonished by the compositional skills, emsemble work, and flat out picking virtuosity that is displayed on "Skip, Hop, and Wobble." One could make a case that this effort is driven by any of the Bareberg/Douglas/Meyer triumverate, but that would miss the point. Like "Strength in Numbers," and the original "David Grisman Quintet" effort, "Skip, Hop, and Wobble" defies catagorization - forget about any preconceptions about bluegrass, jazz, classical, or whatever musical orientation brought you to this offering and just enjoy the mystery to the intro of "The Earl of Hynford/Open the Present" medley, the humour of "Squeezy Pig" and "Why Don't You Go Back to the Woods", the majesty of "The Years Between" and "Here on Earth", and the flat out drive of "Big Bug Shuffle" and "Big Sciota." And while you're at it, marvel at how much variety and complexity can be achieved with three instruments at the lower end of the tonal universe.