by Ken Dryden
David Grisman doesn't stick exclusively to mandolin on this top-notch duo date with guitarist Martin Taylor, playing mandola, mandocello, tenor guitar, and guitar as well. As on this album's predecessor, the two artists play a different vintage instrument on each track, though the music this time is much more familiar to jazz fans. The interpretations of such classics as &Swanee,& &Anything Goes,& &Blue Moon,& and &Over the Rainbow& are consistently both stunning and fresh. The gems among the jazz compositions include Django Reinhardt's &Tears& and a tour de force arrangement of Chick Corea's &Crystal Silence.& Two surprising tracks are the usually trite &Mairzy Doats& (an irritating song that was a huge hit in the '40s) and the very snappy take of the often tedious &Besame Mucho&; when musicians the caliber of Grisman and Taylor can make something out of unpromising songs like these, it demonstrates how gifted they are. Highly recommended.