In our brave new world of great flatpickers, Mark Cosgrove is something very special. Winning the National Flatpicking Championships was just the start for this exceptionally talented guitarist. Building on his excellent debut island, "Good Medicine," Cosgrove displays not only an astounding technical prowess, but a sophisticated sense of musical taste and balance. He's mastered one of the hardest challenges facing a music - creating a musical sound and style that's unique while remaining true to their musical roots.

Round Island abounds with seriously stunning guitar work, often backed by the exceptionally talented musicians from Skyline (Tony Trischka on banjo, Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin, Larry Cohen on bass) and other greats such as jazz fiddler Matt Glaser. The title cut is an original tour de force for Mark featuring his lickety-split linear licks flavored with jazzy double stops and syncopated melodic figures. Mark,s tone is clear as a Colorado cascade, yet retains an insistent bite and punch that emphatically makes his musical point time after time.

Other instrumental tunes such as "Heel and Toe Polka," and the John Hickman/Byron Berline classic "Ghost Dance" are fast without being overly flashy or losing sight of the melody. On Buck White's "Broken Dreams" Mark displays a gorgeous, languid tone dripping with emotion and empathy. This is a straight-shot into Mark Cosgrove's musical soul, and every guitarist who hears it will be richer for the experience. Reflecting influences from Doc Watson to Clarence White to Stephen Bennett, Cosgrove's guitar style throughout this recording is daring and fanciful, yet he manages to never put a note wrong or misplace an accent.

Those skills come into even greater play when he tackles two true jazz classics. "Limehouse Blues" is the kind of contest-dominating arrangement he,s famous for; lyrical, inventive and fast as a falcon in free-fall. Even more challenging is his flattop be-bop arrangement of Charlie Parker,s immortal classic, "Ornithology." He slides and glides through the tricky head like he,s copping sax licks inflection by inflection on his Collings. Dancing through the demanding changes, he manages to make Yardbird sound like he was writing these tunes for progressive acoustic musicians, not hard-core jazzers playing the back-end clubs of Harlem and Kansas City every night.

As impressive as Mark,s instrumental work is here, the vocal tunes offer another side of this talented artist. Although not a great singer, he delivers tunes like the Beatles, "Fixing A Hole" and Artie Traum's "Barbed Wire" very effectively.

Overall, Round Island has quickly become one of my favorite recent CDs. Mark, in my opinion, deserves the same kind of recognition players like Kenny Smith, Bryan Sutton and Tim Stafford are receiving. With wider exposure, this CD should go a long way toward helping more people discover this great guitarist.

Song List:

• Round Island
• Barbed Wire
• Heel & Toe Polka
• Lucky Break
• Ornithology
• Maple On The Hill
• Broken Dreams
• Not In My Arms
• Ghost Dance
• Fixing A Hole
• Limehouse Blues

Flatpicking Mercantile | Flatpicking Guitar Magazine Main Page