evocative (Dreanought, 2009)

Music buyers tend to drift toward genre they enjoy which can make it hard to find genre-less music - and that describes evocative. With David Grier, a topnotch guitarist at the center, it has a touch of country (think of Chet Atkins when he ventured away from country) and a touch of jazz and a light touch of bluegrass.

And it's all great.

Four Dogs Jogging, (Scott Vestal on banjo and Stuart Duncan on fiddle) could easily be adapted into a hard driving bluegrass piece. (All numbers were written by Grier.) Meditate has a country beat and enhancements with keyboard and steel guitar; a laid-back easy piece that sounds as much Dire Straits as Atkins while High Atop Princess Cove leaves you searching for some good memory that's just out of reach.

Instrumental mastery is sometimes driven home like a sharp spike: a hard-driving banjo on a bluegrass number. With this CD, the mastery is there, but it's a smooth blend that pours over you like aloe - music for a rainy day, a log fire, close your eyes and just enjoy it.