Album of the Day

Roots to Branches, by Jethro Tull (1995): When I was in college, my friend and I went to a local music store for a clinic featuring uber bass player Vic Wooten. Neither of us were bass players, but we figured it might still be cool to see Vic strut his stuff up close. As it turns out, it was a joint clinic with another bassist named Steve Bailey, whom I'd never heard of before. He seemed talented enough, but as we stood in line to talk to Vic, I was confronted with the daunting task of making small talk with this musician who I didn't even know existed 90 minutes earlier. My honesty got the best of me, and I simply told him that I hadn't heard any of his work. At that point, he told me that he was on, what was then, the newest Jethro Tull album, Roots to Branches. Hey, I said, I actually had that one. What I didn't say is that I didn't notice anything all that interesting about the bass playing. But it passed the time and eased a weird interlude.

Thats what I think of anytime I pull this disc out.