The Bill Monroe Collection

Released in celebration the late, great Bill Monroe’s 100th birthday, this compilation brings together the best of Tony Rice’s interpretations of the bluegrass pioneer’s songs and instrumental pieces. The album reaches back over a 15-year span to include solo recordings by Rice, as well as tracks done with The Rice Brothers, David Grisman, and The Bluegrass Album Band (an ‘80s supergroup featuring such stellar players as J.D. Crowe and Norman Blake). Collectively, they capture Rice’s extraordinary fluency and imagination as a guitarist and the enduring strengths of Monroe as a composer. Versions of “I’m on My Way Back to the Old Home,” “River of Death,” and “You’re Drifting Away” invoke the aching nostalgia and deep-rooted faith of Appalachian music while adding something new. Jimmie Rodgers’ “Muleskinner Blues” (the only tune here not written by Monroe) is a particular gem, rendered with jaunty, virtuosic fire. Instrumentals like “Jerusalem Ridge” and “Stoney Lonesome” reaffirm Monroe’s crucial role in making bluegrass a vibrant contemporary genre.