Andrew Collins is a part of the firmament.

He’s the mercurial, five times JUNO-nominated and six times CFMA winning mando-maestro behind two of Canada’s top-billed string bands – The Foggy Hogtown Boys and the Creaking Tree String Quartet.

He’s an adventurous musical explorer melding new worlds together in his voracious quest for musical fulfillment, landing somewhere between the re-imagined worlds of Béla Fleck and Newgrass invader, David Grisman.

Together with fellow members of the Andrew Collins Trio (ACT) – string guru Mike Mezzatesta and in-the-pocket bassist James McEleney – good times are sure to be had when they serve up their sophomore release And It Was Good at the Clawhammer Gallery, Nov. 22 (7 p.m., 441c 2nd Ave, 778-519-5010, Fernie).

Sitting atop a catalogue representing two solo records, 11 collaborative releases, and two with his Trio, Collins appears to live by the old adage, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” – because “And It Was Good” tackles Creation itself – likely keeping him just ahead of the devil’s grasp.

On his Trio’s new disc, all three players assault the seven days of Creation, brilliantly rendering each day’s story to secular musical fruition in this new, Chamber Grass disc. And It Was Good IS good – a labour of love inspired by the late Oliver Schroer, if not overseen by his musical specter.

The result is a lush-sounding, multi-layered composition bringing fresh meaning to an age-old story while demonstrating the depth of musicianship from each of these three inspirational players.
 The trio’s instrumentation (mandolin, mandocello, fiddle, guitar, bass, mandola) is augmented by the Phantasmagoria String Quartet to add necessary shading and colour to each track, all carefully composed by Collins. Opening with “Light from the Darkness”, the use of mandolins, bass and strings transforms the concept of nothingness into the semblance of light appearing through two distinct movements that build in intensity as the world awakens.

The title track representing the last day breaks into what can only be called a gleeful, up-tempo celebration of life itself. The mandolin-driven piece draws heavily upon bluegrass with its bursts of fiddle, backdrop of acoustic guitar while the bass holds down the bottom. Everyone is clearly having a Good time in ‘And It Was Good,’ now that the hard work is done!

The Andrew Collins Trio – admired for their absolute virtuosity – have been somewhat reborn through their re-creation of a story that brings a certain reverence to the party – and a distinctly unique approach to ensemble playing that represents a Second Coming of …shall we say 🙂 …Biblical proportions.

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