You recognize success in mixing genres when connoisseurs on either side think the music is beyond their field. My friend, a venerable bluegrass expert, recommended Goat Rodeo Sessions to me, saying he failed to understand the classical nuances. After I listened to this album, I wanted to give it back, lamenting my disappointingly insufficient comprehension of bluegrass. It was then that I realized how perfect this album really is.  

 In classical music, one must think big; of larger musical forms, key changes, and interplay of voices. In bluegrass, one has to think more humbly of melodies, rhythms, and smaller arrangements. Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan, Chris Thile, and Aoife O’Donovan (I mention them individually because they’re all phenomenal) bring together a brilliant balance between these two methods. The first track, “Attaboy,” sucks you in with its dancing rhythms. “No One But You,” with O’Donovan’s beautiful voice, is humble and poignant. “13:8” jumps from dance-like rhythms to slow, heart-wrenching dissonances. The finale, “Goat Rodeo,” exploits every mechanism in both genres. At some point the cello and fiddle are in Bach-esque canon in bluegrass rhythm. At another, the banjo is strutting in the background as the strings build agonizingly beautiful Wagnerian chords. 

Every track in this album is different. The crossover allows for vast possibilities, and they exploit them to every emotional end. My apologies in advance if you end up half as addicted to this album as I am.

—Akiva Toren