Vinyl Vault: Ross Traut/Steve Rodby, “The Great Lawn”

The Vinyl Vault will feature a duet album from guitarist Ross Traut and bassist Steve Rodby entitled "The Great Lawn.” The album was released in 1989 on Columbia Records.

Rodby is best known for his work with the Pat Metheny Group. He joined the group in 1981 and spent the next three decades in that band, earning multiple Grammy and other awards along the way. While a member of the PMG, Rodby began producing the group’s albums and has continued that aspect of his career since leaving the group.

Traut recorded another album with Rodby, The Duo Life (Columbia, 1991), as well as an album with a full band, Ross Traut (Headfirst, 1981). He has also recorded with a diverse array of musicians such as James Taylor, Eliane Elias and Curtis Mayfield. Over the last few years, Traut has moved into another vocation as a dealer in Navajo rugs and pottery.

The Great Lawn features covers of pop songs and jazz standards as well as a few original compositions. Traut’s playing has been compared to Pat Metheny, and The Great Lawn has a feeling of Metheny’s duet album with bassist Charlie Haden, Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve, 1997)   

Join Geoff Anderson on Tuesday, December 23, at 8:30 p.m. for the next Vinyl Vault on KUVO JAZZ.