AS THE WORLD GRITS

Another obscure act from the 70's,which didn't manage to record an official album during the years of its existence.Grits came from the Washingtin area,US,featuring four classically-trained musicians and started their music journey around 1970.Founder of the band keyboardist Rick Barse wrote most of the band's material,which included also female singer/bassist/violin player Amy Taylor,drummer/singer Bob Simms and guitarist/singer Tom Wright.Thanks to Cuneiform Records Records,material between 1971 and 1975 was collected and released as a posthumous CD in 1993.

Grits were quite an eclectic band,mixing elements from Classic Rock,Jazz Rock,Country Music,Psychedelic Rock and Classical-inspired keys into an attractive package.The first few tracks are actually Country-flavored psychedelic/classic rock with a few classical influences on keys and both nice male and female vocals.On the other hand ''Plastic jam'' and ''Never Mind'' show dominant Jazz and Classical influences with often a Canterbury edge and great work on electric piano and harpsichord respectively.''Hyattsville Hospital'' shows strong GENTLE GIANT influences.Not everything by the band is great,like the following country-flavored ballad ''The Night You Told Me'' and the mediocre accesible rocker ''Distraction''.''Beef The Diver '' sounds again close to Canterbury Prog in the vein of NATIONAL HEALTH,while ''Glad All Over'' is decent but far from really interesting.''Scared So'' is absolutely satisfying with good violin solos and a classical edge like a mix between MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA and EAST OF EDEN and ''Propably nothing'' is based on the decent vocal harmonies of the band with also interesting keys around,again a style close to GENTLE GIANT.'' Pine Street'' will close the album in a nice way,a long instrumental full of careful interplays,rich instrumentation and heavy Jazz- and Symphonic-influenced sections.

Grits are actually way better than a lot of bands,which eventually got an opportunity for an official release during the 70's,but do not expect something really extraordinary.The musicians are talented,most of the compositions are well-executed,but you wont find anything deserving a special mention here,not to refer that a couple of tracks are rather dated.Nevertheless,this album is a good and pleasant listening,nothing more or less.Recommended.