Sue Powers and Jeff Berman Create Appalasia with Mimi Jong

Dulcimer Players News/ Winter 2016

APPALASIA – CARGO CD review by Jerry Rockwell

AppalAsia is a fantastic trio hailing from Pittsburgh PA, consisting of Jeff Berman on dulcimer, baritone dulcimer, vibraphone, percussion, and voice, Mimi Jong on erhu, zhonghu (both Chinese bowed instruments), accordion, and voice, and Susan Powers on banjo and voice. Their new album Cargo also includes Jeff Grubbs on bass. While Cargo is not a dulcimer album per se, Jeff Berman’s sensitive fingerstyle is evident throughout the recording. Jeff is also the producer and the composer of five of the originals on this CD. I heard AppalAsia recently in a house concert in Northeast Ohio and a few things really stood out for me.

First, Jeff’s dulcimer and Susan’s clawhammer banjo seem to merge as one, and I often had trouble hearing the individual parts; the rhythmic flow and groove is really outstanding. Second, Susan has a voice you won’t forget, at once earthy and bluesy as it is mysterious and haunting. Two of her songs which have these qualities are “Up and Down The River” and “Halloween Waltz”. Third, Mimi’s expert erhu playing adds a wonderful, very expressive dimension to their overall sound, and to my ears, it doesn’t sound as exotic or Eastern as I expected.

This is hard to explain, but the trio just sounds totally right- like they have been playing together for centuries. They said at the concert that they all had set out to write music specifically for this unique ensemble, and to me, they have succeeded brilliantly. Jeff is a gifted composer and the opening track “Cargo” is a real standout for me. There is an intro that establishes the rhythmic foundation for the piece; first on the dulcimer, then the banjo flows in, and when the erhu comes in for the main theme, it just completely captures your attention. Other pieces of Jeff’s that I especially liked were “Early Warning” and “Dark Sky City”. Some of the time signatures and the melodic phrasing on these tunes is a bit challenging for my ears, but it is extremely refreshing and inspiring; especially when I realize it’s coming from a mountain dulcimer! Jeff is also an accomplished jazz vibraphonist and percussionist, and his composing style draws naturally from the jazz influences. Jeff has developed a very unique style of playing on the dulcimer.

I don’t think I’ve heard any other dulcimer player with such a subtle and gentle approach, though the late, great Roger Nicholson certainly comes close. Jeff uses the subtle dynamic range of the dulcimer so skillfully, at times almost “feathering” the strings with the bare fingers of his right hand. Many of his tunes feature very quick, and cleanly executed, hammer-ons and pull-offs with the left hand, reminding me of Leo Kretzner’s amazing style among these lines. I highly recommend this CD. Jeff Berman is making an important contribution to the music of the mountain dulcimer both as a composer and a performer, and Cargo shows these contributions very well.