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Cliff Waldron's New Shades of Grass are best known as the band that helped spawn the progressive Seldom Scene, but this strong 17-song collection, plucked from the New Shades' early-'70s Rebel recordings, proves Waldron's unit was not without its own considerable merits. Nine of the cuts boast the substantial talents of Dobro wiz Mike Auldridge and banjo picker Ben Eldridge, who, along with Country Gentlemen John Duffey and Tom Gray, would form the Seldom Scene in 1971. Waldron himself proves to be a delightfully mellow singer who boldly chose material from nontraditional sources. In addition to classics from Grandpa Jones, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers, Waldron adds a pair of Merle Haggard tunes plus one each from country-folkies Tom T. Hall, Ian Tyson, and Eric Andersen. Waldron's New Shades of Grass fill a crucial spot between the Gentlemen and the Scene in Washington, D.C., bluegrass lore. --Marc Greilsamer