The mightiest of chops

Best of the Dixie Dregs By the Dixie Dregs Polygram Records: 1988 Search the world for your music!

by Jim Trageser
This review first appeared in the October/November 1988 issue of A Critique of America.

Fusion encompasses both rock and jazz elements – with some fusion groups labeled jazz, like Return to Forever and Weather Report, while others were called rock, such as Santana's mid-period combo or Blood, Sweat & Tears.

But no one ever really figured out where to put the Dixie Dregs, perhaps because while the other groups were generally musicians from one tradition or the other trying to play crossover music, the Dregs seemed to draw equally from both sources.

The Dregs' musicianship was unquestioned, the songwriting excellent. "Best of" encompasses tunes from the early and middle periods of the Dregs' existence. The recording quality is excellent; Steve Morse's guitar playing incredible.