A Prairie Portrait

Texans like to tout Fort Worth as "where the West begins." It's a former cattle town turned teeming metropolis, where the heritage of the West remains faintly alive amidst a modern, urban setting. What better place (and time--Fort Worth's sesquicentennial) for staging this serendipitous collaboration of two seemingly disparate American musical styles: modern classical symphonics and old-time cowboy music and poetry? The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra opens--or rather, unleashes--A Prairie Portrait (recorded in Fort Worth's famed Bass Performance Hall) with a medley of "Yellow Rose of Texas," "Streets of Laredo" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas" so dramatic that you can close your eyes and see John Wayne galloping across the high plains in an old John Ford movie. Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell enlivens this powerful, seamless musical tapestry with prosaic, yet earnest recitations like "Commutin'" and "Sage & Cedar," where he ruminates on everything from the existence of God to the price of beef. But the real centerpiece and anchor is veteran cowboy singer Don Edwards. With his rich, honeyed baritone (often delightfully reminiscent of the late, great Marty Robbins), Edwards reminds us that he's among the elite of living Western singers. --Bob Allen