No Place Better (Patuxent Music, 2006) is the debut solo album from guitarist Jordan Tice, recorded while he was still in high school and demonstrating the flat-pick facility and musical maturity that would later make him a first-call acoustic collaborator in Washington D.C. and Nashville bluegrass circles. Tice plays guitar throughout; Akira Otsuka plays mandolin; Ron Stewart plays fiddle; and Mark Schatz provides bass. The album presents Tice's clean, rhythmically assured flat-pick style in original compositions and instrumental pieces suited to a working bluegrass ensemble. Patuxent Music, the Washington-area independent label with a sustained commitment to acoustic music, provided the project a natural home. No Place Better remains a notable early statement from one of the most compositionally ambitious guitarists of his generation.
Tracklist
- 1 Last Summer 3:35
- 2 Donegal Bay 2:14
- 3 Whatever Makes You Happy 4:36
- 4 Celia's Rel 3:53
- 5 Things Left Unsaid 4:17
- 6 Cuckoo’s Nest Source Recording 3:30
- 7 Indian Summer 4:45
- 8 Banjo Bit Me in the Morning 2:47
- 9 Wicker Basket 4:09
- 10 Jeans Reel/The Girls at Martinsfield 4:10
- 11 No Place Better 3:48
