“EMD” is a David Grisman composition from 1977 — the title an abbreviation of the piece’s tonality, E minor Dorian — and one of the anchor tracks on the David Grisman Quintet’s self-titled debut on Kaleidoscope Records, the album that introduced “dawg music” to a wider string-band world. The DGQ debut was recorded live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and released in 1977; its combination of jazz improvisation, bluegrass technique, and acoustic swing established a hybrid style that influenced a generation of progressive string-band musicians through the late 1970s and 1980s.
The quintet featured Tony Rice on guitar and Darol Anger on fiddle alongside Grisman’s mandolin — a combination whose backgrounds in bluegrass, jazz, and acoustic experimentation positioned the group to bridge idioms without belonging entirely to any one of them. “EMD” showcases the extended improvisation approach Grisman brought from jazz: the modal E-minor platform allows soloists to move outside conventional bluegrass chord changes while keeping enough rhythmic momentum to hold acoustic-music audiences. Grisman’s earlier experience playing with Jerry Garcia on “Old and in the Way” and his deep knowledge of both Monroe’s mandolin tradition and Django Reinhardt’s jazz vocabulary feed directly into the piece’s character.
The tune remains a touchstone for acoustic string players interested in modal improvisation within a fundamentally roots-based idiom, and it sits at the origin of a sub-tradition that runs from the DGQ through the progressive acoustic scene of the 1980s and into the contemporary newgrass movement.
