Customer Rating: 
Summary: Ultimate Pickin The Best of Instrumental Bluegrass
Comment: This was a gift for my dad. He enjoys fiddle, and stringed instrumental music. It was a hit--he really enjoys listening to his CD!
Customer Rating:
Summary: pick'in at it's best
Comment: I love to listen to these talented people. It gets me tapping my feet. 100% better than the trash on the radio these days.
Customer Rating:
Summary: one of my top 3 instrumental bluegrass albums
Comment: I just got into bluegrass 3 yrs ago, learned to play banjo and guitar. I went out and probably spent $200 in albums so I could learn what the songs sounded like. After buying 20 albums, this one is probably number 2 in quality. They are really top notch musicians (especially the fiddle and guitar)giving great arrangements and there are alot of "standards" on it. Highly recommended. (my favorite of all time instrumental is Tony Rice the bluegrass guitar album- the only album that beat this!) I understand there is a part two to this but I haven't heard it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic but not ultimate pickin'
Comment: I don't know where these guys all hail from, but the sound of this pretty enjoyable album is that of bluegrass-trained Nashille-session caliber players, for better or worse. The tunes are note for note perfect, but they don't always sounds like they are really jamming or enjoying themselves. If you've been raised on new grass or West Coast-style bluegrass (that would be me), this disk sounds a little cold, a little too fresh-out-of-the -bluegrass-conservatory. On some of the songs like Forked Deer, Foggy Mountain Special, Leather Britches, and St. Anne's Reel, this group of ultimate-ace-pickers sounds like they are enjoying themselves and letting loose. But some of the tunes just sound rotely virtuosic (Clinch Mountain Backstep, eg.) So I would recommend this disk to someone who is already a lover of this music and who wants a great chronicle of key tunes performed well, some of which are standouts, others of which sound like the musicians must be getting paid by the note. There are no doubt more soulful versions of these tunes elsewhere, but there is no doubt that these great players have their hearts and chops in the right place.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great instrumental bluegrass favorites at their best!
Comment: Playing Time - 67:30 -- Derived from the various Bluegrass '90s albums that the Pinecastle label released, "Ultimate Pickin'" features Jeff Autry (guitar), Wayne Benson (mandolin), Aubrey Haynie (fiddle), Scott Vestal (banjo) and Mark Schatz (bass). Rickie Simpkins also plays fiddle on half dozen cuts. Rob Ickes plays resophonic guitar on 14 of 20 tracks, and Randy Kohrs plays on the remaining six tracks. Although most of the tracks are staples of the bluegrass repertoire, these players are able to impart their own stylistic interpretations and breathe new life into them. For example, the bouncing tempo and key changes in "I'll Fly Away" are a pleasant surprise as the breaks get handed around. "Roanoke" is given the barn-burning treatment. As a matter of personal taste, I prefer one tune ("Red Apple Rag") at a more moderate tempo. The original CD releases from the 90s had two accompanying AcuTab transcription books (Scott Vestal's banjo and Wayne Benson's mandolin).
These guys are all the cream of the crop - musicians' musicians who have earned our respect for their great session and performance work over the years. I can tell that they had fun jamming up these tunes, and I can almost see their joy and creativity being exuded at the sessions. For a little motivation or inspiration, one need only put on a few minutes of this super picking. As hot and clean as their picking is, I can't help but think that a little more harmony might've embellished the project.
Drawn from the famed but sadly out-of-print "Bluegrass 96-99" series, this is the first time many of these 20 tunes have been available in years. Produced by Scott Vestal, this "ultimate" disc is truly worth of it's "Best of ..." moniker and is incomparably good. Absolutely extreme instrumental bluegrass favorites at their best! For their next challenge, I'd like to see them assemble the same pickers and give us 20 more tunes, new less-oft-heard ones that we can embrace as the 21st Century's standards. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
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