Second Story

Open House is a "fun folk" group, always up to high jinks and mixing a little comedy in with their jigs and bourees. For example, instead of a drummer, the group features Sandy Silva, a "foot percussionist." One number on which she is featured prominently is a whimsical tune called "Merengue," which is made to sound like a Roaring '20s college group playing ukulele and harmonica. Of course, the group can be serious too, as on the beguiling "Flowers of the Forest," which is one of those waltzes almost everyone knows even if they don't know its name, and to which the group gives an almost orchestral treatment, worthy of Cafe Noir.

Of the 14 tracks total, most are traditionals and 11 are instrumentals; three have original lyrics by reedman Mark Graham. All three are hilarious, but the funniest may be "Monkey With a Typewriter," a song based on the old notion that given an infinite amount of time and paper a monkey would eventually type the works of Shakespeare just by chance. The story, narrated by the longsuffering primate himself, is quite witty and full of literate references.

This album achieves the kind of mixture of folk music, rustic wit, and intellectuality that people like Garrison Keillor only dream of. If you like folk music even a little, try this disc.