There are three albums every bluegrass / folk music novice should acquire to cut his teeth on, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Vol. 1), Asleep At The Wheel's Tribute To Bob Wills and Flatt & Scruggs, The Complete Mercury Sessions.
   Now add a fourth. Windy Days and Dusty Skies is a masterful collection of old-time and contemporary bluegrass numbers put together by Joe Carr and Alan Munde. The only fault this album has is that, at 15 tracks, it is entirely too short.
   Carr and Munde, who teach music at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, chose to use Windy Days and Dusty Skies as a showcase for some of their favorite contemporaries, including Jim "Texas Shorty" Chancellor, Billy Joe Foster, Ed Marsh, Kathy Chiovola, Roland White and Italy's Beppe Gambetta.
   Among the tunes included are several traditional numbers arranged by Carr and Munde. The duo wastes no time as they bite into the opening cut, "Jordan Am A Hard Road To Travel," an old Uncle Dave Macon standard.
   Billy Joe Foster and Ed Marsh lend their considerable talents on fiddle and bass, respectively, on Terry Allen's classic "Amarillo Highway" and Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers' "Milwaukee Blues." Also included is "Nancy Jane," first recorded in 1931 by the Fort Worth Doughboys, a Western Swing group that included Bob Wills. Carr wrote three wonderful numbers, including the title cut, "The Mike Richey Special" and "Little Tumbleweed."
   Ed Marsh contributes the final cut, "Fifty Dollars," with Kathy Chiovola and Roland White harmonizing with Carr and featuring Munde's flying fingerwork on banjo.
   Fast-paced and enlightening, Windy Days and Dusty Skies is a gem of bluegrass music and cannot be forgotten during your next music-buying spree.
   For additional enjoyment, pick up the book "Prairie Nights to Neon Lights: The Story of Country Music in West Texas," written by Carr and Munde and available from Texas Tech University Press. This wonderful chronicle of West Texas music explores the contributions and effect of that region's music as ithas developed over the last 100-plus years.

- Charlton Wiggins