Records like this one explain why Norman Blake fanatics usually creep up to the side of the stage just to get a glimpse of Blake"s fingers in action. Apparently, most of those fanatics belong to the Flatpick-L Internet mailing list, because this reissue was actually inspired by an intense Flatpick-L e-mail campaign! As his career progressed, Blake tended to de-emphasize his incredible flat-picking prowess, but on this 1976 date at the famed Santa Monica venue (Blake"s first-ever West Coast appearance), he gives the people exactly what they want. Just when you think the master can"t top his last chorus, he does just that with an incredible arsenal of rippling runs. Wife (now ex-wife) Nancy joins him for a few stately guitar-cello duets, but it"s the solo-guitar pieces that truly amaze. Those Net geeks sure know how to pick "em! --Marc Greilsamer