Along with Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury is a central player in the current wave of interest in bluegrass, and roots music in general. It's not an exaggeration to say The Del McCoury Band is the greatest bluegrass outfit alive. Del and the boys' mastery of the style's hard core and their cheerful open-mindedness have made them perennial favorites among rabid bluegrass fans, as well as ambassadors for the music with broader audiences.

Perhaps the most decorated bluegrass outfit playing today (reaping dozens of awards from the prestigious International Bluegrass Association), the band is held in the highest regard by its peers. Countless appearances, from the Grand Ole Opry to Sessions at West 54th Street to the Letterman show, have expanded their audience far beyond the typical insular bluegrass crowd.

At the heart of the band is singer-guitarist Delano "Del" McCoury, who apprenticed as a Blue Grass Boy with father of bluegrass Bill Monroe in the early 1960s. But Del's career really took off when he formed his own band more than three decades ago. The recipe for legend was sealed in 1981 when his son Ronnie, one of America's most astonishing musicians, signed on as mandolin player in 1981. The band's popularity continued to soar as it released a spate of records in the 1990s, including a collaboration with alt-country hero Steve Earle on "The Mountain" CD. "I got to play with the greatest bluegrass band on the planet," boasts Earle.

"Del And The Boys" is the latest release in a long line of consistently superb bluegrass records by the reigning kings. Produced by Del and Ronnie McCoury, the disc kicks off with a cover of Richard Thompson's classic "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," which showcases the band's uncanny ability to take contemporary material and "bluegrass" it to the point that it sounds like an old mountain classic. Ditto their rendition of "Learning The Blues," an old jazz standard the band lifted from Frank Sinatra, of all people.

The band also tears through traditional material such as Opry star Jeanne Pruett's old-timey "Count Me Out" and a remake of Del's own enduring classic "A Good Man." Ronnie's "Goldbricken satisfies fans' need for 90-mph jamming, and the young mandolin player proves yet again that he's miles faster and leagues deeper than most of his peers.

Del too, is a force to be reckoned with. He's an excellent guitar player and a good songwriter, but it's his sharp tenor that is most distinctive. Randomly pick a hundred bluegrass bands and you'll hear a soft sameness in most of the vocals. Like Ralph Stanley, McCoury is rougher around the edges and naturally expressive. And his harmonies with the rest of the band are as spirited as good bluegrass gets.

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