For most of my adult life I have loved when Jorma Kaukonen sings those "Deep River Blues." It's an old Delmore Brothers ditty popularized by Doc Watson. On 'Deep River' (Heliotrope Records), though, by Richard Nelson and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, it's slowed down and jazzed up. By the time this half-hour of rustic Appalachian material has been arranged almost Zappa-style with the 1911 classic "Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor," one can only marvel at the abject temerity of this project.
