Unlike virtually every other rock group, Crosby Stills &Nash (and sometimes Young) was started with the idea that the members would never be stuck in a rigid group format.
Instead, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young would be free to work in a variety of combinations.
The past five years have seen the four artists putting that philosophy into regular use.
The four singer-songwriters, who had last recorded together in 1988, reunited in 1999 to record a studio CD, “Looking Forward.” This rare studio project was followed in 2000 and 2002 by full tours.
A live Crosby Stills Nash &Young DVD, which was mostly culled from a 2002 Tacoma show, was released last fall.
Young, who has maintained a prolific solo career between CSN&Y reunions, has kept up his individual pace, releasing a CD, “Are You Passionate,” in 2002 and an ambitious thematically linked studio CD, “Greendale,” last summer, followed by an acclaimed “Greendale” feature film.
The other three members, meanwhile, have been busier in the studio than at any time in recent years.
Nash in 2002 released his first solo CD in more than 15 years called “Songs for Survivors.” Crosby, whose drug problems of the 1970s and early ’80s had been a considerable source of frustration and turmoil in the group, in 2001 released a CD, “Just Like Gravity,” with his side band, CPR. Stills, meanwhile, is completing final mixes on a solo CD that could arrive as soon as this fall.
The latest project to arrive is “Crosby-Nash,” a two-CD collection of material that marks the first album from the duo since 1976’s “Whistling Down the Wire.”
“I really looked forward to making this record,” Nash said in a recent interview. “It had been 20-odd years since David and I had made a record.”
The “Crosby-Nash” CD runs the gamut from gentle, largely acoustic tunes to fleshed out mid-tempo songs to a few edgier electric tracks.
“Crosby-Nash” features a variety of songwriting collaborations, with several of the musicians who played on the CD contributing to the material.
The two other members of CPR – Crosby’s son, keyboardist James Raymond, and guitarist Jeff Pevar – both have writing credits on the CD, as does producer Russ Kunkel.
A Crosby-Nash tour is in the works for fall. But before then, Crosby, Stills &Nash joined forces to tour this summer. The three perform Wednesday in Woodinville.
Nash said a Crosby Stills Nash &Young tour early next year is a definite possibility.
“Neil has expressed interest,” Nash said.
Such four-way collaborations have been sporadic at best through the years. The original trio of Crosby, Stills &Nash emerged in 1969 from the ashes of three popular 1960s bands: Crosby from the Byrds, Nash from the Hollies and Stills from Buffalo Springfield. After releasing their landmark 1969 self-titled debut, Young, who played with Stills in Buffalo Springfield, joined in time to record the equally impressive 1970 album, “Deja Vu.”
But life among the four group members quickly grew strained. The foursome did attempt to record a follow-up to “Deja Vu,” but the project never was completed, as Crosby Stills Nash &Young broke up following a 1974 tour that was fraught with turmoil.
While Crosby, Stills &Nash continued to record and tour periodically, it wasn’t until 1988 that Young returned to the fold.
Crosby, Stills &Nash
7 p.m. Wednesday, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Woodinville; $49.50-$69.50, 206-628-0888.
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