"Elko! A Cowboy's Gathering," a double-CD recording from the Western Jubilee Recording Company, delivers up a banquet of enjoyment, a many-course celebration of poetry, music, and stories, from Allen to Zarzyski. Recorded live at the Western Folklife Center's 20th Annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 2004, the collection gives a real sense of the breadth and quality of talent that is characteristic of the place "where it all began."

If Elko is "the granddaddy of them all," Baxter Black is the favorite Uncle. The first track's free-ranging, witty observations in "Baxter Black on Elko" set the stage as only he could. He expounds on the gathering's history, gets to the meat of its popularity and importance, and pays homage to "The Cowboy Poet" as he recounts the modern evolution of the breed. His warm welcome to the compilation's listeners sweeps open the doors to the satisfying entertainment that follows. The nearly 40 tracks alternate music and poetry. Today's headliners and top talents are represented, including Wallace McRae, Joel Nelson, Red Steagall, Andy Wilkinson, Waddie Mitchell, Don Edwards, Wylie and the Wild West, Brenn Hill, Sons of the San Joaquin, Hot Club of Cowtown, and others.

Some of the best tracks make perfect pairs: The timeless ballads by RW Hampton ("Born to be a Cowboy") and Michael Fleming ("Wild Places"); Wallace McRae's powerful poem, forcefully delivered, "Things of Intrinsic Worth," an indictment of "progress," and poet Peggy Godfrey's positive, equally powerful, "Real Wealth," a thanksgiving for her way of life; and master reciter Randy Rieman's performance of Will Oglivie's "Hooves of the Horses" and Wylie and the Wild West's inspired musical rendition of the same piece.

Other outstanding tracks include poet Lyn Messersmith's tough, soul-baring, "The Time it Never Rained"; Michael Martin Murphey's sweet version of the Badger Clark classic, "Spanish is the Loving Tongue," backed up by the American Buckaroo Orchestra; and Jon Chandler's inventive, complex "Geronimo's Men (45 Horses)" performed with Butch Hause and Ernie Martinez.

It is fitting that Virginia Bennett's sincere, "We Are the Poets" is placed at the heart of the compilation, introducing the second CD. Her words define the magic pulse that links the artists and their audiences at Elko: "...As long as you continue to listen, we'll try to get it right. /With words that bind us close together, transcending times and borders / We are the poets, and you the reason that we write."

The poetry and music of Elko comes from far beyond any confining definition of the American Western ranching experience, and this recording showcases the gathering's great reach. It includes, for example, Native American Henry Real Bird's "Dream of Spotted Buffalo/Night Song of the Crow"; Glenn Ohrlin's amusing tale, "International Glenn (Whatever That Is?)," a mix of llamas, the Dalai Lama, and the Mongolian horsemen poets and musicians who were a part the 2003 Gathering during the Asian Lunar Year of the Horse; Australia's Janine Haig's heart-rending, memorable "Not Gone," which illuminates ranching life's essential partnerships and drives home the painful universality of loss; and Paul Zarzyski's "Bizarski-Mad Bard & Carpenter Savant of Manchester, Montana--Feeds the Finicky Birds," which involves both tofu and haggis, lending another sort of exotic spice to the banquet (some contend Zarzyski inhabits his own strange and wonderful universe). An 11-year old Oscar Auker and octogenarian rancher, poet, and Cowgirl Hall of Fame honoree Georgie Sicking form the generational bookends of those included.

In the liner notes, poet Waddie Mitchell, one of the event's founders and the CDs' producer, explains that the compilation is "...not a 'best of' nor a 'definitive works.' It is merely a sampling of the diversity of poetry, music, voices, subjects and generations that are The Gathering." The word "merely" seems a humble choice. These carefully selected tracks are a generous sampling that convey the incomparable spirit of the gathering. For the audiences, at the event itself, there is always more than they can possibly take in, and that abundance is a part of the Elko experience. You quickly give up any notion of a good night's sleep, breakfast, or lunch. You sit in on legendary jam sessions that last well into the night, and then race early the next morning to take in all the shows and sessions you possibly can-- learning, feeling, laughing, and generally having more fun than seems legal. The producers have done a great job of capturing the essence of what has you planning your next year's return before you've even left.

This recording should whet the appetite for a trip to Elko for old timers and first-timers alike. You can order the 2-CD set from Western Jubilee (www.WesternJubilee.com), the Western Folklife Center (www.westernfolklife.org) SilvercreekMusic.com, Amazon, and other outlets. The CD states that the "Western Folklife Center receives a contribution" from purchases of the recording.