Bill Monroe is the ol Dad of Bluegrass, you should have some first generation stuff. There are boxed sets of Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys, from different eras on the Bear Family label. More recent ones have better fidelity of course.......there are some single live CD's from the early 90's that have come out recently that are good too.
For a current traditional BG band, Del McCourey & his sons have a stellar band......Del was a BG Boy with Bill Monroe, when he was coming up.
I like anything with David Grisman, but it isn't all BG, more a fusion of jazz with BG roots. He has a double CD titled Home Is Where The Heart Is...it has numerous BG greats on various cuts. His Old and In The Way band with Jerry Garcia was a link to the authentic BG for a whole generation of Grateful Dead hippie types like myself, who had never heard of Flatt & Scruggs or Bill Monroe or Jim & Jesse prior to OAITW. He has recorded an Old and In The Gray CD more recently. I prefer his Dawg music hybrids to his straight BG, but Grisman can play it real authentic when he wants to.
Tony Rice is another one to look for, incredible guitarist and was once a great singer too, in his youth before voice problems.....he has his own output and was in a band just called The Bluegrass Band, with an all star lineup, they recorded 5 or 6 great BG Cd's. There is a Ricky Scaggs / Tony Rice duet CD that is remastered with GREAT fidelity, it is like the original Monroe Bros. just mandolin & guitar with voice.
