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Raves and Reviews -
Review: ALISON BROWN QUARTET with JOE CRAVEN Wows Audience at the Sheldon Concert Hall |
Truly, the real secret to success in life is following your dreams. And, Alison Brown must have been listening when her inner voice spoke to her. How else do you explain someone who graduated from Harvard with an MBA leaving behind a lucrative position at Smith Barney to pursue the banjo? I know that the appreciative audience at the Sheldon Concert Hall (November 20, 2009) was certainly glad she made that career decision. Flanked by four superb musicians, Brown put on a clinic with her "5-wire," leaving no doubt as to whether her choice was worth the risk. The evidence on display was clear enough to me.
I guess you can label Brown's music as contemporary bluegrass, but labels are just a way to try and pigeonhole something when you can't describe it succinctly. To me, Brown's melodic inventions are a hybrid of jazz, bluegrass, country, and Celtic music. But, most importantly, these tunes are concise evocations of their titles; songs that conjure up a distinct mood and feeling.
The tone was set by the opening number, "The Sound of Summer Running," which featured a series of cascading motifs doubled on piano and banjo to create a warm sense of the season. It's wistful qualities are meant to suggest the feelings we encounter as the temperature cools and the leaves begin to change. The fact that it actually achieves that effect is a tribute to Brown's craftsmanship, as well as the band's sparkling arrangements. The group followed with "Magnificent Seven," a jam which allowed the individual members plenty of space to explore the progression.
Next up, Brown switched over to guitar for a tribute to Doc Watson with "Deep Gap," carrying over her same fluid style on the six string. A story, about how her music was used to wake up the crew on the space shuttle in years passed, brought forth the amusingly named tune, "My Favorite Marsha."
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| Chris Gibson |
A banjo trip to Nashville from a banjaxed Wall Street |
A former investment banker with a Harvard MBA, Alison Brown is not your average jazz and bluegrass player, writes SIOBHÁN LONG
SO YOU’VE ALREADY pushed the bluegrass envelope, exploiting the rhythmic potential of jazz and luring a hunk of listeners to your chosen instrument, the much-maligned banjo. Grammy nominations abound, road and air miles are tucked beneath your belt as a member of the Alison Krauss band, and then with the Alison Brown Quartet. In between hours on the tour bus and weeks in the studio, you decide to launch your own record label, Compass Records, in partnership with your husband and bassist, Gary West.
Alison Brown’s MBA from Harvard and her background as a Wall Street investment banker might give some indication that this string picker didn’t spend her early years lounging on her front porch in La Jolla, California.
She’s blithely tossed the bluegrass rulebook in the air (still relishing the straight-up style of Earl Scruggs, mind) and let it fall in the unlikeliest of places. Not too many Nashville-based banjo players are bold enough to write an ode titled The Wonderful Sea Voyage of Holy Saint Brendan or sassy enough to frolic in the word-play of Louisiana’s culinary delights in Étouffée Brutus ? Six albums on, Alison Brown is happy with the company she’s been keeping.
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| Siobhan Long |
Old Settler's Music Fest - Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller & a Gram Parsons experience |
Stopping in for a bit of music at the Old Settler's Music Festival is like slipping into the '60s, like hanging at a mini-Woodstock. Proper attire is hippie authentic (as opposed to hippie chic found mostly in southern California). The waft of ganga occasionally drifts through. They even have the requisite rain storm with accompanying mud. But it don't mean a thing if it ain't got the music, something OSMF has plenty of. The weekend even extended into an interesting connection to Gram Parsons and Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley.
It started out as a bluegrass oriented family picnic some twenty odd years ago but has turned into one of the more popular Americana music fests. With picturesque Onion Creek murmuring nearby, and the stomach-growling smells of Salt Lick BBQ (I had my share later, along with some delicious fried eggplant), I got there just in time to see Austinite Ruthie Foster with her roots rocking, bluesing, funking, kicking band. And the voice to go with it. Made it over to another stage to hear Alison (every time I mention her name someone says "You mean Alison Krauss?") Brown with Joe Craven. This Alison, and her band, play bluegrass with a jazz-like intensity highlighted by amazing chops--like Jeff Beck on grits.
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| Tim Basham |
Artist's Team
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