Description
As Amelia Earhart is to aviation, as Julia Child is to the culinary arts, Alison Brown is to the five-string banjo. She has broadened the instrument’s sound and identity
with her distinctive voice as a player and composer, taking the banjo far beyond its Appalachian roots and earning praise from a variety of national tastemakers . She is a frequent collaborator with Steve Martin and Indigo Girls as well as the bandleader of the Alison Brown Quintet which is on a self-declared mission to bring the banjo to mainstream audiences.
On her new album ON BANJO, Brown offers a musical autobiography of sorts. Tunes that give a nod to her bluegrass roots sit alongside forays into Brazilian choro music, string quartet and swing era jazz and bossa nova. Brown invited an eclectic cast of guests to join her on the set of predominantly original tunes including three of her favorite fellow female virtuosos: Israeli jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen, mandolin whiz Sierra Hull and classical guitarist Sharon Isbin. Other guests include fiddle icon Stuart Duncan, cross- cultural string masters Kronos Quartet and comedian/actor/banjo player Steve Martin who contributes clawhammer banjo to a tune which he and Brown co-wrote.
