Sunday Sessions: Evergreen
Evergreen.
A tree, perhaps. A story, a season, a color, a forest?
All of those things, to be sure.
Evergreen is also the name of an album.
The music on it is winter themed; the influences come from bluegrass, jazz, country, and Celtic realms.
The Alison Brown Quartet are the musicians. Alison is on banjo, with with bass from Garry West, fiddle and mandolin from special guest Joe Craven, drums from David Heyer, and piano from John R. Burr. Singers from University School Nashville join in for two tracks.
The Quartet has often done winter season and holiday shows. Several years back, they decided they’d like to put some of their favorites from those gigs down on a recording, That idea became Evergreen.
Evergreen in more ways than one, really.
You’ll hear tunes you --almost-- know, but played, perhaps with instruments and arrangements you may not have heard but before. These arrangements respects and add to the seasonal (and evergreen) spirit of the music, though. You will hear the joy they have in playing music together, too.
Alison Brown is a master of the banjo, in command of taking her chosen instrument into all sorts of musical adventures. Bluegrass, jazz, country, and Celtic and crosscurrents among them are her usual territories.
Those crosscurrent show up well on Evergreen, with a bit of a tilt toward the jazz side of things.
It’s a fine album to explore at any time fo year. It could be a good listen to clear your mind. perhaps, and help lead you into a winter holiday season after the often challenging turn of events through the autumn of this year.
You may also wish to see
Alison Brown is also a gifted composer, and among other things, cofounder of Compass Records. Learn a bit more of her career and her album Song of the Banjo in this story
Another album from Alison The Company You Keep
Music for the the Changes of Autumn, from the ongoing series Music for Shifting Times, at Wandering Educators
Sunday Session: Walk the Road
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