Fair Weather

by Alison Brown

Overview

Banjo virtuoso Alison Brown, whose primary group is a jazz quartet, returns to her bluegrass roots on this beautiful and exhilarating album. Well, sort of. The instrumental format is certainly bluegrass, given guest artists like Stuart Duncan and Darol Anger on fiddles, guitarists Mike Marshall and Tony Rice, and mandolinist Sam Bush, and with Brown's fiery five-string picking front and center. But much of this is bluegrass music of a type that Bill Monroe might not recognize; while "Late on Arrival" is a good old-fashioned Scruggs-style banjo showcase and "Fair Weather" a modern bluegrass song with all the standard accouterments, the twin mandolins and easy-swinging rhythm of "Poe's Pickin' Party" sound kind of like an old-time string band playing turn-of-the-century salon music. And then there are the cover tunes, which include a gently winning rendition of the old Elvis Costello hit "Everyday I Write the Book." The album's most thrilling moments come on the complex and exhilarating "Leaving Cottondale," which is both one of the prettiest and one of the most technically impressive of Brown's compositions. Here she's joined by fellow banjo maverick Bela Fleck for one of the most jaw-dropping passages of twin-banjo counterpoint ever put on tape. Call it bluegrass, call it newgrass, call it jazzgrass, whatever. This is one of the best albums of 2000 in any genre. ~ Rick Anderson

Product Details

Release Date:	08/21/2020
Label:	COMPASS RECORDS
UPC:	0766397474618

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alison Brown   Primary Artist,Banjo
Claire Lynch   Guest Artist
Sam Bush   Guest Artist,Mandolin
David Grier   Guest Artist,Guitar
Vince Gill   Guest Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Stuart Duncan   Guest Artist,Fiddle
Darol Anger   Guest Artist
Jerry Douglas   Guest Artist
Bela Fleck   Guest Artist
Mike Marshall   Guitar,Mandolin
Tony Rice   Guitar
Garth Fundis   Vocals
Gene Libbea   Bass,Vocals
Todd Phillips   Bass
Missy Raines   Bass
Tim O'Brien   Vocals

Technical Credits

Elvis Costello   Composer
Boo Hewerdine   Composer
Fred Neil   Composer
Garry West   Producer
Robert Stewart   Composer
Dave Sinko   Mixing,Engineer
Alison Brown   Composer
Randy LeRoy   Mastering
Griffin Norman   Design
Steve Libbea   Composer
Lori Turk   Make-Up,Hair Stylist
Tim Carter   Assistant Engineer
Tony Baker   Photography