[Dixielandjazz] Dueling Banjos

[Steve Barbone]

For the banjophiles on the list. Even though Bluegrass, the cut with Tony
Trischka and his former student Bela Fleck, backed by a fiddle, dobra and
guitar should be well worth the acquisition price. Excerpted from the new CD
list of the NY TIMES:

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


Tony Trischka

The title of ³Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular² (Rounder), the latest
effort by Tony Trischka, is almost comically self-descriptive. It¹s a
bluegrass album, no question, and on it Mr. Trischka matches wits and
fingertips with a bushel of fellow banjoists, from the venerable Earl
Scruggs to Alison Brown of Union Station to Steve Martin (yes, that Steve
Martin). There are also solid contributions by members of the Johnson
Mountain Boys and other kindred spirits, like Nickel Creek¹s Chris Thile on
mandolin. Virtuosity is the standard, so much so that the rush of 16th notes
can level off into a blur. But Mr. Trischka presents his guests with tunes
that swerve from harmonic complacency or fretboard cliché. The longest and
most incandescent track is ³Twilight Kingdom,² which includes Stuart Duncan
on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on dobro and David Grier on guitar. At its center
is an exchange between Mr. Trischka and his former student Béla Fleck;
that¹s where the spectacular comes into play. (Mr. Trischka appears with
Soulgrass, led by the saxophonist Bill Evans, at the Blue Note Tuesday
through Jan. 28.)