Wednesday, June 8 2011
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones: Rocket Science
The 'Tones return with after a six-year break, this time with original harmonicist Howard Levy back in the fold.
Wednesday, April 21 2010
Old Man Luedecke: My Hands Are on Fire and Other Love Songs
Luedecke is a masterful songwriter with an ability to convey experience way beyond his years. On these 11 songs his voice and banjo combine beautifully with the other instruments and harmony vocals.
Monday, September 21 2009
Kieran Kane: Somewhere Beyond the Roses
Strange and compelling music that seems oddly familiar in its very weirdness, like a feeling you didn’t know you had for another person you'd never met before, or an appetite for an exotic cuisine one has never tasted.
Tuesday, July 21 2009
“Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs”: An Interview with Otis Taylor
The critically acclaimed bluesman talks to PopMatters about his musical path, bringing the banjo back to its roots in black music, and his new album Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs that marks his return to the guitar.
Monday, April 20 2009
Full Circle: Béla Fleck, Paul Simon & America’s Return to the World Community
Béla Fleck didn't ask to be the Avatar of the New American Culture (avatars never do). He happened to be in the right place at the right time with a banjo and a digital recorder. The remaining dots are ours to connect, and we've begun to connect them.
Monday, January 12 2009
Happy-Go-Plucking
Steve Martin, Sufjan Stevens, and Kermit the Frog all know it and you should, too: the banjo is hands-down the coolest instrument out there.
Thursday, October 2 2008
Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko: Africa to Appalachia
The kora, with its lacelike and intricate patterns of notes, is the more attention-catching instrument, and you could easily forget that this album is a partnership and start to think of it as a Mansa Sissoko project.
