The Song of the Banjo (Compass 7 4658-2, 2015) is a solo banjo album from Alison Brown — Grammy-winning musician and co-founder of Compass Records, the Nashville-based label on which it was released. Brown's first new recording in six years at the time of its release, the album gathers an all-star supporting cast including Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Todd Phillips on bass, alongside additional studio contributors. Brown's banjo playing has consistently ranged across jazz, classical, and bluegrass traditions throughout her career, making the instrument's range itself the organizing principle of a discography that has challenged the assumption that bluegrass banjo is a genre-bound instrument. The Song of the Banjo reflects that ongoing exploration and stands as a late-career statement from a musician who has done as much as any to expand the vocabulary of the five-string banjo in contemporary acoustic music.
Tracklist
- 1 The Song of the Banjo 4:56
- 2 Dance With Me (with Rob Ickes) 4:24
- 3 Carolina in the Pines alt version 4:58
- 4 A Long Way Gone 4:18
- 5 Windansea 4:06
- 6 Time After Time 4:48
- 7 Stuff Happens 4:25
- 8 I'll Never Fall in Love Again (with Colin Hay) 3:37
- 9 Airish 4:18
- 10 Feels So Good (with Jake Shimabukuro) 4:56
- 11 The Moon in Molly's Eyes 4:03
- 12 Musette for the Last Fret 2:03