Articles

THE BANJO: AMERICA’S AFRICAN INSTRUMENT BY LAURENT DUBOIS Harvard University Press 9780674047846. (Triliteral LLC, 100 Maple Ridge Rd., Cumberland, RI 02864, hup.harvard.edu.) So you think you know the banjo? Really? Are you aware of the African roots and Muslim influence on this instrument? Do you see it as one of the emblematic symbols of bluegrass…

Josh Williams Chasin’ The Feeling By Larry Nager It’s been more than five years, but people still ask Josh Williams about “The Bird.” In May 2011, the Josh Williams Band was playing Doyle Lawson’s festival in Denton, N.C., when a baby bird, just out of the nest, fluttered from the stage rafters to land on…

Eddie & Martha Adcock with Tom Gray Many A Mile Still To Go By Penny Parsons Personal relationships that last a lifetime are wonderful and rare these days. It’s even more extraordinary for a musical partnership to endure in this way, particularly between two people who are married to each other. But that’s exactly the…

JEFF WHITE RIGHT BESIDE YOU No Label, 316    Jeff White has always been the quiet bluegrass star. Going back to his landmark work with Alison Krauss & Union Station on Two Highways, his two solo CDs for Rounder, his long-time role as backup vocalist and guitarist for Vince Gill, Tim O’Brien, The Chieftains, Patty Loveless,…

FRANK WAKEFIELD AND LEON MORRIS Patuxent Music CD-283 Mandolinist Frank Wakefield has legendary status in bluegrass. Guitarist and vocalist Leon Morris, though a strong talent as a singer and songwriter, has not quite achieved that level. Both are, however, old friends and associates, having recorded together in the 1960s, and both are strong keepers of…

NEFESH MOUNTAIN No Label No Number This a different sort of pairing, one both interesting and welcome. The principal musicians involved, the husband and wife team of Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg, aim to color old-time and bluegrass with Jewish elements, what they call “Jewish spirit.” This does not mean, necessarily, that they are mixing…