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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Late On Arrival |
| 2. Fair Weather |
| 3. Poe's Pickin' Party |
| 4. Everyday I Write The Book |
| 5. The Devil Went Down To Berkeley |
| 6. Hummingbird |
| 7. Girl's Breakdown |
| 8. Everybody's Talkin' |
| 9. Deep Gap |
| 10. Shake And Howdy |
| 11. Leaving Cottondale |
| 12. Sweet Thing |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the many virtues of bluegrass is its musical democracy. Alison Brown may be a banjo player of surpassing brilliance, but on Fair Weather she willingly shares the spotlight with what amounts to a bluegrass all-star band. Mandolin magician Sam Bush, mean fiddler Darol Anger and fellow progressive banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck are just some of the acoustic giants on hand to help Brown rediscover her roots. The result is an exuberant, wide-ranging exploration of everything that is fresh and dynamic about bluegrass. Aside from revelling in the sheer delight of their communal instrumental prowess, the assembled musicians also offer a few new twists on the traditional format. On "Shake and Howdy", Brown, Anger and mandolinist Mike Marshall play a folk tune like it's a classical trio, while Sam Bush sings a version of Elvis Costello's "Everyday I Write The Book" that makes it sound like a bluegrass original. Brown rounds things off with a subtle solo piece for banjo ("Sweet Thing") that reveals the instrument's full and often untapped range of expressive possibilities. Earl Scruggs would have been amazed and delighted in equal measure. --Mark Walker
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Audio CD
With most albums the instrumental tracks are novelty items amongst the songs but with this one the sheer brilliance of the instrumentals overshadows the songs. Everyday I Write the Book is a bit out of place but the other songs work ok amongst some stiff competition.
Of the instrumentals, I find a celtic influence to 3 tracks with only 3 almost pure bluegrass instrumentals and Deep Dap is a wonderful mixture of Blugrass and Ragtime with Alison playing some breathtaking guitar. A beautiful, almost hymn like banjo solo by Alison closes an, on the whole, lively and exciting album.
Of the instrumentals, I find a celtic influence to 3 tracks with only 3 almost pure bluegrass instrumentals and Deep Dap is a wonderful mixture of Blugrass and Ragtime with Alison playing some breathtaking guitar. A beautiful, almost hymn like banjo solo by Alison closes an, on the whole, lively and exciting album.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
For those uninitiated to bluegrass, remember "The Dukes of Hazzard"? Remember those chase scenes when Boss Hogg used to pursue our heroes all over the county to furious-paced banjo soundtracks? Well that, very basically, is bluegrass. Alison Brown, while drawing on her lifelong experiences at local country banjo and fiddle contests, brings a new level of sophistication to this 'hillbilly' music. This is primarily an instrumental album, with its foundations firmly rooted in bluegrass, though strains of Irish and jazz can be heard in some tracks. Stand-out tracks include the aptly named opening track "Late on Arrival", which is a busy, frenetic mix of fiddle, mandolin and banjo. "Leaving Cottondale" and "Girl's Breakdown" follow in a similar vein, the latter being a joyous, raucous, barn-stomping helluva track that I defy anyone to sit still through. "Poe's Pickin' Party" is a musical masterclass featuring two mandolins, which play together beautifully - full of vitality and joie de vivre which should bring a smile to anyone's face. Four tracks have guest vocalists; "Fairweather" and "Hummingbird" are exquisite songs with delightful harmonies, but the remaining two- "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Everyday I Write the Book" do not work as well. Maybe it's because they are already well-known tracks (which I don't happen to care for anyway), but they just sound out of place here and rather mainstream. On the whole though, this is an excellent and uplifting album, and is worth a listen no matter what your music tastes. Now where did I leave that cotton pickin' gingham dress.....?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Don't love it because she's smart or pretty....
17 Jan 2002
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Love it because it's GOOD! Alison Brown must be the only Big Name Banjo player educated at Harvard with an MBA from UCLA and her own record label. What's important on THIS recording, however, is that she is also on the VERY short list of the best banjo players(or musicians) - period. She also plays guitar so well that on "Deep Gap" (named after Doc Watson's home town) you can't tell which track is Alison and which is IBMA guitar player of the year David Grier. Her compositions are steller, the arrangements sparkle, and she gets the most out of her band and guest stars. Great vocals from Vince Gill, Claire Lynch and fellow NewGranger Tim O'Brien. Blistering hot instrumental work from Rice, Bush, Fleck, Duncan, Marshall, Grier and the woman herself. This grammy-winning album joins the cannon of "classic" bluegrass recordings. I had to "edit" my Amazon list to include it!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Alison's Answer to Bela's Bluegrass Sessions
20 Aug 2000
Format:Audio CD
Does Alison Brown ever tire of comparisons to banjo master Bela Fleck? Surely she must. W this CD, she returns to her BG roots, with a truly star studded lineup. The outstanding "The Devil went down to Berkley" features the old DGQ band (Anger, Marshall, Phillips & the incomparable Tony Rice). Another track features the Flinner/Phillips/Grier trio (okay, so maybe David Grier is comparable to Tony Rice). THE highlight on the disk is a remarkable cover of Elvis Costello's (that's right, Elvis Costello) "Everyday I Write the Book" featuring Sam Bush on vocals. Another highlight is "Leaving Cottondale" featuring the aforementioned Mr. Fleck. The liner notes say she's on one side, he on the other, but I can't tell one from the other. This disk will surely bring to mind Bela's Bluegrass SEssions, although it doesn't have the couple of oddities Bela threw in on his (eg, "Polka on the Banjo" & "Do You Have Room" - shouldve been no room for THAT dog on that otherwise flawless disk). Get it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A Welcome Departure
10 Oct 2002
Format:Audio CD
Whether it due to the passing of Bill Monroe or the unexpected success of "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", many mainstream country (Patty Lovelace, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill) and new acoustic (Bela Fleck) artists have released work that either pay homage to their bluegrass roots or at least have some sort of "retro-grass" sound. And while a cover version of Elvis Costello's "Every Day I Write the Book" ain't exactly "Uncle Pen," it's interesting and refreshing to hear Alison Brown's evocative banjo picking in a more traditional setting. Alison lined up many of the bluegrass world's usual suspects (Fleck, Mike Marshall, Daryl Anger, Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan) to deliver an effort that's both accessible ("Book," "Everybody's Talkin'", and the title song - great vocal by Gill!) and exciting ("Shake and Howdy" and her signature breakdown, "Leaving Cottondale" - worthy of re-recording here because of the great banjo interplay between Alison and Bela).
Alison will undoubtedly continue to record with her jazz-oriented band (not that there's anything wrong with that), but for those of us who enjoy the acoustic string sound, this one will have to do for awhile. Fortunately, it's a very enjoyable ride.
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