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Béla Fleck: Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Rounder Records
Released: 2014.10.24
Time:
 45:55
Category: Folk, Country
Producer(s): Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.flecktones.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2014
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Railroad (Traditional) - 3:38
[2] Ride To You (A.Washburn) - 4:17
[3] What’cha Gonna Do (B.Fleck) - 3:48
[4] Little Birdie (B.Fleck/A.Washburn) - 4:21
[5] New South Africa (B.Fleck) - 4:36
[6] Pretty Polly (Traditional) - 3:45
[7] Shotgun Blues (A.Washburn) - 3:18
[8] For Children: No. 3 Quasi Adagio, No. 10 (B.Bartók) - 2:16
[9] And Am I Born To Die (Traditional) - 4:02
[10] Banjo Banjo (B.Fleck) - 3:51
[11] What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? (Traditional) - 4:37
[12] Bye Bye Baby Blues (B.Fleck/J.Fleck/L.H.Jones/A.Washburn) - 3:26

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Béla Fleck - Banjo, Arranger, Engineer, Producer
Abigail Washburn - Banjo, Arranger, Producer

Richard Battaglia - Engineer
Richard Dodd - Mastering
Jimmy Hole - Project Assistant
Señor McGuire - Photography
Maria Villar - Design

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn present their eponymous debut album as a duo, after many years of prominence as banjo players and composers in their own eclectic avenues] Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn is a front porch banjo and vocal album of new music, Appalachian murder ballads, gospel, chamber and blues; the culmination of a yearlong tour as a duo in 2013, following the birth of their son, Juno. Béla, an icon and innovator of jazz, classical and world, with more multi-category GRAMMY wins than any other artist (15 total), and Abigail, a formidable talent with triumphs in songwriting, theater, performance, and even Chinese diplomacy by way of banjo, turn out to be quite a fortuitous pairing with a deep, distinct and satisfying outcome. The culmination is an album like no other. The record reveals their astounding chemistry as collaborators, as the two seamlessly stitch together singular banjo sounds (through an assortment of seven banjos spanning the recording) in service to the stories that their songs tell, with no studio gimmickry needed. According to Béla, 'finding a way to make every song have its own unique stamp, yet the whole project having a big cohesive sound with only two people,' was at the core of their joint vision. Demonstrating seemingly unlimited rhythmic, tonal and melodic capabilities, Fleck and Washburn confirm the banjo's versatility as the perfect backdrop to the rich lyrical component that Fleck and Washburn offer, 'Sometimes when you add other instruments, you take away from the banjo's being able to show all its colors, which are actually quite beautiful.' Thanks to this album, the musicians' palette has never been more vivid or pure.

Amazon.com Editorial Review



Abigail Washburn and Béla Fleck have been trading banjo riffs since 2005, when both joined the left-field folk band Sparrow Quartet. Now, after a decade of shared gigs and five years of marriage, the two have announced plans for their first album as a duo.

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn hits stores on October 7. In contrast with the Sparrow Quartet's 2008 release, which combined bluegrass music with Chinese lyrics and Tibetan influences, the self-titled album will focus on Appalachian murder ballads, gospel tunes, blues and other traditions from the American Bible Belt. The couple's cover of "And I Am Born to Die" pays tribute to the late Doc Watson, who famously recorded the hymn with fiddler Gaither Carlton, while "Pretty Polly" tips its hat to another husband-and-wife duo, E.C. and Orna Ball. Many of the other songs are carryovers from Fleck and Washburn's national tour in 2013, which found the pair traveling the country with their two banjos, a catalog of new tunes and a brand-new addition to the family: 15-month old son Juno Fleck.

Rounder Records, who originally worked with Washburn on her acclaimed solo record, City of Refuge, in 2011, will release the album. Anyone expecting cameos from family friends (and Sparrow Quartet members) like Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee is bound to be disappointed, though, since Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn is strictly a family affair.

"We didn't want any other instruments on there, because we're into this idea that we're banjo players, and that should be enough," Fleck said in a statement. "Sometimes, when you add other instruments, you take away from the ability of the banjo to show all its colors, which are actually quite beautiful."

Andrew Leahey - August 14, 2014
RolligStone.com



According to Béla Fleck, he and his wife and fellow banjo player Abigail Washburn began playing together almost upon meeting. They've recorded together before on Washburn's first album, Song of the Traveling Daughter (he produced it), and with the Sparrow Quartet with Ben Sollee and Casey Driessen, but never before as a duo. The music on this self-titled offering was developed on tour before cutting it in their home studio. The tunes range from traditional folk songs to originals with compelling instrumentals woven in: two pieces by Béla Bartók in a medley, a redo of the Flecktones' "New South Africa," and the pair's "Banjo Banjo," which might be the best of the three for its timbral colors, warmth, and thematic variety. Both players are versed in many forms of music, and while that can't help but be on display, the real showcase is musical intimacy. These two banjo players combine different styles to shape a dialogue that speaks directly and distinctly to a love for tradition; they carry it forward as well. "Railroad" (as in, "I've Been Working on the...") contrasts her clawhammer style and Fleck's three-finger jazz-oriented syncopation. The bridge between approaches is the blues, outlined in a unique cadence by Washburn's crystalline vocal. In the murder ballad "Pretty Polly," the banjos talk to one another over octave ranges, conversing over time and space as modern stylistic developmental imagination is balanced by old-timey utterances. Washburn's voice relates the harrowing tale with haunting resonance. Her "Shotgun Blues," featuring her Gold Tone cello banjo, displays her percussive thumb strokes accenting each sung line as Fleck improvises on Celtic reels and Appalachian folk styles. His "What'cha Gonna Do" updates the gospel song "Sinner Man" but is still a warning -- this one signals a judgment day wrought by the earth as recompense for human abuse. Washburn's "Little Birdie" is almost hypnotic; her thumb stroke creates a near drone as Fleck bends notes to underscore the song's narrative meaning and assent to her vocal. The traditional folk song "And Am I Born to Die" offers not only Washburn's finest signing on the set, but innovative instrumental sections composed by Fleck that add power to the song's history. "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?" is one of the more beautiful country gospel songs in the canon. The instrumental understatement displays canny melodic interplay. The set closes with "Bye Bye Baby Blues," featuring new lyrics drenched in modern irony. It preserves the swinging Texas feel of George "Little Hat" Jones' OKeh version (and uses his chorus), while highlighting the tune's rag-like quality. The way almost tuba-like basslines, tight chord voicings, and slippery fills wind around one another reveals what is so distinctive about the album as a whole: Abigail Washburn and Béla Fleck don't need a band -- they and their banjos are one.

Thom Jurek - AllMusic.com
 

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