The Deal: Ostensibly a vehicle for multiple blues award-winning bluesman Otis Taylor, the record showcases the versatility of the banjo as a blues/rock instrument.
The Good: Normally, the idea of listening to a banjo quartet would have people jumping out of windows. But in the hands of blues rootsmen like Keb Mo’, Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart, it’s a fascinating genre-hopping journey. There’s no jazzy, atonal noodling like Bela Fleck. Here the banjo is presented as melodic instrument, accenting, as well as carrying the melody, in a variety of styles from blues to rock to folk. “Absinthe” is a mix of slide guitar, banjo and cornet, with bassist Cassie Taylor’s wailing background vocals giving it a psychedelic swamp thing feel. It’s part Dr. John, in his Gris-Gris period, part Appalachia and part voodoo. Keb Mo’s vocalizing on “Live Your Life” sounds like the mellow, melodic folk rock of Eric Bibb. Even though the Hendrix brand will never wear off, Hart scuffs it up a good bit, mixing lap steel and banjo to the point you cant tell where one stops and the other begins on “Hey Joe.”
The Bad: The scary looking cover with four imposing-looking gents clutching banjos and looking like they’re lined up to be shot might put some people off. But once you get that, you’ll want to go through it front to back.
The Verdict: Even if you don’t want to admit publicly how hard a banjo can rock out in the right hands, this record is a guilty pleasure you’ll return to time and again.
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2008.
