Album Description
Digipak of self titled album by Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet. Abigail Washburn has created a new sound that crosses global and cultural lines, personified in the raw, transcendental music of the Sparrow Quartet. The all star collaboration features banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, acclaimed cellist Ben Sollee and Grammy nominated fiddler Casey Driessen. The artistry of Abigail is her love of both American roots musics and the Chinese culture she has been exploring for over a decade. Produced by Bela Fleck, the music was composed and arranged by the foursome. The unprecedented mixture of two banjos (clawhammer and three finger style), cello and fiddle unfolds like an otherworldly chamber suite.
Every once in a while, a bluegrass album comes out that transcends the genre. Lots of people try, but it is hard to create truly fresh “newgrass”. Coincidentally, Bela Fleck seems to be on most of these elusive albums! Maybe it’s a sign. This CD follows in the footsteps of the Telluride Sessions, Appalachian Waltz and Appalachian Journey, and also Uncommon Ritual. But instead of a bluegrass and classical blend, this album takes a more traditional americana bluegrass feel and mixes it with a hint of MMW-like jazz song structures and even Chinese folk songs. This is fitting since this group played a lot in China, and Abigail has spent a long time studying Chinese folk tunes. The sound quality is awesome, with each instrument sparkling. Ben Sollee on cello and Casy Driessen on fiddle are also incredible; check out their solo albums. The true test of this formula is: Well all this sounds good but is this new mix of styles listenable and truly good music? The answer is a resounding YES.
Rating: 5 / 5
Centuries ago in many a Silk Road caravansary, traveling musicians from various lands learned songs and instrument design from each other, and they also jammed. This album is the contemporary equivalent of those exchanges, for traditional bluegrass banjo and fiddle and European classical cello instruments, and Western avant-garde art music and old-time lyrics, are cast with Chinese language and East Asian tunes. Indeed, in one track, the tremolo of Abigail Washburn’s double-stringed banjo mimics a Chinese pipa. The album varies on almost every song, taking us on a strange sonic journey from Kazakhstan to Appalachia, from a Central European salon to a New York experimental music club, yet not being anywhere because this is a peculiar fusion. It is entirely within the character of the wide-ranging Bela Fleck to produce, perform in, and help engineer this highly inventive exploration. The team was involved in the earlier, more coherent, and thereby better, album of Washburn, Song of the Traveling Daughter. In fact, that album was the seed for this elaboration. Yes, it is a pioneering blend of bluegrass sensitivity and timbre with occasional Asian melody, but it is also an echo of the past on the Silk Road. I like this album and hope that there will be even further developments.
Rating: 4 / 5
I heard this group for the first time at the Vancouver Island Musicfest and was blown away. I’ve been listening to this CD over and over again since. Imagine an otherworldly blend of bluegrass, Chinese traditional, and 20th-century classical symphonic and imagine it done artfully, tastefully, beautifully. This kind of music experience lifts you out of the ordinary into another realm. Absolutely superb, surprising, refreshing, original. With this kind of talent out there doing this sort of thing, why would anyone buy the mass-produced pablum that seems to have gained dominance in the commercial music world? I am in love!
Rating: 5 / 5
When this much talent comes together, it’s a time to give thanks, sit back to listen, and be blessed! Words can’t begin to describe the dazzling assortment of sounds, melodies, harmonies, vocals, EVERYTHING that comes forth in this premier, so I’m not even going to try. Let me simply say that Bela Fleck may keep his genius crown; Abby Washburn can do anything she wants; Ben Sollee takes his cello to places one would never think a cello COULD go, adding color and depth the way he does to Abby’s solo album; and Casey Driessen’s fiddle brings it all to life. There are many surprises here–BUY AND ENJOY!! I can’t wait for their next release.
Rating: 5 / 5
Abigail Washburn, Bela Fleck, Casey Driessen, and Ben Sollee present some amazing music. I was impressed with the style and sound of every song. Even the Chinese stuff was enjoyable. Not my everyday stuff, but a welcome departure from cookie cutter music that generally is put out today. I am happy with the album purchase and recommend it highly.
Rating: 4 / 5