Abigail Washburn & Sparrow Quartet with Bela Fleck, Casey Driessen & Ben Sollee
In the spirit of cultural exploration and exchange, clawhammer banjo player Washburn took Sparrow Quartet to China last year, one result of which is this new self-titled CD. Washburn is no cultural dilettante; not only did she live in China for a while, she also speaks Mandarin, a language in which she sings a couple of numbers of her quartet’s new album.
As an “artist who best embodies the notion of Americana as a worldwide musical language” (The Tennessean), Abigail Washburn has created a new sound that challenges traditional notions of country and culture — exemplified in the raw, transcendental music of the Sparrow Quartet, the all-star collaboration including Bela Fleck, acclaimed cellist Ben Sollee, and Grammy-nominated fiddler, Casey Driessen. Produced by Fleck and composed/arranged by the group’s members, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet features an unprecedented combination of two banjos (clawhammer and three-finger-style), cello, and five-string fiddle that unfolds in a dreamlike chamber suite.
Owner, founder, resident Mahler fanatic since 1975. Loves jazz, bluegrass, worldbeat, and old geezer blues rock by Canned Heat or Johnny Winter. Obsessed with 60’s and 70’s era John Lee Hooker. Don’t ask him about the Eagles.
