Put a mandolin into the hands of Sam
Bush or a banjo into the hands of Bela Fleck or a cello into the
hands of Ben Sollee and it is transformed from a simple musical
instrument into a wondrous machine that can transport the listener to
places around our globe and even the universe. The magic that these
men wield is not only due to their skill at manipulating the
instrument but also in their ability to see where the music has not
been before and go there taking you with them.
You may recall that I had hopes that
Sam and Bela would appear on the stage together and my hopes were
magnificently rewarded. They share roots in traditional music having
both been members of Newgrass Revival but their musical adventure has
taken them far from home. It is no different with a scientist who
keeps pushing the boundaries of his craft. These men push the
boundaries of their craft. I think that they do what we were
privileged to see at the Master Musician's Festival as a way to pay
the bills for their trips to those far away places. Not that they
don't experience pleasure in playing to a crowd that validates their
efforts but their musical spirits are restless. I have read that
Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, was not a fan of the playing of
Sam Bush and Bela Fleck has taken the banjo from its roots into the
realm of jazz and it is a strange journey indeed.
Abigail Washburn is a virtuoso banjoist
herself using the more traditional clawhammer style of playing and
she has a love of the traditional Appalachian music. Bela and
Abigail played a few of those old ballads and did a hilarious comedy
skit about that. Who knew? Bela said that when Abigail began
playing those old murder ballads that he would decide that it was an
opportune time to do some banjo maintenance in the basement. You had
to be there. But Abigail is not without her own sense of adventure
having spent a lot of time in China and speaking fluent Mandarin, or
as Bela put it, fluent mandolin. She has written a song in Chinese
which they performed. I had not a clue what she was saying but it
was beautiful.
To my knowledge there has never been a
culture arise that did not develop music as a mode of expression and
these people take us there. Their assimilation of those cultures
into their own music is homage to those who have gone before and a
link to those who will come. I recently watched a KET special that
featured Sam Bush along with other luminaries on a trip to Scotland
to play with some of the leading musicians of that country that has
been so important in the populating of Appalachia. Bela has made
trips to Africa to become acquainted with the music of his instrument
which originated as strings stretched over a skin covered gourd. He
has brought some of those rhythms into his own repertoire and is
paying them forward. Of course, the Chinese influence on Abigail is
all over her music. She has done tours in China and recorded in that
language. Ben Sollee's travels and openness to other cultures has
affected his use of rhythms in his own music.
Ben Sollee played while being
accompanied by a marimba and percussion. In his performance I was
reminded ever so much of the Graceland album by Paul Simon. In my
opinion Ben Sollee is in the same league with Paul Simon and they
both continually reinvent their music to reflect what they have
assimilated from their exposure to other cultures. If Ben Sollee
were in New York he would be spoken of in the say way as Simon but he
chooses to remain in Kentucky and champion Kentucky causes. I
enjoyed this performance by Ben Sollee more than any other I have
seen. It is interesting to note the interaction among the four
musicians. Sollee once played with Washburn in her Sparrow Quartet
and, of course, Washburn is married to Fleck. Fleck once played in
the seminal newgrass group Newgrass Revival which included Sam Bush.
Sam Bush probably gave us the most
traditional performance of any of these four. His rendition of
“Eight More Miles to Louisville” was a real crowd pleaser and
foot stomper. While traditional I don't believe I have ever seen
anyone do a performance with more glee. From time to time he would
stop and hurl a tee shirt into the crowd and then cackle about how
the crowd resembled nothing so much as a yard full of chickens going
after a hand full of corn.
All in all I would rank this festival
at or near the top of any of the Master Musician's Festivals I have
attended. I have missed several so I am not an authority on anything
other than my enjoyment. What I do know is that my enjoyment can't
be contained in the space allotted to me so I have just mentioned
these four performers. Bush, Washburn and Fleck were my primary
goals to see and I was just plain surprised by the stellar
performance by Ben Sollee. I suppose one can't expect to have a top
to bottom excellent festival like this every year but I am certainly
happy that the Festival Board tries.
My Take is kudos to the board and
volunteers for an excellent two days and nights of entertainment that
will remain in my memory (I still call it that) for a long time. I
hope. More later.
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