REVIEW: ALISON BROWN QUARTET with JOE CRAVEN Wows Audience at the Sheldon Concert Hall

Truly, the real secret to success in life is following your dreams. And, Alison Brown must have been listening when her inner voice spoke to her. How else do you explain someone who graduated from Harvard with an MBA leaving behind a lucrative position at Smith Barney to pursue the banjo? I know that the appreciative audience at the Sheldon Concert Hall (November 20, 2009) was certainly glad she made that career decision. Flanked by four superb musicians, Brown put on a clinic with her "5-wire", leaving no doubt as to whether her choice was worth the risk. The evidence on display was clear enough to me.

I guess you can label Brown's music as contemporary bluegrass, but labels are just a way to try and pigeonhole something when you can't describe it succinctly. To me, Brown's melodic inventions are a hybrid of jazz, bluegrass, country, and Celtic music. But, most importantly, these tunes are concise evocations of their titles; songs that conjure up a distinct mood and feeling.

The tone was set by the opening number, "The Sound of Summer Running", which featured a series of cascading motifs doubled on piano and banjo to create a warm sense of the season. It's wistful qualities are meant to suggest the feelings we encounter as the temperature cools and the leaves begin to change. The fact that it actually achieves that effect is a tribute to Brown's craftsmanship, as well as the band's sparkling arrangements. The group followed with "Magnificent Seven", a jam which allowed the individual members plenty of space to explore the progression.

Next up, Brown switched over to guitar for a tribute to Doc Watson with "Deep Gap", carrying over her same fluid style on the six string. A story, about how her music was used to wake up the crew on the space shuttle in years passed, brought forth the amusingly named tune, "My Favorite Marsha".

Special guest, and multi-instrumentalist, Joe Craven took center stage for a wild run through "Django Latino", which found Craven playing his mandolin like a guitar, lovingly recreating Django Reinhardt's unique style with graceful, and energetic flair. The first set ended with an Irish medley that moved from stately to spirited, and back again. It finished with an impromptu bit of picking pyrotechnics from Brown, who quoted liberally from the banjo canon, with bits of "Oh Susanna" and "The Theme from the Beverly Hillbillies" tossed in for effect.

The second set was just as delightful, opening with passionate rips through "Under the 5-Wire", "Crazy Ivan" and the humorous "Clean Plate Club", before the band left the stage to showcase a solo turn by pianist extraordinaire John R. Burr on his own composition; "Christmas Lullaby". Brown and Craven came back for an unplugged birthday duet before the whole band returned to close with "The Road West" and "Leaving Cottondale". An encore brought forth ukeleles for Craven and Brown to pick.

In addition to Burr's exceptional skill on piano, the quartet includes her husband, Garry West on bass, and Larry Atamanuik on percussion. This is a band that's absolutely loaded with talent, but the addition of Craven playing mandolin, fiddle and beatbox, managed to kick things up a notch (if that's even possible).

Alison Brown is a force to be reckoned with, and I know I'm not the only one who was converted on this occasion. Her delicate ferocity on the fretboard, combined with her ability to write tuneful melodies, will serve her well as her career continues to blossom. On this evening, the Sheldon, with its awesome acoustics, provided the perfect venue for her considerable talent.

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