Gifted, genre-hopping, and endlessly creative,
Alison Brown has been endlessly compared to her male equivalent,
Béla Fleck. While she shares the same broad view of bluegrass as well as the bottomless pit of talent, her warm, plucky, and distinctly melodic style of banjo playing is far more reminiscent of
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band legend
John McEuen. On Stolen Moments, the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist dishes up 11 slices of Celtic, jazz, and newgrass that effortlessly blend the rural with the contemporary.
Brown may rely on numerous guests this time around (including
Sam Bush and
Stuart Duncan), but it's longtime collaborator
John Burr's piano that she sounds most comfortable around -- the two converse with such fluidity on some of the jazzier numbers that they may as well have combined both instruments into one. Highlights include the Celtic-tinged "Magnificent Seven" and "Carrowkeel" (the latter features some fine low whistle playing from
Seamus Egan), a refreshingly earnest cover of
Simon & Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" (sung by
Indigo Girls'
Amy Ray and
Emily Saliers), and a smoky rendition of
Jimi Hendrix's "Angel" (sung by labelmate
Beth Nielsen Chapman). However, the most alluring piece appears at the end of Stolen Moments; the self-penned mandolin, conga, and banjo-driven "Musette for a Palindrome" is so unlike anything else on the record that one can only hope that it's merely a teaser for the next. More like this please. ~ James Christopher Monger