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Rhapsody in Blue
Barnes and Noble
Rhapsody in Blue
Current price: $13.99
Barnes and Noble
Rhapsody in Blue
Current price: $13.99
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is arguably the greatest musician ever to play the banjo, and with this 2024 release, he accomplished an unprecedented feat; he topped both bluegrass and crossover classical charts in the U.S. The multiple chart placements are appropriate, for what one finds on the album is not simply a banjo arrangement of
's
, as one might suppose from the graphics, but multiple versions of that great work. The album opens with
, featuring a variety of players from
's compatriots in the world of progressive bluegrass; the work fits
's melodic content into motor rhythms, and in general, it makes the
quite effectively into a progressive blues piece. There is also
, with a big assist from jazz bassist
; this is a more improvisatory treatment of the
, teasing out its much-discussed blues content. Perhaps these two more highly altered treatments work better than the actual transcription of the
;
's own notes testify to the struggle involved in transferring piano music to the banjo. Mileage may vary here, and the experiment is interesting, at the very least. Bonuses are present in the form of two short pieces,
, which, as
notes, was written for the piano but could just as easily have been a banjo work, and the recently rediscovered
, a genuine rarity. Recommended for bluegrass lovers,
lovers, and, for that matter, listeners who are new to both. ~ James Manheim