Jazz banjo virtuoso has carved out a unique musical niche for herself by combining a number of conventional elements in a personal way: her style of jazz is quite straight-ahead without sounding either old-fashioned or even really traditional, and her compositions are richly complex without ever sounding avant-garde or even self-consciously progressive. Perhaps most impressive of all, she never seems defensive about the fact that she's using a five-string banjo to play jazz -- her jazziest material sounds effortless and natural, but she also has no compunction whatsoever about bringing bluegrass and Celtic elements into her sound. On she is playing and writing at the peak of her powers: opens the program in a minor key and a complex meter; is a traditional fiddle tune arranged with a lovely Caribbean lilt; is strutting country-jazz that would sound at home on an old recording. is an adaptation of a tune by Irish accordionist , one that allows to demonstrate her unique genius, which is to put chromatic sophistication completely in service to melodic beauty. The program closes with a sweet and quietly joyful tune written for 's infant son. is a slightly overlong slow number that tends to meander a bit, but it's the closest thing there is to a misstep on this excellent album. ~ Rick Anderson