Bill Evans - The Banjo in America (2022)

Bill Evans and Tiki Parlour Recordings have collaborated on the ultimate banjo recording set (CD & DVD Set) for the 21st century. Bill Evans’ “The Banjo in America” celebrates 250 years of music performed on a variety of banjos from the Haitian-inspired banza to the Gibson Mastertone and eight other historical instruments in between.

Based on Bill’s decades-long exploration of deep banjo history and performance practice, “The Banjo in America” traces the complex musical history of the banjo through two centuries of African-American and Anglo-American cultural exchange. He is one of the few musicians who has mastered multiple American banjo styles including 19th century stroke style, old-time finger styles, classic banjo of the ragtime era, Scruggs-style bluegrass and beyond, to his many original tunes. These styles are all displayed here, performed on a stunning variety of historic and reproduction instruments. Very few musicians have the ability and experience to boast such a stunning display of banjo alchemy and this set is unlike any other ever recorded its breadth and variety. Bill’s extensive liner notes provide the background and context for each piece and David Bragger’s stunning video work captures each performance in gorgeous detail.

Bill Evans is one of our finest banjo players, at home in styles ranging from the earliest American repertoire to contemporary bluegrass and beyond. His The Banjo In America is a fascinating trip from the very late 18th- and mid-19th-Century styles up through Earl Scruggs’s crucial innovations of the mid-20th Century, finally landing among some of Evans’ own lovely compositions. The set’s booklet provides his own erudite commentary on the historical and musical backgrounds of the selections, and the DVD is a special joy. The visual beauty of the various instruments played, and the elegance and grace of Evans’ performances, make this a valuable and very enjoyable contribution to our understanding of the development of this instrument’s roots in the African diaspora, and its flowering amid this nation’s vivid and varied history. — Tom Piazza

You will find none better in presenting a program on the banjo in America than banjoist Bill Evans. He couples his scholarly knowledge of the history of this wonderful Americanized instrument with his world class playing skills to elucidate and entertain at every twist and turn of the banjo’s glorious journey. —Alan Munde, 2021 Steve Martin Banjo Award recipient

With the pandemic leaving all of us hungry for live music, Bill Evans provides us with the next best thing. The Banjo in America is an intimate view into Bill’s personal takes on a survey of historical stylings. –Bob Carlin

That Evans can play so well in so many styles on so many different banjos in various tunings is not the overarching point of these 19 performances, and yet his musicality brings the pieces to life. -Jim Borwick, Bluegrass Unlimited

Tracklist
1. Bill Evans - Pompey Ran Away & Phil Rice's Excelsior Jig (03:25)
2. Bill Evans - Devil's Dream, Bully for All & St. Patrick's Day (06:38)
3. Bill Evans - Good Bye John & Hard Times (04:06)
4. Bill Evans - Whoop Jamboree & Indian Rubber Overcoat (04:17)
5. Bill Evans - Buckley's Jig & Whelpley's Jig (04:08)
6. Bill Evans - Home Sweet Home (04:53)
7. Bill Evans - Sunflower Dance (01:59)
8. Bill Evans - A Ragtime Episode (02:35)
9. Bill Evans - Ballad No. 1 (02:05)
10. Bill Evans - Banjoland (02:00)
11. Bill Evans - Pretty Polly (03:48)
12. Bill Evans - Coal Creek March (01:43)
13. Bill Evans - Medley: Cripple Creek / Shortening Bread / Little Darling Pal of Mine / Lonesome Road Blues (02:46)
14. Bill Evans - I'll Remember You Love in My Prayers (03:35)
15. Bill Evans - Native and Fine (03:34)
16. Bill Evans - Clarinet Polka (02:23)
17. Bill Evans - Petersburg Gal (02:10)
18. Bill Evans - The Distance Between Two Points (03:46)
19. Bill Evans - Medley: Leaving Owensboro / Catching the Dickens / Corey's Slide (05:37)