Grammy Award-winning banjoist Alison Brown and her quintet will perform this weekend at the Blue Ridge Music Center

Grammy award-winning banjoist Alison Brown and her quintet perform this weekend at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia, along with Wayne Henderson and Friends.

Decades ago, Brown, a Harvard graduate, gave up a career on Wall Street to pursue banjo and went on to tour with Alison Krauss & Union Station. She recorded her first solo album, Simple Pleasures, in 1990, and earlier this month the remixed and remastered version was released. Brown spoke with WFDD’s David Ford about that project as well as her latest album On Banjo which features musical collaborations with artists Steve Martin, and clarinetist Anat Cohen.

Interview Highlights

On collaborating with Israeli jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen:

"Clarinet and banjo kind of go together like chocolate and peanut butter. And most people don't think about the fact that they were both kind of the red-headed stepchildren of jazz. But they were both there, obviously, at the birth of jazz and it was really fun to pair with Anat — not just because she's a great musician — but she also really turned me on to Brazilian choro music. And I spent a lot of the pandemic doing a deep dive into her YouTube videos ... with her choro band. And so I just kept thinking that it would be really fun to try to write a Brazilian choro and see if Anat would record it with me, and luckily she agreed to."

On the re-release of Simple Pleasures:

"Well, it was great actually. I was kind of concerned that there would be a big whinge factor, you know, going back and listening to those tunes and those performances. But actually, I was really so happy with how well I felt the music held up. And also when we made that record ... we recorded it at David Grisman's studio. It was the second project that he made in his studio. And we recorded it to one inch tape, eight tracks. And basically, you know, did multiple takes, like seven or eight takes in each tune, and then he bounced everything onto a cassette. And I would like map out where I thought the edits would be, and we would just splice between takes, like, literally, with a razor blade and tape, and that's how we put that record together. So I never really had a chance to do like just solo guitar and bass and mandolin and see what's happening. And so getting to do that, like putting everything into Pro Tools, and getting to do a deep dive was so great because I just really got to hear that, you know, David Grisham rhythm section. And there was all kinds of stuff happening that I never really got to, you know, dig into and enjoy beyond the moment when we actually made the record. So that part was really fascinating."

On working with Steve Martin:

"One thing that I've noticed is that he — rather than second guessing ideas — it's like you present an idea and he's like yes I love that and he builds on it. It's kind of like somebody described to me the comedian thing 'yes and.' It's like taking somebody's idea and then adding to it. And sometimes when you collaborate with people they get to so second-guessing things that it's hard to keep the ball rolling. So, that's one thing that I've noticed about Steve is just how easy it's been to collaborate because of kind of like that positive energy. And then he just has an incredible work ethic. I mean, I think his mind is always whirring and he's always thinking about several different things that he's working on. And it's just amazing to see how quickly he'll engage with an idea and then hit the ball over the net again."