Plays Banjo

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About Plays Banjo

Product Description A collection of twelve original bluegrass/acoustic instrumentals from this world-renowned California five-string banjo player featuring some of the most well-known names in bluegrass music, with selections ranging from the traditional ("Germaine's Dream," "New Black Eyed Suzie") to the progressive ("Kobe Blues," "When She Smiles"). Includes a bonus track of "Heavy Traffic Ahead," a remake of the Bill Monroe classic featuring Don Rigsby, Mike Compton and Glen Duncan. Review Bill Evans has created an instrumental masterpiece...an album certain to be remembered in the future as a classic. David Royko -- The Chicago Tribune About the Artist It’s not necessarily easy playing bluegrass banjo when you have the name Bill Evans. After all, there are several other well-known musicians who share this name, among them a legendary late jazz pianist, a jazz saxophonist, a bass player and a guitar player. This has resulted in some unusual situations: as when the banjo playing Bill Evans received an email from one of the other Bill Evanses demanding that he not perform or record using his name. Then there was the morning back in 1980 that his wife-to-be heard on the local radio station that Bill Evans had died (luckily for her, that was the Bill Evans who played piano). Within the acoustic music world, this Bill Evans has enjoyed a career of over twenty-five years, known not only as a banjo player but also as a writer, teacher, producer, and scholar. A doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Berkeley, Bill currently performs as a solo artist and with singer Peter Rowan (Old and in the Way), fellow banjoist Tony Trischka, as well as San Francisco Bay Area bands the Bluegrass Intentions and Due West. His 1995 Rounder Records debut "Native and Fine" earned an Honorable Mention for Acoustic Instrumental Recording of the Year from the Association for Independent Music. As a producer, Bill earned a 1998 nomination for Recorded Event of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Association for his work on Suzanne Thomas’ "Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts." He writes a monthly instructional column for Banjo Newsletter magazine and has written books and produced video projects for Mel Bay and AcuTab publications and Homespun Tapes. In addition, he has taught courses in ethnomusicology and American music history at San Francisco State University, the University of Virginia and Duke University. He is the senior At Large board member for the International Bluegrass Music Association, the professional trade association for bluegrass music.