Music Ramblings: Dec 5, 2007, ...speaking of Abigail Washburn

Subject: Does anyone know who this is .....speaking of Abigail Washburn

To: "Bluegrass music discussion." <[email protected]>

As a matter of fact, I just heard, this past Sunday, a concert by Abigail Wasburn (of Uncle Earl) and Bela Fleck, one half of the Sparrow Quartet (which adds violin and cello), doing their first full performance as a duo, and I hope it wasn't the last, because it was remarkable. Washburn's clawhammer playing is more sparse--at times even delicate--than is typical, though she proved that she can push hard when she wants to. Her voice is just gorgeous, and she composes in English but also Chinese, in which she's fluent, and she also brings in Chinese folk material, which was some of the best stuff of the night.

And Bela was able to have a field day embellishing and improvising through the music, and he was brilliant.

The setting was the Unitarian Church of Evanston, and they were doing a benefit for the church and its domestic violence work. The night before, they performed 3 songs together in a sold-out benefit concert for the Old Town School at the huge Auditorium Theater, with a whole bunch of other musicians (I wasn't able to be at that).

Dave Royko