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If jazz is blues and blues is folk and bluegrass is "folk music in overdrive", what are we to make of banjo belle, Beth Mead, who has taken her Scruggs licks on a tour of Swing standards for a second session of "BIG BANDJO".? I suggest we bring our hands together and applaud her talent, her taste and her infinite variety (as Will Shakespeare used to say). Her playing is uncluttered and melodic. Her selections are adventurous but recognizable. She covers the obvious crossover numbers ("Ain't She Sweet", "When You're Smiling", "Bye Bye Blues") and the surprising ("I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", "Polka Dots and Moonbeams") with equal fervor and skill. Mead's excellent voice is featured on "It Had to be You" and "When You Wore a Tulip (and I Wore a Red, Red Rose)". On the Western tunes "Sioux City Sue", "Back In the Saddle Again" and "Happy Trails", Beth is joined vocally by members of her bluegrass band, Fred's Mobile Homes, and the polished vocal trios on these "cowboy" numbers will bring back happy memories of childhood Saturday matinees. The musicians include Mead on 5-string banjo and vocals, Alan Munde on lead and rhythm acoustic guitar, Larry Cohen on electric bass, Joe Carr, George Abramson, and Richie Kalikow on mandolin, Jerry Allender on trumpet, Jim Cohen on pedal steel, and Tom Gala, Peter Lorch and Frank Burk on vocals. So crank up your cd player and ride off into the sunset with Beth Mead and "Big Bandjo Rides Again". Highly recommended! (Att. banjo pickers; you can get tablature for the songs on this CD from bigbandjo@yahoo.com. Happy Trails! Track List: 1. I Can't Give You Anything but Love 2. Back in the Saddle Again 3. Ain't She Sweet 4. It had to be you 5. im always chasing rainbows 6. sioux city sue d 7. i'm confessin' that i love you 8. when you wore a tulip 9. bye-bye blues 10. my blue heaven 11. polka dots and moonbeams 12. anytime Suggested CDs:
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