I wouldn't mind owning a time machine—solely for entertainment purposes. I have no burning desire to get all Bill & Ted and hoist tankards with Benjamin Franklin or anything as, you know, historic as all that. If offered the choice between a time machine and a new food processor, I'd pick the latter, but if H. G. Wells just left one on the sidewalk labeled "FREE," I'd drag it home.
Seattle banjo virtuoso Allen Hart—who is playing at the Rendezvous' Jewel Box Theater this Thursday, August 24, at 8:00 p.m.—needs a time machine even less than me. Since he began to learn his instrument at the age of 7, Hart has made an extensive study of the history of the banjo and its repertoire, soaking up field recordings and vintage commercial releases, and, more importantly, gleaning songs and techniques from older players in their twilight years.
All of which, combined with Hart's consummate artistry, adds up to one hell of a listen on his new CD, Old-Time Banjo, released via the locals at Voyager Recordings & Publications. On these 20 selections, Hart breaths vibrant life into ditties that might otherwise have been lost in the backwoods of North Carolina and Kentucky, such as the sprightly "Cleveland's March to the White House."
Save for percussion by Clif "Ambassador of the Bones" Ervin on four cuts, the 38-minute program is just Hart and his banjos, but you'll not want for more. Fellow experts will undoubtedly marvel at the facility with which Hart changes playing styles: clawhammer, frailing, "up-picking," and "knock down." Those may sound like wrestling moves, but Hart executes them all with a delicate precision rarely displayed in the WWE.
One suspects that if Mr. Hart did have a time machine, he'd use it for shopping expeditions, to augment his collection of stringed instruments. On Old-Time Banjo, he relies primarily on a 1904 Whyte Laydie #7—that's right, a banjo over a century old. A banjo maker as well as a performer, Hart also elicits lovely sounds from his own reproduction of a two-headed, fretless banjo from the mid-19th century (the original can be found at the Smithsonian Institute), and his wife's authentic Cole's Eclipse banjo, which is even older than his treasured Whyte Laydie.
Old-Time Banjo does make one modest concession to the 21st century: from a technical standpoint, the sound is remarkably sympathetic. Without intrusive ambient noise, Phil Williams's recording, editing, mastering, etc., picks up every nuance of what Hart does, till you can almost feel the firm calluses of his thumb and index finger plucking the strings on "Davenport." This subtle but crucial point goes a long way in lifting the CD above many offerings of a similar nature, ensuring a more pleasurable listening experience for the casual fan.
You know, forget about that time machine. Who needs it? If I want to be transported to another place and time, I'd just as soon entrust the music of Allen Hart to do the job for me.
