Alison Brown

Progressive banjoist Alison Brown is a virtuosic instrumentalist, accomplished bandleader, and composer. Her wholly individual style relies as much on jazz, blues, classical, and global traditions as bluegrass and folk music. She released the solo Grammy-nominated Simple Pleasures in 1990, the first of four acclaimed studio albums for Vanguard that included Twilight Motel (1992) and Quartet (1996). She co-founded the Compass label with producer husband Garry West for 1998's Out of the Blue. 2005's Stolen Moments offered covers and originals. 2009's The Company You Keep was her most jazz-centric set to date, and 2015's Song of the Banjo deliberately moved her instrument in new directions, offering classic covers of old and new standards with guest appearances by several vocalists. In 2023, Brown returned with On Banjo, a genre-blurring collection that included collabs with Kronos Quartet, Anat Cohen, and others.