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Fair Weather | 
 enlarge | Artist: Alison Brown
Label: Compass Records
Category: Music
Buy New: $17.98
Rating:  12 reviews
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 974292
UPC: 766397429229
EAN: 0766397429229
ASIN: B00004SR01
Release Date: May 9, 2000
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Late on Arrival | | • | Fair Weather (featruing Vince Gill) | | • | Poe's Pickin' Party | | • | Everyday I Write The Book | | • | The Devil Went Down to Berkeley | | • | Hummingbird (featruing Claire Lynch) | | • | Girl's Breakdown | | • | Everybody's Talkin' (featuring Tim O'Brien) | | • | Deep Gap | | • | Shake and Howdy | | • | Leaving Cottondale | | • | Sweet Thing |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Considering the bluegrass renaissance we've gladly witnessed at the end of the 1990s, it's not surprising that banjo wizard Alison Brown would move away from her more progressive jazz-based endeavors and return to more traditional-sounding bluegrass. High-profile, all-star affairs such as Bela Fleck's Bluegrass Sessions, Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band's The Mountain, and Dolly Parton's The Grass Is Blue helped the genre rise to new heights in popularity in 1999. Who knows what spurred Brown to make Fair Weather, but the end result is a stunning, appealing, broad-ranging, star-studded record. In the company of acoustic-music royalty--Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mike Marshall, Tony Rice, David Grier, Matt Flinner, Darol Anger, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Tim O'Brien, and Todd Phillips--Brown plows through hard-charging breakdowns, minor-keyed newgrass, solo-banjo lullabies, and everything in between. Vince Gill sings the bright title track and Claire Lynch handles vocals on the delightful "Hummingbird." The two famous cover songs--Elvis Costello's "Everyday I Write the Book" (sung by Bush) and Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" (sung by O'Brien)--are pleasant enough diversions, though they pale in comparison to the likes of "Shake and Howdy," an intricate, classically tinged trio with Anger and Marshall. And, lest we forget, the compositional skills and mesmerizing banjo work of Ms. Brown, a woman who is acutely aware of the vast melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic possibilities of her instrument and always takes full advantage of them. --Marc Greilsamer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
Mostly good April 8, 2008
gizzyspal (BC Canada)
A very nice CD, marred only by somewhat questionable judgment in the inclusion of songs by Elvis Costello and Fred Neil. Not that Costello and Neil aren't great -- they are -- but their music doesn't really lend itself well to bluegrass style.
A Welcome Departure October 10, 2002
Gary Popovich (Chesterfield, VA USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Whether it due to the passing of Bill Monroe or the unexpected success of "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", many mainstream country (Patty Lovelace, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill) and new acoustic (Bela Fleck) artists have released work that either pay homage to their bluegrass roots or at least have some sort of "retro-grass" sound. And while a cover version of Elvis Costello's "Every Day I Write the Book" ain't exactly "Uncle Pen," it's interesting and refreshing to hear Alison Brown's evocative banjo picking in a more traditional setting. Alison lined up many of the bluegrass world's usual suspects (Fleck, Mike Marshall, Daryl Anger, Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan) to deliver an effort that's both accessible ("Book," "Everybody's Talkin'", and the title song - great vocal by Gill!) and exciting ("Shake and Howdy" and her signature breakdown, "Leaving Cottondale" - worthy of re-recording here because of the great banjo interplay between Alison and Bela). Alison will undoubtedly continue to record with her jazz-oriented band (not that there's anything wrong with that), but for those of us who enjoy the acoustic string sound, this one will have to do for awhile. Fortunately, it's a very enjoyable ride.
 Don't love it because she's smart or pretty.... January 18, 2002
Mark J. Fowler (Orange Park, Florida USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Love it because it's GOOD! Alison Brown must be the only Big Name Banjo player educated at Harvard with an MBA from UCLA and her own record label. What's important on THIS recording, however, is that she is also on the VERY short list of the best banjo players(or musicians) - period. She also plays guitar so well that on "Deep Gap" (named after Doc Watson's home town) you can't tell which track is Alison and which is IBMA guitar player of the year David Grier. Her compositions are steller, the arrangements sparkle, and she gets the most out of her band and guest stars. Great vocals from Vince Gill, Claire Lynch and fellow NewGranger Tim O'Brien. Blistering hot instrumental work from Rice, Bush, Fleck, Duncan, Marshall, Grier and the woman herself. This grammy-winning album joins the cannon of "classic" bluegrass recordings. I had to "edit" my Amazon list to include it!
Alison Brown is my name too January 6, 2002
Aison Brown (Afganistan)
2 out of 28 found this review helpful
My name is Alison
I typed my name into the ask jeeves question box and this site came up
I want to listen to this cd cuz the lady has my name
buy this cd and think of me
Superb Music Just Beyond Bluegrass August 17, 2001
William W. Smith (Basking Ridge, NJ USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not a fan of jazzy bluegrass. I'm not a great admirer of Bela Fleck or even Psychograss. This isn't a philosophical issue or political issue with me, it's just a musical one. I don't think the music sounds good.So I was wary of Alison Brown, who is clearly of the opposite opinion. But with this record, she has won me over. This is her "bluegrass record", as compared to some other more experimental or jazz-related records. And for me it hits just the right mix. I feel like baby bear on this one -- it's not too jazzy, not to traditional. It's JUST RIGHT. While "Leaving Cottondale" won an award for best bluegrass instrumental, my favorite cut is one called Poe's Picking Party. I never get tired of it. Twin mandos in a kind of baroque ensemble. The musicanship is great all around. The mandolin work is outstanding. I never knew Sam Bush could play like that. And of course the banjo playing is great. Alsion uses a lot of the melodic style that I associate with Bill Keith, but she can also do straight ahead Scruggs with the best of them. The material provides lots of variety, with guest vocals by Claire Lynch and Tim O'Brien, to name a couple. Blistering and soothing, it's all here. All in all, this is a record I go back to again and again. And now I even listen to and enjoy Alison's other records, like Simple Pleasures and Look Left. Highly recommended.
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