The Musical Box

If nothing else, you had to admire the sense of reach that banjoist Abigail Washburn exhibited last night at the Kentucky Theatre with her Sparrow Quartet. Over the course of two hour-long sets, Washburn and her distinctly constructed string ensemble (two banjos, fiddle and cello) presented a world music view that drew upon Chinese folk music, bluegrass, vintage jazz, blues, folk, Appalachian mountain music and assorted mutations of the lot.

In was a brave and often visionary program that happily allowed string styles to cross borders and continental divides in search of newer sounds. It also, at times, bit off more than the quartet could musically chew.

Curiously, Washburn’s biggest creative leaps – tunes that had her singing in Mandarin Chinese – sounded fine. Backed by a playful groove with a blues-funk slant, Kangding Qingge provided Washburn’s vocals with almost danceable animation. Journey Home later revealed more stately vocal shades that enhanced the tune’s sense of warmth and, one would suspect, faith.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Washburn had some serious musical journeymen at her side – including banjo pioneer Bela Fleck, Kentucky cellist Ben Sollee and fiddler Casey Driessen.

Fleck, to no one’s surprise, readily took to the multi-cultural turns of Washburn’s repertoire. As he does with his own music, Fleck instinctively shot off solos of impressive speed and agility. But more than that, his playing simply made sense. His neatly colored quieter passages, like the lullaby Rockabye Dixie, but was equally complimentary in linking the chamber and bluegrass strategies of Great Big Wall in China.

Driessen seemed a little fenced in at times by all the genre jumping. But when arrangements opened up, as in the show closing encore of Song of the Traveling Daughter, he ran with a solo of rich Appalachian fancy. Driessen’s solo rendition of Sugarfoot Rag, set to a punctuated vocal rhythm that approximated hip hop, was also a blast.

While at ease with the purposeful Chinese panorama of the music, Washburn sounded more tentative when inspirations came from closer to home. The ‘20s era jazz touches of Everybody Does it Now were fun enough, as was the gospel shine of His Eye is on the Sparrow. But stabs at blues during readings of Nobody’s Fault But Mine, which was built around a rhythmic pulse designed on banjo and cello, and Strange Things were comparatively static.

The pace of the performance seemed jagged at times, as well. Maybe it was due to all the stylistic shuffling going on. Maybe it was the fact that last night marked the opening of the Sparrow Quartet’s most extensive domestic tour. Maybe it was because the bulk of the repertoire came from an album that won’t be released until mid May. Regardless, odd gaps popped up like potholes between songs.

Some were peculiar audience queries (from Washburn: “Did you notice we played an overture? I noticed.”). Others were stabs at humor that stalled. There were also several lengthy exhibitions of tuning. At one point, Fleck even tuned Washburn’s banjo to move the concert along.

These are instances that will probably iron themselves out as the Sparrows get more accustomed to its first serious stretch of ensemble road work. Despite the occasional bumps, it was still a brave journey full of cross-continental daring and cheer.