Roots of the Banjo Tree, Independent Release ****
It’s a rehabilitation that Betty Ford would be proud of. The banjo, that much-maligned instrument of torture, sometimes wielded by players on more intimate terms with volume than musicianship, is stepping back into the limelight with chutzpah and panache.
Enda Scahill, the fulcrum of this awkwardly named trio (soon to become a foursome with the impending arrival of Enda’s brother Feargal on fiddle), had already raised the bar with his 2000 spitfire solo debut, Pick It Up. A dozen years on and We Banjo 3 sees him united with two of former students: brothers Martin and David Howley.
The band’s chosen title is somewhat misleading, as other instruments abound on this thoughtful, spacious collection. Mandolin and guitar play strong roles in the foundation of WB3’s sound, and just three tune sets feature solely banjos. Of these, Over the Waterfall/ Liberty Polka, a Virginian/ Québécois pairing, rattles and hums with such intricacy that one suspects it might be impossible to sunder musicians from tunes in a live setting.
Roots of the Banjo Tree traces the circuitous route taken by the banjo on its slave-ship journey from Africa to the southern US and onwards into Irish traditional music. The rich store of songs and tunes criss-cross the Mason-Dixon Line and continental shelves with remarkable fluency.
Old-timey Americana, bluegrass and Irish threads interweave, with David Howley’s charismatic vocals effortlessly hammocking the entire affair. His reading of Ola Bella Reed’s Gonna Write Me a Letter (with additional vocals from I Draw Slow’s Louise Holden) sets the tone of muscular interpretation, suggesting a musician with more road miles than his age might suggest.
Instrumentally, We Banjo 3’s attention to detail is a joy to unfurl with each successive listen, and their invitation to Gerry ‘Banjo’ O’Connor to lead on his own air, Time to Time, is an apt cap-doffing to one of the central roots of the banjo tree of the album’s title.
At times, the rich mix of banjo, guitar, mandolin, double bass and fiddle whispers of a kinship to double bassist Charlie Haden's Rambling Boy, with an ear firmly cocked to the crossroads where past and present coalesce. webanjo3.com
