JAYME STONE plays the Jazz Bistro Wednesday (July 31) and the Music Gallery September 6. Rating: NNNN
Oddly, banjo is not the most prominent instrument on Juno Award-winning banjo man Jayme Stone’s orchestral, instrumental fourth album, The Other Side Of The Air. But even when Stone’s banjo is in the foreground, it tends to shape-shift in unexpected ways, at times sounding like a guitar or mandolin.
The first part of the album was inspired by Stone’s travels to far-flung locales, while the second, written by cellist/bassist Andrew Downing, is a chamber symphony banjo concerto.
Radio Wassoulou and Soundiata are fruits of a trip to Mali, but while the first sounds funky, jazzy and joyful, the second keeps a foot in jazz while drawing a connection between West African music and North American folk. Elsewhere, Stone’s compositions get moody and experimental (A Poet In Her Own Country) and exciting (Debussy Heights actually sounds like climbing a mountain) before closing with a refreshingly unclichéd rendition of Tennessee Waltz.
Top track: Soundiata
