Banjoist Bill Keith makes his intentions clear from the very first track of this album, which is a Rolling Stones cover. Despite the fact that he and his band are playing what sounds more or less like straight-ahead bluegrass, they’re not going to be constrained by any convention. Alongside traditional fare like “Rickett’s Hornpipe” and “Farewell Blues” you’re going to hear a Clifford Jordan tune and a setting of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” And Keith will be playing in the melodic banjo style that he and Tony Trischka pioneered and Béla Fleck later perfected.

– Rick Anderson