In the banjo world, any new recording by Alan Munde is an event, and “Dapple Patti,” Alan’s new CD with singer/songwriter Adam Granger is no exception. Taken from live recordings of concerts from 2011, this collection of 17 tunes gives us a rare opportunity to hear Alan’s sparkling banjo playing in a duo format that, in Alan’s own words, “gives me plenty of opportunity to stretch out and play in ways that are somewhat new to me.” Throughout his career, Alan’s banjo playing has been extremely diverse, from his days playing traditional bluegrass with Jimmy Martin to the outer reaches of Country Gazette, and the selection of songs here reflects the broad range of his musical interests.
Instrumentally, we are served up new versions of old favorites, such as Molly Bloom and Sabrosa, a Festival Favorites medley that includes Shenandoah Valley Breakdown, Sally Goodin, Buffalo Gals, Bill Cheatum, Devils Dream and Cripple Creek, a beautiful chord melody version of What A Friend We Have In Jesus as well as three new instrumentals, Traditional Family Breakdown, Trail of the Red Fox and the title cut, Dapple Patti. Not only a great tune, Dapple Patti is also of special interest to banjo players because it is played in the key of Bb without a capo, but still manages to retain a traditional, rolling bluegrass banjo feel. Long known for playing tunes in keys other than G without a capo, Dapple Patti is proof positive that Alan hasn’t lost any of his creative edge.
continued in the print edition of the February 2012 Banjo Newsletter