Hidden Animals

Ben Krakauer has had an intriguing career. He's an impressive banjo player and composer, and an ethnomusicologist who has written about bluegrass and South Asian music. He is also Assistant Professor of Music at Warren Wilson College, out in the mountains of North Carolina, and has worked with that great mandolin exponent David Grisman, famed for playing with the Grateful Dead on American Beauty, and for pioneering a fusion of bluegrass, folk and jazz that he calls Dawg Music. Krakauer's second solo album also explores bluegrass-jazz fusion territory, and appropriately enough there are a couple of tracks inspired by his dog. He's joined by some fine players here, who add fiddle, cello, bass and percussion to a free-wheeling set that constantly switches direction. There are bursts of rapid fire bluegrass, as on ‘Dogboy Breakdown’, while other instrumental pieces veer towards late-night jazz balladry or melodic mood music. And then there are passages like the title track where a cheerfully jaunty melody becomes a jazz workout, and sections where the banjo eases back, allowing solos from the fiddle or bass. An engaging and original set, recorded live in four days.