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Twisted Sage on CD

The fiddle-banjo duo is as fundamental as it gets in various American folk music forms. On veteran fiddler Kenny Kosek's Twisted Sage, that is a sturdy foundation for a series of vibrant explorations of tradition-based tunes, but also a launching pad for leaps beyond tradition. Paired for much of the album with banjo innovator Tony Trischka, Kosek brings a sense of wonder and supreme musical imagination to the familiar and the strange alike. None of this will surprise those who have followed his wide-ranging path as a recording and concert favorite of Jerry Garcia, Willie Nelson, David Bromberg, James Taylor, Leonard Cohen and countless others, not to mention his frequent collaborations with mandolinist/clarinetist Andy Statman going back to their early folk groups in the late 1960s. Statman joins in on several pieces, including "Turkeys in the Straw" - that's plural - with the classic tune rendered first as a jaunty ragtime, then a fairly straight square-dance setting and finally a manic speedgrass run. Also making guest appearances are guitarist Mark Cosgrove, who joins Kosek for a duet of "Evan's Farewell" (a version of which appeared on Kosek's 1997 solo album Angelwood) and banjoist Marty Cutler, who teams with Kosek on "Gojira Country Breakdown," a fantasia on the "Japanese Army March" from the 1954 monster flick Gojira. Other tracks range from the Moldavian "Jewish Dance" (a version of which Statman recorded with his Klezmer Orchestra 40 years ago) to "Texas" (Kosek and Trischka sparring on a piece based on a 1966 field recording of Henry Reed) to tunes from the British Isles. The recordings, with vibrant production from Kosek and Edward Haber (whose Shefa Records label is releasing this), come from both studio and live settings, twisted together in a scintillating whole.