Once again, banjos descend upon Beijing.
For the third time in as many years, Abigail Washburn, a
bilingual singer/songwriter from the United States, returns to
China to perform her unique brand of Sino-American old time
bluegrass folk music.
Left-right: Casey Driessen, Bela
Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Ben Sollee
Washburn, who studied Chinese in Beijing years ago, performs
with the world's most famous banjo player Bela Fleck in the new
Sparrow Quartet.
The Sparrow Quartet brings together the same folks that
performed as "Traveling Daughter" last year. Besides Abigail on
vocals and the banjo, nine-time Grammy winner Bela Fleck also plays
the banjo, with Casey Driessen on the fiddle and Ben Sollee
rounding out the act with the cello.
They will perform two shows in Beijing. They will first appear
at Peking University Hall on Friday night, starting at 7 PM.
Tickets range from 20 to 150 RMB. They will then perform at Star
Live on Saturday night around 9 PM. Some local folk musicians are
also slated to join forces with the Quartet for their second
performance.
(CRI November 8, 2006)
