The seating of five newly-elected members of  the Board of Directors for the International Bluegrass Music Association has just been announced. Three incumbent board members return to their seats along with two new members to fill the Board’s full complement of 17 members.

From IBMA’s press release…

• Alison Brown, an executive with Compass Records and an award winning artist from Nashville, Tennessee was re-elected to represent members involved in recording, distribution and marketing.
• Mike Bub, an award-winning musician from Nashville, Tennessee, was re-elected to represent artists, composers and music publishers.
• Craig Ferguson, a festival producer with Planet Bluegrass in Lyons, Colorado was elected by members involved in event production.
• Jim Roe, of Roe Entertainment from Owensboro, Kentucky was elected to represent agents, managers and publicists.
• Neil Rosenberg, an author and historian from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada was re-elected by all professional members to an at-large post.

Alison Brown is among several banjoists whose playing has been described as “out of this world” – but she may be among the very few who can prove it.

When space shuttle Atlantis took off last week to perform delicate repairs on the Hubble telescope, Alison’s new CD The Company You Keep was along for the ride. She counts at least two NASA astronauts among her fans. Marsha Ivins was responsible for turning Atlantis Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld on to her music, and it was he who brought the CD along for his down time in outer space.

This marks the fourth time that Brown’s music has been involved in a space shuttle mission, with three tracks from her previous releases having been used for wake up calls on earlier shuttle flights.

The CD contains ten tracks, of which 9 are her compositions. Alison is featured on banjo along with her band – Garry West on bass, John R. Burr on piano, Larry Atamanuik on drums and Joe Craven on madolin and fiddle – plus guest artists John Doyle (guitar), Stuart Duncan (fiddle ), and Kenny Malone (drums).

Audio samples can be found online.

The new CD from banjoist Alison Brown, The Company You Keep, will be released April 7 on Compass Records.

The album features her quartet: John Burr on piano, Garry West on bass, Joe Craven on mandolin and fiddle and Larry Atamanuik on drums. Additional guest artists include John Doyle on guitar, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Kenny Malone on drums.

The music places Brown’s banjo in a mainstream jazz rhythm section and is highly melodic, with several heads played in unison by the piano and the five string. Of course the soloing is first rate throughout.

Compass, which was founded by Brown and West in 1995, is offering a special promotion on the first 5,000 units shipped. These will be packaged with both the audio CD and a DVD that features a concert with The Alison Brown Quartet and Joe Craven shot at Vanderbilt University in December 2008. The concert includes songs from The Company You Keep as well as several from Alison’s earlier releases.

Audio samples can be found on the Compass web site, where pre-orders are being accepted.

Compass Records has released a revised and extended version of Evergreen, a CD of Christmas music from The Alison Brown Quartet that first hit as an EP in 2007.

The material is composed of primarily modern Christmas favorites, twice in interesting medleys, and always with clever arrangements. The venerable Carol Of The Bells is paired with We Three Kings, and Here Comes Santa Claus is merged with Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Alison’s banjo is heavily featured on each track, with a light jazz rhythm section composed of her quartet – John Burr on piano, Garry West on bass,  David Heyer on drums – with special guests Joe Craven on fiddle and mandolin, and Larry Atamanuik on drums. Vocalists from the University School of Nashville also appear on several tracks.

Two Vince Guaraldi pieces from the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack are included (Skating and Christmas Time is Here), and the mid-1960s sound of Guaraldi’s Trio infuses much of this CD.

Silver Bells and Christmas Don’t Be Late have been added since the initial 2007 release, along with a precious hidden track of Alison’s daughter Hannah singing a reprise of Christmas Don’t Be Late.

Audio samples are available on the Compass Records web site.