Jayme
Stone’s Folklife follows the bends and bayous through the deep river of
song and story. Evolving out of Stone's Lomax Project, this gathering
of versatile musicians blows the dust off of old songs and remakes them
for modern ears. With spellbinding singing, virtuosic playing and
captivating storytelling, the album reworks songs found in the Library
of Congress’ Archive of American Folklife.Stone is the consummate collaborator, unearthing musical artifacts and magnetizing extraordinary artists to help rekindle these understudied sounds. He is a passionate educator, producer and instigator. Stone has been called the “Yo-Yo Ma of the banjo” (Globe and Mail) and his music has been featured on NPR, CBC, BBC and at venues across North America and abroad, including the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers. Jayme Stone’s Folklife is the prolific artist’s seventh album and he’s won two Juno and three Canadian Folk Music Awards.
The recording features singer extraordinaire Moira Smiley (tune-yArDs), Grammy-winning songster Dom Flemons (Carolina Chocolate Drops), cornetist Ron Miles (Bill Frisell), singer Felicity Williams (Bahamas) and more. A powerful chemistry and camaraderie amongst the musicians can be felt throughout the record.
The album comes with detailed song notes as well as a series of bright, folkloric illustrations commissioned from artist Camilla Perkins. As Stone explains in the introduction, “In this age of monoculture, it’s no wonder that many of us seek nearly-forgotten artifacts from the past: an antique Radio Flyer wagon, a dog-eared first edition, a hymn as old as dirt. But I’m no collector, nor am I particularly nostalgic. I revel in the act of discovery. I want 33⅓ revelations per minute. I crave collaboration. So I gathered together fellow keen-eared musicians to help blow the dust off these carefully chosen songs, uncover their hidden histories, and till fresh soil to see what might spring forth from these sturdy seeds.”
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