Records I haven't never heard

excellent - where did you find it!

 

I somehow stumbled upon it at the Amazon.
Could THAT be the mysterious instrument for which the Art of Fugue was composed?

 

No.

 

Oh, Ah've come up from the country
With mah banjo on mah knee
Ah play in courts with great aplomb
And contrapuntally

Chorus:
Magdalena, don't you cry for me
'Cos ah've come up from the country
With mah banjo on mah knee

Oh, the hardest part's the fugal art
With strings and fingers five
To stay well-tempered is the trick
And hope ideas arrive.

Chorus:

Oh, Ah tried the Duke of Brandenburg
He wasn't so impressed
Till Ah let him play a bit in Six
And Ah played all the rest.

Chorus:

Oh, Ah tried in Leipzig for a job
They didn't like mah banter
But in the end, Ah tell 'ee, man
Ah got it in a cantor.

Chorus:

Oh they said, "Yo' write some decent stuff,
"And if yo' can't, tata!"
Ah produced the goods in every way,
A lot call me papa

Chorus:

 

I was so intrigued by this that I bought it (cheaper through Amazon Deutschland). Far from being bluegrass (YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAH!) in any way, it's simply a recording of transcriptions of various baroque pieces (including bits of Vivaldi and Handel). As a result, to me, it really says nothing new. The banjo man is very good, but the accompanying string players aren't really up to scratch (so to speak). In the final analysis, it might have been better to do a "Flatt and Scruggs meets J.S. Bach" album; at least that would have been something new.

 

How about this then: Eugene Chadbourne's German Country and Western (CD). It is Bach solo violin music (Sonata #1 and Partita #1) performed on the banjo.

 

I once gave my socks to The Chad at a little gig he did in Belfast! It was a spur of the moment thing and I'm not sure the great man fully appreciated the gesture.