Banjo That Goes Far Beyond Bluegrass

Think of the banjo and what comes to mind? Country music? Bluegrass? Dixieland? The “Dueling Banjos” of Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell? Earl Scruggs? The “Beverly Hillbillies” theme song he co-wrote?

Sure, all of those and more. What doesn’t immediately register is jazz--at least its styles beyond the ‘20s. And it’s somewhat surprising that the banjo was so quickly replaced in the jazz rhythm sections of the ‘20s and ‘30s by the guitar. Given its origin in Africa (via instruments constructed from turtle shells, calabash gourds, stretched hides and gut strings), it actually was more firmly connected to the roots of jazz than were the European trumpets, clarinets and trombones that quickly became the music’s central voices.

But the arrival of Bela Fleck in the early ‘90s brought the banjo back into the orbit of jazz and the blues.

Almost single-handedly, Fleck established the instrument’s capacity to move easily across genres reaching from the blues and bluegrass to contemporary jazz and pop. On his latest release, “Live at the Quick” (***1/2, Columbia Records), a CD that is being issued simultaneously with a companion DVD, he manages to touch most of those bases with consummate ease.

Fleck has never hesitated to reach into broad stylistic categories or to add talented guest soloists to performances by his basic Flecktones ensemble. (His 2001 CD, “Perpetual Motion,” has received Grammy nominations for classical crossover album and instrumental arrangement.) For this live outing--recorded during two shows in Fairfield, Conn.--he added an array of artists including steel pan master Andy Narell; woodwind artists Paul Hanson, Jeff Coffin and Paul McCandless; tabla drummer Sandip Burman; and Tuvan throat singer Congar Ol’Ondar.

The resulting collection of music is startlingly diverse. Fleck ranges from electric synth banjo and electric low banjo to acoustic banjo, with the latter producing some of the album’s most compelling sounds--especially during his solo interpretation of the Bach Violin Partita No. 3. Other gripping moments include Ol’Ondar’s “Alash Khem,” an amazing display of solo throat singing--a vocal technique in which the singer creates multiple sounds by building layers of overtones from a guttural bass note.

It’s unlikely that Django Reinhardt ever tried his hand at the banjo, although it would have been fascinating to hear what the legendary French Gypsy guitarist would have done with the instrument. One of his finest heirs, Bireli Lagrene--also a French Gypsy--hasn’t tried the banjo either. But he’s been all over the guitar, moving confidently from bebop and jazz-rock to electronic fusion and Brazilian rhythms. On “Gypsy Project” (***, Dreyfus Jazz), he offers yet another tribute to Reinhardt, one that blends reminiscence with adventurousness, the past with the present.

On the opening track, Reinhardt’s “Blues Clair,” both the milieu and the sound are distinctly evocative of the ‘30s. With violinist Florin Niculescu, rhythm guitarists Holzmano Lagrene and Hono Winterstein, and bassist Diego Imbert, the aura of Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli and the Hot Club of France is ever present, especially in tunes such as “Coquette” and “Swing 42,” as well as the rhapsodic rendition of “Embraceable You,” “What Is This Thing Called Love” and “Vous Et Moi” (a 1942 piece in which Reinhardt made one of his rare appearances as a violinist).

Accordionist Richard Galliano on “Daphne” adds a more unusual touch, a solid, in-the-pocket swing-style drive with an occasional seasoning of the blues. But this is Bireli Lagrene’s gig, a stirring example of an improvisational imagination not always apparent in his more electronically oriented outings.

Local Heroes: The artists who keep the recording studios busy--in film, television and all musical genres--rarely receive the acknowledgment they deserve. With a few exceptions, their solo outings generally surface on small, often self-produced CDs. The albums below may or may not turn up in your local record outlet, but they can be found at www.amazon.com.

Alan Kaplan, “Lonely Town” (***, Rylan Records). Trombonist Kaplan has probably performed on thousands of recordings and soundtracks, from “The Simpsons” to Barbra Streisand. For his own debut recording, he gathered a collection of equally gifted studio associates, brought in such fine arrangers as Russ Garcia, Bill Cunliffe and Tom Ranier, and assembled a kind of sumptuous, string-filled, instrumental version of Frank Sinatra’s atmospheric late-night recordings. Kaplan’s lush sound and moody way with a melody are front and center in a collection of tunes overflowing with the enigmatic qualities of love lost and found--tunes such as “Angel Eyes,” “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry,” “I Fall in Love Too Easily” and “Only the Lonely.” Best experienced with a bottle of Cabernet and a roaring fireplace.

Mike Melvoin, “Oh Baby” (***, City Light Entertainment). Pianist Melvoin, who is the new music director for the Grammy Awards show, was the keyboardist on the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” and Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable.” He’s also recorded with everyone from Roy Rogers and Paul Anka to Stan Getz and Ray Charles, and his composing was heard in the underscores of shows such as “Mannix,” “Lou Grant” and “Baretta.” Lesser known is the fact that Melvoin is a first-rate jazz pianist who balances his crisp sense of swing and a compositional cohesion to his improvisational spontaneity. On “Oh Baby,” he works for the most part in a jazz trio context, interacting superbly with bassist Brian Bromberg and drummer John Guerin. Most of the tunes are standards--”There Is No Greater Love,” “So in Love,” “I’ll Never Smile Again,” etc.--enlivened by the ineffable sense of connection among players whose intuitive compatibility is constantly present. On a pair of tracks they are joined by saxophonist Tom Scott in a rare but welcome demonstration of his too infrequently heard straight-ahead skills.

Inner Voices, “Prairie Jazz” (***, Song River Records). Singer Morgan Ames and the other members of her Inner Voices vocal ensemble--Shelby Flint, Melissa Mackay and Michael Mishaw--are capable of singing almost anything. They take on the American West in this unusual collection of a cappella versions of songs such as “Goodbye Old Paint,” “Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds” “Springtime in the Rockies,” “I Wonder as I Wander,” etc. One of the more fascinating items is a rendering of Jim Pepper’s Native American prayer song, “Witchi Tai To”; another is “Home on the Range,” with some new lyrics by Ames written, she says in the liner notes, “thinking of Georgia O’Keeffe crouching along a desert rim looking for colors worth painting.” Is it jazz? In spirit and in the harmonies, yes. But the rich embrace of the American spirit in the album--so unexpectedly appropriate at this particular time--gives the album an appeal that reaches well beyond questions of categorization.

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Don Heckman writes frequently about jazz for The Times.