EZRA

With the eponymously titled EZRA, composer, multi-instrumentalist and luthier Jesse Jones establishes his acoustic ensemble as one of our planet’s premier purveyors of progressive bluegrass. Inspired by genre-fluid aggregations, such as Punch Brothers, The Goat Rodeo Sessions and Uncommon Ritual, Jones offers up nine original compositions spanning the realms of folk, country, bluegrass, jazz and classical chamber music. While many bands attempt similar alchemical blends, EZRA are among the few that succeed in creating a truly magical synthesis. The band’s core lineup – Jacob Jolliff (mandolin), Max Allard (banjo), Craig Butterfield (double bass) and Jones (guitar and piano) – are all superb, award-winning players and scholars, equally comfortable with the cool discipline of the academy and the rambunctious permissiveness of improvisation. ‘Smoke in the Valley’ rolls out in a blue groove, like a murder ballad, with Allard plucking the melody on banjo, followed by Butterfield’s lilting double bass, Jones chiming in on guitar and Jolliff’s jazzy mandolin. ‘Contrabuffoon’, another jazz-inflected tune, bops and swings with joyous charm. ‘Jarrah’, a sprightly tempoed, riff-trading showcase, was inspired by a deep red wood from Western Australia, from which Jones crafted a guitar, which he tunes like a banjo.