The Company You Keep is the latest album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 banjoist Alison Brown

Alison Brown

Alison Brown is an American banjo player and guitarist known for a soft nylon-string banjo sound. She has won and has been nominated on several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck for her unique style of playing...

, released in 2009. The other members of the Quartet, especially pianist John Burr contribute to Brown's compositions more than on any of her previous albums, where she composed mostly on her own.

Reception

In his Allmusic review, music critic Rick Anderson wrote of the album "...her jazziest material sounds effortless and natural, but she also has no compunction whatsoever about bringing bluegrass and Celtic elements into her sound. On The Company You Keep she is playing and writing at the peak of her powers... "Drawing Down the Moon" is a slightly overlong slow number that tends to meander a bit, but it's the closest thing there is to a misstep on this excellent album."

Track listing

1. "Crazy Ivan" (Brown, Burr, Doyle) – 3:23
2. "Rocket Summer" (Burr) – 5:24
3. "The Road West" (O'Connor) – 5:30
4. "Drawing Down the Moon" (Brown, West) – 5:30
5. "Under the (Five) Wire" (Brown, Burr) – 4:01
6. "Rainof Shine" (Brown, Burr) – 3:36
7. "Over Nine Waves" (Brown, Doyle) – 4:20
8. "Forky on the Water" (Brown, Burr, Craven) – 5:05
9. "The Clean Plate Club" (Brown, Burr) – 2:57
10. "Waltz for Mr. B" – 3:01

Personnel

• Alison Brown
  Alison Brown
  Alison Brown is an American banjo player and guitarist known for a soft nylon-string banjo sound. She has won and has been nominated on several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck for her unique style of playing...
  
   – banjo, guitar
• John Burr – piano
• Garry West – bass
• Larry Atamanuik – drums

• Joe Craven
  Joe Craven
  Joe Craven is a Freestyle folk, world and roots music multi-instrumentalist, singer and award winning educator. Joe is the Director of RiverTunes Music Camp and a Co-Director of the Wintergrass Youth Academy...
  
   – violin, mandolin, percussion
• John Doyle – guitar, lute
• Stuart Duncan
  Stuart Duncan
  Stuart Duncan is a bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. Born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band, he has been a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band since 1985, and is a much-in-demand session musician...
  
   – violin
• Joe Craven
  Joe Craven
  Joe Craven is a Freestyle folk, world and roots music multi-instrumentalist, singer and award winning educator. Joe is the Director of RiverTunes Music Camp and a Co-Director of the Wintergrass Youth Academy...
  
  – fiddle, mandolin, percussion