Bill Evans Presents: The Banjo in America

When: Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Where: Ifshin Violins, 6420 Fairmount Ave, El Cerrito, California. Click here for directions
Details: Tickets available at the door: $20.00, $10.00 for students (under 21 years old)
Doors open at 7:00 pm. Space is limited - come early!
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Albany resident Bill Evans returns to Ifshin Violins to present his acclaimed solo show, performing an amazingly wide range of music on vintage and contemporary banjos!

About the show:

S.F Bay Area musician Bill Evans is well known within the acoustic and bluegrass community not only as an outstanding banjo player and composer, but also as a dedicated teacher, writer and scholar.

The Banjo in America concert brings together these interests in a unique presentation for all audiences, designed for the concert stage. Tracing the banjo from its West African roots to the New World, Evans performs musical examples from the 1700's to the present day on a variety of vintage instruments, ranging from an African ekonting to a mid-19th century minstrel banjo, a modern bluegrass banjo, and even an electric banjo! In the process, Bill explains how the banjo has been at the intersection of African-and Anglo-American musical and cultural exchange for over 250 years. From an 18th century African dance tune to the music of the Civil War, and from early 20th century ragtime to folk and bluegrass banjo styles, to Bill's own incredible original music, The Banjo in America informs while it entertains, exposing audiences to over 200 years of American music.

The Banjo in America was developed with the support of a grant from the Kentucky Humanities Council, and has been presented at a number of universities and festivals in the U.S. and Japan.

About Bill Evans:

Over a performing career that now spans over thirty years, Bill has performed with Dry Branch Fire Squad, Peter Rowan,David Grisman, Laurie Lewis, The Contribution, James Nash, and Jim Hurst, among others.

He holds a Master's Degree in Music from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed the coursework for the PhD. He has taught in the music departments at San Francisco State University, the University of Virginia and Duke University, and has been artist/scholar in residence at the University of Richmond and Fairfield University.

For more about Bill Evans and The Banjo in America, please visit www.billevansbanjo.com, and also The Banjo in Americato learn more about the concert or the instruments or to hear mp3 samples of different styles.