Line dancing and jazz can be regarded as two diametrically opposed concepts. Saxophonist Bill Evans manages to combine both styles with the help of banjo player Bela Fleck. Soulgrass begins with the title track as the banjo duel Duelling Banjos from the film Deliverance, where one of the banjos has been replaced by Evans' alto sax. In the liner notes, Evans warns not to be afraid of his adventurous
… music journey. With this he probably asks unsuspecting listeners not to use the skip button too quickly. And rightly so, because on the one hand Soulgrass can be seen as a courageous initiative to combine country with jazz. On the other hand, Fleck's banjo playing gets on the nerves at a certain point. Especially when Stuart Duncan's violin comes into play. Some areas in music simply need to remain unexplored. (AD)more