貝拉•佛萊克與艾比蓋兒•瓦希伯恩 / 山谷回音 (CD)

班鳩琴演奏家貝拉•佛萊克，不僅擁有14座葛來美獎，同時還橫跨鄉村、民謠與爵士樂等領域。1988年他與多位音樂家合組的Bela Fleck and The Flecktones樂團，也贏得六座葛萊美獎爵士與演奏曲獎項。至於艾比蓋兒•瓦希伯恩則是貝拉的太太，兩人相識於一場貝拉的音樂會演出。艾比蓋兒不僅是班鳩琴演奏家，也是民謠歌唱家，近十張個人專輯中，銷售成績總在前十名排行榜。 

2014年底兩人合作的首張同名專輯，不但拿下民謠排行榜冠軍寶座，更贏得2016年的葛萊美獎最佳民謠專輯獎項。2017年底『山谷回音』發行後，All Music Guide給予4.5顆星的極高評價，兩人的原創樂曲與鄉村樂經典歌曲翻唱，都得到正面的回響，同時也讓鄉村民謠有了新的視野。專輯中從「Over The Divide」、「Take Me To Harlan」到「Bloomin’ Rose」，多首原創歌曲搭配得宜，歌唱就像標題一般，餘音迴盪在山谷之間，令人陶醉。其中還有一首七分多鐘的長篇大作演奏曲Medley，兩人的班鳩琴聲形成另一種即興共鳴，非常有意思。來自傳統民歌重新填詞的「My Home’s Across The Blue Ridger Mountains」，則是老曲新唱的另一種詮釋風格。整張專輯的整齊風格與增添的驚喜演奏，預計仍將是下一個葛來美獎的座上賓。

Echo in the Valley is the follow up to Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn’s acclaimed, self-titled debut that earned the 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album.  This time around, the mission was to take their double banjo combination of three-finger and clawhammer styles "to the next level and find things to do together that we had not done before," says Béla.  The results are fascinating, especially considering their strict rules for recording: all sounds must be created by the two of them, the only instruments used are banjos, and they must be able to perform every recorded song live.  Co-written by Fleck and Washburn with wild re-imaginings of Appalachian music, Echo in the Valley is a reflection of the times, from the emphatic mantra "Don’t Let It Bring You Down" to "Come All You Coal Miners," written from the point of view of coal miner advocate Sarah Ogan Gunning.  The duo’s front-porch, minimalist aesthetic includes seven banjos between them, from Béla’s 1937 Gibson Mastertone to a banjo ukulele and a massive, restored 1905 upright banjo bass. With one eye on using the banjo to showcase America’s rich heritage and the other pulling the noble instrument from its most familiar arena into new and unique realms, Echo in the Valley is a wildly innovative and beautiful body of art.