Ben Krakauer - Hidden Animals (2023) [Hi-Res]

Hidden Animals is the second solo album by virtuoso banjoist, tunewriter, and ethnomusicologist Ben Krakauer, who is known for his collaborations with David Grisman, Old School Freight Train, the Bee Eaters, and other luminaries of the modern string band scene. Like its 2019 predecessor Heart Lake, Hidden Animals features Krakauer’s highly original instrumental music, accompanied by top instrumentalists in contemporary string music: Duncan Wickel on fiddle and cello, Ella Jordan on fiddle, Nick Falk on drums, and Dan Klingsberg on bass. It moves between blazing bluegrass romps, conversational jams, harmonically tender daydreams, and chaotically cohesive grooves. Uniting it all are Krakauer’s distinctive compositional voice and the virtuosic interplay of banjo, fiddle, cello, bass, and drums.

Hidden Animals is an album of gratitude, grief, hunkering down, and celebrating the beauty of friendship, nature, and human expression during a time when nothing can be taken for granted. These tunes reflect both the uncertainty of the past three years and the joyful spontaneity of music making at the reunion of friends.

Hidden Animals was recorded live during four days at Charles Van Kirk’s one-room recording studio in Round Pond, Maine. After three days of meticulous rehearsal, Krakauer encouraged the musicians to be spontaneous, create surprises, and to put their own personal stamp on whatever they did.

Ben Krakauer, banjo
Nick Falk, drums
Ella Jordan, fiddle
Duncan Wickel, fiddle & cello
Dan Klingsberg, bass