[Deep River DR1111 (2000) I love the banjo for the same reason I like so many things - it's not obviously cool. No, I feel that playing the banjo must be like being part of a religious order; a calling. No one would suffer the slings and arrows of Deliverance and "Hee Haw" references if they had another choice. Even in a world of oddballs, Simmons is odder still as she plays a much quirkier brand of banjo than I've heard before. You can hear the same stuff you hear in a lot of banjo music - bluegrass, the mountains - but there's also as much Ravi Shankar, symphony orchestra, and Ornette Coleman. Her songs are adventurous, meditative, and best of all, original. With a judicious use of accompaniment, Simmons allows her banjo to hog the spotlight, her fingers flying with the wild abandon of a woman possessed. (JB)