CHICAGO — Separated by centuries but tied together by music, Johann Sebastian Bach and Michael Miles have had a demanding if fruitful relationship that continues to thrive, giving us a spectacular new ...

Heard any Bach on a banjo lately? If that conjures up a tinny twanging to drive you screaming from the room, try a dose of Bela Fleck. Who else uses the much-maligned instrument to play Bach and ...

At an early age, Michael Miles came to understand the cultural baggage that came from being a banjo player — that it was a primitive instrument and not sophisticated enough for the so-called fine arts ...

Early American banjo music is Black music. The banjo was created by enslaved African Americans, and according to the Smithsonian Institute, up until the 1830s, the banjo was exclusively an African ...

The banjo isn’t exactly the first instrument that comes to mind when you think of the classical concert hall, but Virginia native John Bullard has blended his background in bluegrass and Bach to bring ...

Can the humble banjo capture the jazz pulse of Dave Brubeck? The classical majesty of Johann Sebastian Bach? The blues sorrows of Robert Johnson? Chicago banjo virtuoso Michael J. Miles passionately ...

Banjo-playing composer Jayme Stone follows whimsy rigorously. He picked up a passion for music from an eccentric uncle who listened to records endlessly, placing his ashtray on the speaker so Stone ...