38 | JANUARY 9 • 2019 

Arts&Life

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A

aron Jonah Lewis has rotated 
his recording and stage atten-
tion among different string 
instruments, including fiddle, man-
dolin and guitar. As 2020 begins, the 
instrumentalist is filling considerable 
work time in tribute to the banjo and 
a long-revered banjo player.
With the release of a new album, 
Mozart of the Banjo: The Joe Morley 
Project, Lewis is celebrating Morley 
compositions that have engaged the 
public beginning at the turn of the 
20th century.
“Morley was a very prolific child 
prodigy; and, in some ways, he rep-
resents a style that overlaps with 
ragtime just like Mozart represents 
classical music,
” Lewis says. “He wrote 
pieces that stood the test of time, are 
frequently played and fun to listen to.
“Morley was British, and his style 
of banjo music has been a little more 
popular there than here. My dad is 
British so I felt I was able to explore 
a connection between America and 
England that I hadn’
t made before.
”
The album, all instru-
mental, will not be 
officially released until 
Jan. 24, when it will be 
available on all the digi-
tal platforms, but pre-re-
lease copies of the CD 
are available from the 
record label, Old-Time 
Tiki Parlour. A record 
release party will be held 
Jan. 16 at The Ark in 
Ann Arbor to provide 
concert renditions of the 
sounds.
The concerts include 
additional musicians 
and poetic readings for 
text-based entertain-
ment. Instrumentalists 
include Kevin Celestia 
on piano, Grace van’
t 
Hof on banjo and ukulele and Keaton 
Butler on cello. Dad Joe Lewis and 
musician-puppeteer Lindsay McCaw 
will do the readings.
“Half the album is pieces that have 
not been recorded before,
” says Lewis, 
who has released dozens of recordings 
in various styles. “The other half is 

mostly banjo and piano. There’
s one 
piece that’
s banjo and banjo. One 
piece has double bass and ukulele 
because it has a Hawaiian theme.
” 
Other instrumentalists on the 
album include Ben Belcher (sec-
ond banjo), Tessa Hartle and Kevin 
Allswede (piano), Rachel Pearson 
(bass) and van’
t Hof (ukulele). Belcher 
interested Lewis in the possibilities of 
banjo when using it to play bluegrass 
and gave Lewis an old banjo to get 
him started. The two later formed a 
band.
“The banjo has nylon strings rather 
than wire strings so it’
s more mellow,
” 
Lewis says. “It’
s like a classical guitar.
” 
Lewis, 38, who is based in south-
west Detroit and teaches instrumental 
students, was a violin performance 
major at Interlochen before being 
introduced to folk styles by a friend 
met through a Habonim Dror pro-
gram in Israel.
A full-time entertainer, Lewis can 
be heard as a soloist and band mem-
ber whose affiliations have included 
the Corn Potato String Band and 
Lovestruck Balladeers. He has won 
top awards at country 
music festivals and con-
ducted workshops in 
Europe.
“I want people to have 
a chance to be exposed to 
this kind of banjo music,
” 
says Lewis, at the helm 
of a local square dance 
group. “I want them to 
come with me back to 
a time before recorded 
music. 
“Back then, if you 
wanted to hear music, you 
had to learn how to play 
an instrument yourself or 
persuade someone to play 
music for you. These days, 
it’
s kind of hard to imagine 
a world like that because 
music is everywhere, from 
the car to the drugstore.
“I also associate the banjo with all 
the wonderful people I’
ve met through 
my pursuit of music. Whenever I play 
or even hold the instrument, I think 
of those people, and there’
s a lot of 
happy memories.
” 

BRADLEY LOHMAN

The Banjo 
Beat

Instrumentalist pays 
tribute to banjo music.

Album cover 

details

Aaron Jonah Lewis will 

hold a record release 

concert at 8 p.m. 

Thursday, Jan. 16, at 

The Ark in Ann Arbor, 

$20, (734) 761-1818, 

theark.org. 

Aaron Jonah Lewis

