Alison Brown & Steve Martin: Safe, Sensible and Sane

Banjoists and songwriters Alison Brown and Steve Martin literally and figuratively surround their musical collaborators on Safe, Sensible and Sane. 

Bookended with the instrumental five-string duets “Friend of Mine” and “Let’s Get out of Here,” the album is filled out with a collection of original tunes as diverse as the guests – from the Indigo Girls on the jaunty bluegrass of “Girl, Have Money When You’re Old” to the Celtic stylings of “Evening Star” with Michael McGoldrick, John McSherry, et. al, to I’m With Her’s Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz taking the bossa nova route on the infectious “Michael.” 

Tim O’Brien fronts the band on “5 Days Out, 2 Days Back” an uptempo number about a working musician missing his family. Jason Mraz gives the album its title on the breezy “Statement of Your Affairs.” Martin is hilariously out of tune on “Bluegrass Radio.” And Jackson Browne sings the melancholic sweetness of “Dear Time” with heartbreaking impact: “Look what I’ve collected/a little box of memories/somewhat disconnected/tied with twine/could I trade them in for/a visit with my mom and dad/or throw the ball with my old dog/one more time.” 

Turns out Martin, who wrote the track, isn’t so wild and crazy, after all. Nor is he Safe, Sensible and Sane. For his and Brown’s joint is none of these things, given its unsafe, not sensible and insane mixing of styles and artists who deliver them. Crazy thing is, it works.