Noam Pikelny’s Banjo Ballyhoo

By now, it’s apparent that the Punch Brothers are more than simply an excellent ensemble made up of talented musicians. Each of its members is a talented player in his own right, and all of them boast several solo albums that attest to their individual prowess. Banjo player Noam Pikelny’s latest, ironically entitled Universal Favorite, find him standing in the spotlight, offering up little more than banjo and occasional vocals on a set of songs with a strong traditional bent. It’s to his credit then that the majority of these tunes come from Pikelny’s own pen, and though the arrangements are sparse and the songs subdued, he and producer — and fellow Punch Brother Gabe Witcher — make the most of their scant resources in crafting an album flush with simple, rustic charm. Several songs shine in particular — the dire folk of “Old Banjo” (“They hitched me to that whipping post/Gave me hell again”), the restive and restrained “Folk Bloodbath” and the pretty, pastoral “The Great Falls in Particular.” Still, it’s apparent that Pikelny’s not out to make any grand statement, the album title to the contrary. A simple set of meandering banjo tunes, Universal Favorite offers the purists reason enough for celebration.