Walsh / Jordan / Wilson is an utterly unique musical project, and one that has been a long time in the making. Mandolinist Joe K. Walsh and pianist Jed Wilson first met over twenty years ago when both were making their bones on the Boston scene. Wilson came from a background in jazz, Walsh from bluegrass, but each recognized in the other a fellow traveler on the path of improvisation and musical discovery. A collaboration wasn’t yet in the cards, as each was busy with other pursuits: Walsh with Joy Kills Sorrow, The Gibson Brothers, Darol Anger, and then his own projects; Wilson with Heather Masse, Aoife O’Donovan, and various jazz ensembles. The two crossed paths again several years later in Maine, where each had relocated by happenstance. In the meantime, both had expanded their musical palettes considerably, crossing borders and expanding horizons, in search of the ineffable magic that can be found equally in a great folk song or down some uncanny improvisational byroad. Additionally, each had developed a unique compositional voice. When Walsh and Wilson finally decided to put together a band, there was no question who to call. Both immediately thought of Ella Jordan, the remarkable fiddler best known for her work with the progressive bluegrass band Mile Twelve. When the three finally got together, there was no doubt that something special was in the offing. Primarily a vessel for Walsh and Wilson’s original songs, the trio breathes new life into the folk tradition with fresh melodies that somehow feel timeless.
JOE K. WALSH
Hailed by David Grisman as a “wonderful mandolin player”, and by Darol Anger as “one of the best mandolinists I’ve ever played with”, Portland, Maine-based musician Joe K. Walsh is known for his exceptional tone and taste, and his years of collaborations and recordings with acoustic music luminaries including Darol Anger, Brittany Haas, Grant Gordy, Mike Block, Danny Barnes, Scott Nygaard, and pop/grass darlings Joy Kills Sorrow, a band he co-founded. He’s played with everyone from John Scofield to Molly Tuttle to Tony Trischka, and performed at festivals, club and theaters all over North America and Europe. After a number of award-winning years with bluegrass stars the Gibson Brothers, Joe currently splits his time between an inventive string band called Mr Sun (featuring Darol Anger, Grant Gordy and Aidan O’Donnell), the Mike Block Trio, a project with Celia Woodsmith, and his own band. His most recent solo record “If Not Now, Who?” was released in 2023 on Adhyaropa Records. An avid educator, Joe is an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music. He teaches regularly at music camps and workshops all over, and teaches online through Peghead Nation.
ELLA JORDAN:
Ella Jordan is a fiddler and singer who grew up homeschooled on a farm outside of Austin, Texas. She got her start playing twin fiddles with her sister Minnie at country music oprys all across Texas, and is now forging a sound all her own within C&W, bluegrass, and contemporary stringband music. Ella was the youngest ever winner of the Old Settlers youth music contest, was a recipient of the Daniel Pearl Memorial violin, was selected as a participant of the 2020 Acoustic Music Seminar, and has performed and taught at countless festivals and camps across the country. She was also awarded the Fletcher Bright scholarship during her time at Berklee College of Music, where she graduated while still in her teens. You can find her on tour with the Boston-based progressive bluegrass band Mile Twelve, which she joined in late 2021.
JED WILSON:
A traveler of diverse roads of musical expression, Maine-based pianist and composer Jed Wilson is active in the worlds of folk, jazz, free improvisation, and more. Perhaps best known for his collaboration with singer-songwriter Heather Masse, Wilson’s engagement with the Americana tradition has also included performances with Aoife O’Donovan and Rushad Eggleston. In the realm of jazz and free improvisation, he has released several recordings on the Elusive Object label, with another to follow in summer 2023 (a trio outing with Allan Chase and Tony Falco entitled Embodied /Ephemeral). Wilson’s most recent project, a trio with mandolinist Joe K. Walsh and fiddler Ella Jordan, brings together his love for folk music and improvisation while also providing an avenue for his talents as a composer and songwriter. He can be heard regularly in performance throughout New England and beyond.