Al Jabbour

Violinist Alan Jabbour began recording and performing during a period of intense activity in the genres of old-time and traditional string music during the early '60s. Part of a group of young players who were dedicating themselves to learning from master musicians of decades past, Jabbour's contemporaries included Ph.D. candidates, economists, copy editors, and members of various other professional fields that were a far cry from the tobacco farmers, miners, and hard laborers that had made up the first generations of American folk and county players. Jabbour himself had received, from the age of seven, nothing but classical training growing up in Florida, where he graduated from the University of Miami in 1963 before heading to North Carolina and Duke University, where he was honored with an M.A. in 1966 and a Ph.D several years later. His performing background began with membership in the Jacksonville Symphony and the classical work continued in the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra, the Miami Symphony, and the University of Miami String Quartet. It was during his years as a graduate student that he first began to be interested in old-time music, particularly the traditions of the North Carolina Piedmont area and Appalachia, and it was no wonder as there was a great deal of interest in these styles among students and other music fans in this area. Fellow graduate student Tommy Thompson hosted weekly and often more frequent jam sessions and house party concerts, and out of these musical soirées several different ensembles evolved. Jabbour was a member of the Hollow Rock String Band, a quartet which also featured Thompson and fiddler Bill Hicks, both of whom would go on to become members of the Red Clay Ramblers. Jabbour began studying under the old-time master Henry...