Alan Munde

Five-string banjo picker Munde is a highly regarded "player's player" who has worked consistently with the best that Bluegrass has to offer. He is known for his technically precise and harmonically brilliant playing. Munde came up in chart-topping singer Jimmy Martin's band in the 1960s. This was a testament to Munde's instrumental prowess: Martin's bands are sort of the Bluegrass equivalent to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, as Martin has hired and nurtured some of the best talent in Bluegrass. Munde is best known for his tenure in Country Gazette, a Bluegrass/country hybrid popular on the Bluegrass circuit in the United States and widely popular in Europe.