This is not Ralph Stanley's kind of banjo. Try newgrass road-tripping to New Orleans for Jazz Fest, maybe — especially on the syncopated opener, "Hey, Mister Banjo," in which the banjo and synth banjo pop like a funky bass — but definitely not for bluegrass purists.

Like Bela Fleck or Tony Trischka, but less esoteric, bluegrass veteran Scott Vestal uses the banjo on his self-produced Millennia to locate and create connections between bluegrass, jazz, funk, rock and classical music.

His banjo takes the lead guitar line on a pretty faithful rendition of Yes' prog-rock hit "Long Distance Runaround," with assistance from John Cowan on vocals and bass. Cowan also turns up for the newgrassy "Black Storm Clouds," one of the album's energetic high points.

More traditional are Vestal's winsome "Vanilla Girl" and "Angel and Chi Chi," with Reese Wynans' keyboard adding a somewhat unconventional flavor to the latter. Mozart's "Turkish March" has an appropriately European feel as Vestal approaches his banjo like a classical guitar in a duet with fiddler Kati Penn. He also ventures a tight bop cover of Charlie Parker's "Au Privave."

The most engaging number is "Locust Grove," a melancholy piece in which Rickie Simpkins' fiddle gracefully responds to Vestal's bluesy notes.

Placing the much-maligned banjo in elegant and varied settings convincingly demonstrates its range and dynamic tonal properties, but exploratory instrumental projects like this often sacrifice emotional involvement for technical proficiency.

To be sure, the musicianship here is uniformly superb, and this will likely appeal most to hard-core banjo enthusiasts and lovers of instrumental music. Vestal's work is more melodic and therefore more accessible than that of certain contemporaries.