I am glad to announce that last Saturday we had a jolly reunion
of several Italian banjoists, both 5- and 4-stringers. It was
the first official meeting organized by the Italian Banjo Guild,
a Yahoo Group that gathers 137 banjoist of all styles in Italy
and in the nearby Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.
It was an afternoon rich of fast
forward and backward rolls, furious tremolos and fierce
discussions on how good each of our banjos was. Happily,
neighbors have not been affected at all because we found a
former church in the centre of a beautiful city park, so the
only eardrums involved by this kind of unruly celebration were
our own ones. Therefore that is not completely true because, at
6 P.M., we opened the doors of the auditorium for the final
concert and, much to our surprise, many patrons were already
waiting on line. First we made sure that they would not have
hidden baseball bats and then we let graciously them in.
Unbelievable: they even enjoyed the concert!
Italian Banjo Guild is planning a new
national meeting within next Spring 2009 and we do hope to be
able to extend invitations also to our European fellow
banjoists: we will let you know. In the meantime our Vega,
Paramount, Gibson, B&D, Deering and OME banjos will keep on
ringing all over our Country in spite of what other musicians
may think of us!
This historic album just may be the greatest jazz banjo album of
all time-----because of the fire-on-the-strings virtuosity of
the first inductee into the National 4-String Banjo Hall of
Fame, Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery of The Light Crust Doughboys.
Smokey thrilled the world with 8 decades! of banjo artistry, and
5 decades of masterworks are in this fabulous retrospective:
1940s, 60s, 70s, 80s & 90s! The ultimate, essential, banjo album
vol. 1-----but also sprinkled with The Light Crust Doughboys,
The Dallas Banjo Band and Smokey's A-Team players including Bill
Simmons, Bob Krenkel, Bud Dresser, Art Greenhaw, Frank Greenhaw,
John Anderson, Jim Baker, Jerry Elliott and more.
SONGS:
Rhapsody in Blue; The Entertainer; Suite: Stephen
Foster; Smokey's Smoke; Tea for Two; Ring that Banjo; Temptation
Rag; Bye Bye Blues; The Whistler and his Dog; Hear Dem Bells;
Flapperette; Fast Boat to China Suite; The World is Waiting for
the Sunrise; The Bells of St. Mary's; Al Jolson Story in Song;
Swan Lake; Girls Girls Girls Medley; Black and Tan Fantasy;
Danny Boy; Music Man Play On.
Thursday, Oct. 9th. 8pm-10pm
Armando's - $8 cover
Armando's is located at:
707 Marina Vista, Martinez, CA 94553, 925-228-6985
Armandos has beer & wine. Bring your own food. Music &
Dancing!
Monday September 15,
6:30pm-9:30pm Jack Convery
with Gary Neuman on piano
San Franciscan Restaurant
1525 Main St, Walnut Creek,CA
925-934-4831
Friday September 19th, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Jack performs with the Cell Block 7
Sunset Bar and Grill
Tower Park Marina
Terminus (CA)
Jack & Gary
on stage at the Peninsula
Banjo Jubilee)
(photo by Garry Kerr)
Submitted
by Jack Convery
September
1, 2008
Banjo
Buddy passed away peacefully on July 15th
He was a wonderful man who
had a great sense of humor and we all miss him very much. He
loved to play golf and duplicate bridge and did both until his
body was took weak to do so. He loved to play cribbage and was
victorious almost every time. He was a great joke and story
teller. His mind was extremely sharp right up to the end of his
life. At his memorial service we played two of his Brunswick
recordings which made the service extra special.
(Editor) -
You can read more about Banjo Buddy in the
Jazz Banjo Artist Section
Submitted
by Carole Jones
August 12,
2008
Kids
Love Strummin' . . .
Ginny Luetje's St. Louis
Youth Banjo Band, "The BandJos" are feature on:
I am glad to announce that last Saturday we had a jolly reunion
of several Italian banjoists, both 5- and 4-stringers. It was
the first official meeting organized by the Italian Banjo Guild,
a Yahoo Group that gathers 137 banjoist of all styles in Italy
and in the nearby Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.
Kids
Love Strummin' . . .