Jazz Banjo Radio Preview


This month Jazz Banjo Radio will be featuring the recordings of the following artists in addition to a variety of music from the early days of "Jazz Banjo" to the present.
DON VAN PALTA Featured in the September/October 2002 issue of JBM Don has been performing for nearly 50 years. He began his career in central California and he was one of the original banjo players at the first Shakey's Pizza Parlor in Sacramento, California. He was asked to join Mickie Finn's Speakeasy in San Diego in the 1960s. It was a warehouse near Tenth and University. It was one of the most lavishly decorated Prohibition-type speakeasy's in the country. The success of the club led to a summer TV show on NBC. Don left Mickie Finn shortly after the show moved to Las Vegas and struck out on his own. Eventually he moved to the Cruise ships and spent the next 17 years working the cruise ships traveling all over the world. His style is similar to that of Eddie Peabody but distinctly his own style. After Eddie Peabody's death Don was asked to fill the spot of Eddie for shows that had already been booked.	FREDDY MORGAN At the age of 9 Freddy was severely burned. While recuperating in a hospital bed, Freddy received a ukulele as a gift from an uncle. By the time he was 14, Freddy had turned to the banjo and was playing on Cleveland radio stations. When World War II broke out Morgan helped organize the American Overseas Artist group, a forerunner to the U.S.O. In 1947 Freddie received a telephone call from Beaumont, TX - "This is Spike Jones," said the voice on the phone. "Sure," Freddy replied, and this is Napoleon III. Freddy went on to spend eleven years with Spike Jones. Besides being a musician and a comic, Freddy was also a composer. He was part of the group "The Sunnysiders" and composed "Hey Mr. Banjo," "Sayonara," and the sign-off tune on the Spike Jones TV show "Our Thanks to You." Jad Paul and Freddy Morgan with Spike Jones More Freddy Morgan pictures MEMBERS