[Dixielandjazz] Re: Here's my "take" on five string banjos

[Russ Guarino]

I may be getting out on a limb here, but, my banjo player uses a five
string and, indeed, he is a blue grass player.   A little of the blue
grass filters into the music from time to time.  I like the sound of
it.  It's fresh and interesting.

He normally "strums" the instrument, but he will use a combination of
strumming and "picking" in his solos.

The quality of his playing I like best is that he states the chords
clearly. That is, I can really hear the chords, much like a guitar. No
piano needed.  We play as an acoustic quartet quite often, bass sax,
solo clarinet, five string banjo and drums, and we get a wonderful
audience response.  We can move about the area [ such as a fair or theme
park ] and are not tied down by the need for electricity.

My judgment is that there are two ways to play the banjo, like a
washboard and like a guitar.  The washboard sound is more percussive and
I have trouble, sometimes, hearing the changes. The clear ringing sound
of a strummed banjo is  my preference and our guy does it great.

Footnote:  When our regular guy is unavailable, we have been using Dave
Acheson from Sacramento who plays a plectrum banjo.  Dave also plays
clear chords and gets a bigger sound out of his instrument.  So, I like
'em both.  [ If you need a top notch banjo guy, call Dave. He is a
diamond that has not yet been recognized ].

Russ Guarino

BudTuba at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 1/18/03 9:05:10 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> Skipwave at aol.com writes:
>
>
>> good 5 string banjo for a budding begginner?
>
> You must be wanted to learn bluegrass, because the 5 string is not
> used in traditional jazz to my knowledge.  You might try finding a
> copy of Mike Seegar's Book, "Goofing Off Suite"  That is a guide to
> playing claw hammer style 5 string banjo.  Otherwise, you better look
> for the nearest bluegrass band in your neighborhood.  The common
> banjos used in OKOM is plectrum and tenor banjo and the techniques
> entirely different.
>
>
>
>                              Bud Taylor
>                           Smugtown Stompers
>                             Rochester, NY
>                      Traditional Jazz since 1958
>
>    ----------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>