[Dixielandjazz] chunk chunk banjo

[Patrick Cooke]

This past Saturday, I heard Buzzy Podewell here at Fritzel's.  Buzzy played
a strong chunk chunk style..  There was no drummer, but Buzzy's beat was so
good, nobody missed the drummer.  I would have no problems playing with
Buzzy.
    I also don't care for the chunk-a chunk-a style.
    Pat Cooke



----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Mopsick" <mophandl at landing.com>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 5:36 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Jim Cullum Banjo (Howard Elkins)


> Jim Beebe writes:
>
> "He has a fine band but, his banjo player plays that relentless
> chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk that pervades most traditional groups.  His band
is
> trying to swing through this and not always succeeding.  If only he would
> get off of this, listen to some Clancy Hayes and get some nice light
> syncopation going.  You would hear a whole new Jim Cullum band."
>
> Jim, I'm 180 degrees from you on this one.
>
> I've only heard Hayes with the 9 Greats of Jazz (later the World's
> Greatest). I never heard him get in their way. I can only speak to what I
> hear on a nightly basis and on the road.
>
> I for one (and Cullum is another) am a big fan of the "relentless
> chunk-chunk" because, in the proper hands, it states the time so clearly
and
> purely. I disagree that this style "pervades most traditional groups." In
> fact, the very few bands that use the chunk-chunk banjo style are the ones
> that I want to listen to.
>
> What I hear WAY too much of on the festival circuit is chunk-a-chunk-a,
> which limits the swing feel, analogous to the way a bebop drummer limits
the
> possibilities with his spang, spang-a-lang ride cymbal (if that's all he
> knows how to do).  In other words, the "junk jewelry" of the "light
> syncopations" gets in the way and pre-packages the feel for the whole
band,
> instead of leaving it up to the front line or soloist to swing the way HE
> wants to. When I was a horn player (trumpet), I much preferred a rhythm
> section that left the time and the changes pretty much alone, setting up a
> tabula rasa upon which I was then free to create MY jazz, MY dynamics, and
> MY syncopations.
>
> I hear a lot of the chunk-chunk (time, not soloing) banjo style in a lot
of
> great swinging and stomping bands of jazz history, like Jelly's Red Hot
> Peppers, and especially Duke's in the 20s. The currently favored
> "whappa-slappa-crappa" (and here I hope that *I* don't piss anyone off
:-))
> style would be totally out of place when we in the JCJB play "The Mooche,"
> "St. Louis Toodle-Oo" or "Big House Blues." Howard also swings
tremendously
> when he picks up the tenor guitar, which he also plays in a chunk-chunk
> style much like the great Freddie Green of the Basie Band.
>
> I try to instill in my bass students an appreciation for the "unadorned
> quarter note," which if played properly is a very powerful tool, and IMO
the
> secret of a swinging or stomping rhythm section. I am joined in this
opinion
> by Vince Giordano, who plays bass, banjo, and guitar in a style he
describes
> as "beautiful quarter notes."  Vince's tuba and bass sax playing are much
> more heavily adorned in the style of Rollini and function sometimes almost
> like another horn, or more accurately, like a second tailgate part.
>
> Speaking of secrets, I feel that Howard Elkins and his beautiful,
unadorned
> quarter notes is one of the secrets of our success, however you want to
> measure it. For the rest of my days, I hope to seek out and find kindred
> spirits like him, and forever play bass with the chunk-chunks, wherever
they
> may be, and whatever axe they may choose for themselves... But for now, I
am
> happy to find myself  "stuck" (in the way Condon was "stuck" with
> Beiderbecke) with the mighty Elkins, his incredibly crystal-clear
> cutting-through Gibson tenor banjo, and his wondrous, relentless
> chunk-chunk.
>
> Don Mopsick
>
>
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