[Dixielandjazz] Banjos redux ad nauseum

[dingle at baldwin-net.com]

All this banjo stuff has got me cross-eyed. But if you are going to talk 
banjos then let's add a couple absolutely top players to this list.
Luther "Red" Roundtree and Dick "Ickie" Morgan were both tops, and both 
with Spike Jones at his best.
Perry Botkin, better knonw for his work with Crosby -- Bing, that is -- 
was a demon on it and was,with Scraggs, the original banjos for the 
Beverly Hillbillies TV show.
I heard George Van Epps play banjo and he was another player to admire 
-- even considering his even more marvelous guitar work.
I worked with Manny  Sayles at Jazz Ltd. in Chicago in the '60' before 
he went back to N.O. and his ensemble work was time wise very strong, 
though his solo work limited.  Eddie Davis was the top go to guy in 
Chicago at that time before he left for the big apple.
Nappy LaMare played it well. Charlie Marshall of Wisconsin played banjo 
with marvelous timing, and played tenor guitar that was as steady on 
time as any I've worked with. (Sadly he lost and arm in a farm machinery 
accident.)
Jack Mielhen(sp?) , Dave Miller, Re Murphy, Doc Schliessman, and several 
others who escape my faltering memory as I write have been fun to work with.
But in spite of all of this, I'd trade them all for one night with 
George Van Epps on his seven string guitar. Wouldn't need a drummer, 
bass, or piano either.
Don Ingle