[Dixielandjazz] Give Me The Banjo (from a Mark Twain quote)

[Stephen G Barbone]

Maybe this will appear in other cities in the USA.


Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

Musical pioneers profiled in entertaining 'Give Me the Banjo'
By Blair Howell
For the Deseret News (Salt Lake City Utah)

The “checkered and complicated” history of the banjo is reviewed in  
“Give Me the Banjo,” and it’s a fascinating view into the development  
of American music.
Airing Friday on KUED at 8 p.m., the 82-minute documentary spans 300  
years of American history and popular culture and dramatically shows  
how the banjo influenced many forms of music — ragtime and early jazz,  
blues, old-time, Dixieland, folk and bluegrass.
Much to its credit, the program doesn’t shy away from the historical  
background of the banjo that includes “racism, slavery and  
exploitation.” While the banjo is quintessentially American, the  
instrument was brought to this country early in the 17th century by  
Africans in slavery. The music was then popularized by minstrel and  
blackface entertainers, a largely forgotten yet vital part of American  
music.
“Give Me the Banjo” is narrated by Steve Martin, who has brought banjo  
music to the forefront since his “wild and crazy guy” days as a  
standup comic. The banjo has been part of his shtick since he rode his  
bicycle from his Garden Grove, Calif., home to his early jobs at  
Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. Acknowledging that he is being  
called “Hollywood’s ambassador of the banjo,” the actor-comedian says,  
in his deadpan humor, “That’s right. It was between me and Arnold  
Schwarzenegger.”
A former member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Martin is a banjo  
virtuoso. And when his name is associated with a documentary on the  
subject, it could easily be assumed that the program is a long  
commercial for his Steep Canyon Rangers group — whose tours have  
included a performance at Utah’s Red Butte Garden concert series — or  
his Grammy-winning CD, “The Crow.” But his touring group only opens  
the documentary with a brief performance, one among the rollicking  
examples of live banjo playing in the program.
Part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival, the documentary is broken into  
chapters covering the innovators of banjo music, from its early  
pioneers to contemporary performers. The compelling background of each  
of these musicians is entertainingly told.
The Virginia Minstrels was the first blackface performing group and  
performed highly popular, elaborate stage shows in the 1840s. It is  
credited with the song “Jimmy Crack Corn.” Gus Cannon wrote “Walk  
Right In,” recorded by his Jug Stompers in 1929. The song became an  
international hit when the Rooftop Singers re-recorded it 33 years  
later during a period when Cannon sold his banjo for coal to heat his  
home.
Other banjo masters profiled include Earl Scruggs and Pete Seeger  
(“the Johnny Appleseed of folk music”) and the performing groups the  
Carolina Chocolate Drops and Taj Mahal.
Emmy Award-winning Marc Fields produced and directed “Give Me the  
Banjo” with co-producer and music director Tony Trischka, an acclaimed  
acoustic musician. The nine-year project was obviously a labor of love  
for the collaborators, and the 400 hours of interviews and  
performances are included in the web-based archive called the Banjo  
Project.
Fields explains, “The project is a look at American culture through  
the banjo.”
Titled after a Mark Twain quote — “The piano may do for love-sick  
girls. But give me the banjo when you want genuine music … just smash  
your piano, and invoke the glory-beaming banjo!” — “Give Me the Banjo”  
is a must-see for anyone with an interest in American music and culture.