<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>Jim Beebe writes:<BR>
<BR>
"He has a fine band but, his banjo player plays that relentless<BR>
chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk that pervades most traditional groups. His band is<BR>
trying to swing through this and not always succeeding. If only he would<BR>
get off of this, listen to some Clancy Hayes and get some nice light<BR>
syncopation going. You would hear a whole new Jim Cullum band."<BR>
<BR>
Jim, I'm 180 degrees from you on this one.<BR>
<BR>
I've only heard Hayes with the 9 Greats of Jazz (later the World's<BR>
Greatest). I never heard him get in their way. I can only speak to what I<BR>
hear on a nightly basis and on the road.<BR>
<BR>
<B>Don, I have to say that I find it odd that you are playing traditional-dixieland jazz and you've never heard any of the outstanding Scobey-Clancy Hayes recordings. Clancy, of course, is more known for his wonderful vocals and he was not a banjo soloist. But the way that he danced around with light syncopation on his 6 string banjo helped give that band their own brand of swing. I had the pleasure of working with them way back in 1958-59 and I learned a hell of a lot about time and swing. It was easy to play because you could just float on the time. They wouldn't have stood for that chunk-chunk- chunk for two minutes. </B><BR>
<BR>
<BR>
I for one (and Cullum is another) am a big fan of the "relentless<BR>
chunk-chunk" because, in the proper hands, it states the time so clearly and<BR>
purely. I disagree that this style "pervades most traditional groups." In<BR>
fact, the very few bands that use the chunk-chunk banjo style are the ones<BR>
that I want to listen to.<BR>
<BR>
<B>If a band has a drummer, pianist and bass with good time the 'time' will be there. the chunk-chunk-chunk will only gum it up with a stilted swing. And I'm not saying don't use banjo...use it with light syncapation rather than chun-chunk.</B><BR>
<BR>
<BR>
What I hear WAY too much of on the festival circuit is chunk-a-chunk-a,<BR>
which limits the swing feel, analogous to the way a bebop drummer limits the<BR>
possibilities with his spang, spang-a-lang ride cymbal (if that's all he<BR>
knows how to do). In other words, the "junk jewelry" of the "light<BR>
syncopations" gets in the way and pre-packages the feel for the whole band,<BR>
instead of leaving it up to the front line or soloist to swing the way HE<BR>
wants to. When I was a horn player (trumpet), I much preferred a rhythm<BR>
section that left the time and the changes pretty much alone, setting up a<BR>
tabula rasa upon which I was then free to create MY jazz, MY dynamics, and<BR>
MY syncopations.<BR>
<BR>
<B>You've lost me here, what the hell is a 'tabula rasa'?<BR>
Look, Don, you have every right to prefer stilted jazz rthythm. What the hell...many people do.<BR>
</B><BR>
I hear a lot of the chunk-chunk (time, not soloing) banjo style in a lot of<BR>
great swinging and stomping bands of jazz history, like Jelly's Red Hot<BR>
Peppers, and especially Duke's in the 20s. The currently favored<BR>
"whappa-slappa-crappa" (and here I hope that *I* don't piss anyone off :-))<BR>
style would be totally out of place when we in the JCJB play "The Mooche,"<BR>
"St. Louis Toodle-Oo" or "Big House Blues." Howard also swings tremendously<BR>
when he picks up the tenor guitar, which he also plays in a chunk-chunk<BR>
style much like the great Freddie Green of the Basie Band.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
I try to instill in my bass students an appreciation for the "unadorned<BR>
quarter note," which if played properly is a very powerful tool, and IMO the<BR>
secret of a swinging or stomping rhythm section. I am joined in this opinion<BR>
by Vince Giordano, who plays bass, banjo, and guitar in a style he describes<BR>
as "beautiful quarter notes." Vince's tuba and bass sax playing are much<BR>
more heavily adorned in the style of Rollini and function sometimes almost<BR>
like another horn, or more accurately, like a second tailgate part.<BR>
<BR>
Speaking of secrets, I feel that Howard Elkins and his beautiful, unadorned<BR>
quarter notes is one of the secrets of our success, however you want to<BR>
measure it. For the rest of my days, I hope to seek out and find kindred<BR>
spirits like him, and forever play bass with the chunk-chunks, wherever they<BR>
may be, and whatever axe they may choose for themselves... But for now, I am<BR>
happy to find myself "stuck" (in the way Condon was "stuck" with<BR>
Beiderbecke) with the mighty Elkins, his incredibly crystal-clear<BR>
cutting-through Gibson tenor banjo, and his wondrous, relentless<BR>
chunk-chunk.<BR>
<BR>
Don Mopsick<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
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