NYCJazz - Posted - 04/06/2011:  17:56:54

In the 6-string banjo thread stared by Janet Deering, Don Hergert posted this amazing link:

doctorjazz.co.uk/jstcyrjj.html

Says that St Cyr played Disneyland until his death in 1966, which means i might have heard him play when I was a kid!

beezaboy - Posted - 04/09/2011:  04:02:13

Nathan:  Thank you for the St. Cyr link.  The reminiscences of the early jazz players are fascinating to read.  It seems that the evolution of jazz the music and the groups that produced it was all very fluid.  One might say "chaotic" but "improvised" is probably the better term.  It was interesting to note that the "readers" were much in demand and that orchestrated jazz began much earlier than I thought what with the more written about work of Whiteman/Grofe in the midish 20's.

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 04/10/2011:  23:47:11

Nathan - thanks for the link.

I´ve started studying St. Cyr´s playing style(s) - I recieved 6 CD´s with the all the Morton recordings a few weeks ago - once gone through them a lot of times I´ll continue with Armstrong´s early recordings.

I´ve also borrowed some big books about the early jazz.

A picture in one of the books shows Red Hot Peppers - with St. Cyr holding a 4-STRING Paramount - do any of you know - did he play both 4- and 6-string banjos?

Polle

clawhammerjazz - Posted - 04/11/2011:  04:55:11

Polle, the answer is yes.  Here's a direct quotation from Johnny found on pages 73-74 in the Bill Russell book, New Orleans Style, published by Jazzology Press, 1994:  "If someone wanted to take up guitar or banjo today, I'd advise banjo; it's what the public wants.  Personally, I prefer the guitar.  It's the first rhythm in a dixieland band.  Banjo has been popular since around 1917.  It was already popular out east, before that the guitar was the foundation.  I play a four string tenor banjo.  I still use the same banjo that I bought in St. Louis in the 1920's.  I also play a Martin guitar, which I used on the recordings with Jelly.  I prefer the round clef hole, as it throws the sound more.  The shallow depth gives a better tone.  I make my own pick out of old toothbrush handles."  Best regards,  --Cjazz

Edited by - clawhammerjazz on 04/11/2011 04:56:08

dhergert - Posted - 04/11/2011:  11:33:30

Hi Polle,

I spoke for some time last year with an old Jazz guitarist at Disneyland's New Orleans Square who had worked with Johnny St. Cyr both at Disneyland and in earlier days of Jazz, and had recorded with him long before Johnny worked at Disneyland.  He said Johnny really wanted to be thought of as a guitarist...  And that his guitar banjo was an extension of that.  He also said that Johnny would tune the more common 4 string banjos in Chicago style and play them that way.

I've heard from another Jazz guitarist there that when Johnny passed away, his banjo was left by circumstances in the music department at Disneyland for quite some time, until another banjoist "switched" his less valuable banjo for it and took Johnny's home.  That banjoist has also since passed away, and Johnny's banjo remains in that banjoist's family's hands now.  I didn't get whether the banjo in question was his guitar banjo that he made back in the early 20s, or if it was another he aquired later on...

This is of course all antecdotal so take it for it's value, but if you talk with some of the Jazz old timers at Disneyland, you can pick up some very interesting stories about Johnny.  And currently there are still some folks there that knew and worked with him.

Btw, Nathan posted this wonderful YouTube on the other thread, it probably also should be here...

youtube.com/watch?v=Kg7cVSEfqPw

Best,

-- Don Hergert

Sweet Tidings Gospel Jam

sweettidingsgospeljam.com



"If you must use your banjo as a snow shovel, do so:

only don't wonder if it sounds dull afterwards."

-- S.S. Stewart catalog, 1896

Edited by - dhergert on 04/11/2011 11:49:27

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 04/11/2011:  21:23:09

John & Don,

Thanks for the infos - bits and pieces are coming together now.

Don - I´ve listened to the samples at your web site - interesting, as I´ll be recording a somehow similar danish band in my studio next month - also they have included gospel in their repertoire, that used to contain American Folk and BG music only.

BTW - I love the sound of and the way you´re playing your cello banjo - this is rather new to me.

Regards

Polle

dhergert - Posted - 04/12/2011:  12:43:34

Hi Polle,

<<a little off topic...>>

Thanks for your thoughts about the cello banjo.  That particular one is a GT CEB-5; I played one at NAMM the first year they came out and fell totally in love with them.  They come from Gold Tone with nylon strings (which I also love), but for the first year or so I was using this banjo so much that I was going through a set of strings a week, and finally decided to go with a nice flatwound stainless steel set.  Those strings, a bone-topped bridge, a hubcap style spin-on resonator, a Yellowstone head and an acryllic head-guard have changed the sound characteristics of this banjo to what you heard on the sound clips, sort of an impish muted tuba-banjo sound that goes great with some genre -- including Jazz, Gypsy, etc...

Regarding Gospel music, that's our band's first love.  All of us play in other bands, but we all felt we wanted something a little more close to the heart for this band, so all we do in this configuration is old public domain hymns that we arrange to fit our personal style and tastes.  We just recorded our 2nd CD in late December and are putting finishing touches on it before going into production.  As you've heard, we all have bluegrass background, but we tend to lean toward swing and blues, so it makes for a fun mix.

<<back on topic...>

I've never been able to handle a flatpick, otherwise I'd be strumming in Jazz...  Fingerstyle banjo in Jazz is not very traditional, and it is challenging where volume is concerned, but it's great fun.  For me, it's changed my banjo playing forever. 

Johnny St. Cyr has been someone I've admired and researched for some time now, due both to my love of Jazz and to my love of Disneyland, where he played for the last years of his life.  Johnny started the idea of banjo with Jazz, a combination whose impact changed the banjo world during the Jazz years and continues to have a marked affect now.

Best,

-- Don Hergert

Sweet Tidings Gospel Jam

sweettidingsgospeljam.com



"If you must use your banjo as a snow shovel, do so:

only don't wonder if it sounds dull afterwards."

-- S.S. Stewart catalog, 1896