The Ultimate Guide Series
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Dave
Frey, Susanne Sangiacomo
The resulting collaboration between professional and student has yielded one of the most talented writing teams on the four-string banjo scene today. More about the authors. |
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Excerpted From: Four String Banjo Hall of Fame http://www.banjomuseum.org Harry
Reser |
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His ambition of playing with the famous Pasadena Roof Orchestra soon became a reality and with them he performed major concerts, television and radio broadcasts not only in England, but in Holland, France and Germany too.
He has performed musical comedy with the hilarious Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band and visited over fifteen countries in six years doing concerts in true Spike Jones City Slickers style. He is a member of Rod Mason's Hot Five and has guested with such notable bands as The Barrelhouse Jazzband, Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband, Joe Wulf's Gentlemen of Swing, The Best of British Jazz Gala, The Aces of Syncopation, Rolf Wagemann's European Top Eight concerts and has appeared in the USA as a festival soloist. Sean
Moyses |
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Don Van Palta’s earliest childhood memory was of his father playing tenor banjo while singing him to sleep. It was an influence that marked the course of his future life. The "Flying Dutchman" spent his early years in occupied Holland during World War II. He first taught himself to play the ukelele, but after seeing a British film starring comedian banjoist George Formby, he was taken "hook, line and sinker" by the banjo. He immigrated to the United States with his mother, and settled in Sacramento. It was there that he purchased his first tenor banjo from a pawn shop. Some of his fellow students invited him to join a Dixieland band they were forming, because they needed a banjo player and knew he had one. He had tuned his tenor banjo guitar style, but when someone told him he should tune it properly, he did and learned tenor banjo chords. Thus began his international career as entertainer and banjoist. Don Van Palta has developed a series of instructional tapes to help young banjoists become productive players. He is respected as a teacher and performer and continues to entertain as "The Flying Dutchman." Excerpted From: Four String Banjo Hall of Fame http://www.banjomuseum.org/contact_about/hof/don_van_palta.asp Don
Van Palta
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He has been collecting music and making lead sheets for his bands since the beginning of his music career. He made chord books for his own use and has been refining the format to increase readability and quick response for 25 years. His Chord and Fake Books are some of the most popular in use today.
His Bands· Sultans of Swing · Sheiks of Dixie · White Lightnin' Washboard Band · Red Herring Motel Orchestra · Charleston Sheiks Orchestra Sultans Big Band
The
Sheik
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Following a recent performance by TIM ALLAN, a Toronto music critic, well known for his less than kind critiques, turned the tables and flatly stated: "I know of no musician today who possesses a broader repertoire or who uses his musical knowledge to better advantage. From country to classics, Tim Allan's work is extraordinary." Inducted into the Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame in 2002, Tim was also twice North American Banjo champion. He performed for 14 years on television's popular Tommy Hunter Show, appearing weekly with such headliners as Reba McIntyre, Garth Brooks, and Shania Twain. As well, Tim has entertained several dignitaries including Canada's former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau. With a natural proficiency on guitar, banjo, and mandolin, as well as his smooth baritone vocals in a seemingly inexhaustible supply of popular standards, Tim has enjoyed engagements at top hotels and concert venues around the world. As a regular contributing editor to the FIGA (Fretted Instrument Guild of America) magazine, Tim is well known in the banjo community and has sold his recordings and instruction books world-wide. From concerts to cruises, from clubs to conventions, the music of Tim Allan will appeal to any audience.
Tim Allan
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Jim
Riley
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Scott Whitfield is a full-time professional banjoist and educator. He makes approximately 500 appearances yearly. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Midwestern State University with a major in theory and composition and a minor in clarinet.
Scott taught himself to play the banjo at age 11 and began giving lessons at 15. He began playing professionally full time at age 17. Scott has four recordings selling internationally, and teaches approximately 30 students weekly. His students include professional educators, music directors, as well as professional players for regional and international performers. Scott's student have gone on to perform with pro's such as the Dixie Chicks and Maynard Ferguson. Most of Scott's students are kids and adults who just play for fun. Scott
Whitfield |
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Dix Bruce, a musician, composer, and writer from the San Francisco Bay Area, was born and raised in the Midwest. His interest in American folk music, jazz, and original composition are blended into a unique vocal and instrumental sound. His compositions are fresh and his energetic, exuberant stage personality, along with his driving rhythm and lead work, set the tone for a warm and exciting performance.
He began playing guitar at age twelve. After college, he relocated to the Bay Area where his interest in hybrid acoustic string music led him to David Grisman's prototype quintet in the mid-1970's. Bruce eventually teamed up with the mandolinist and edited the magazine Mandolin World News from 1978 until 1984.
In 1978 Bruce formed the band Back Up and Push to explore the emerging possibilities of swing and jazz on acoustic stringed instruments. The band toured the west coast throughout the 1980s and accompanied Bruce on his release of Tuxedo Blues, which features many of his original instrumental and vocal compositions.
He currently plays guitar and banjo in "The Royal Society Jazz Orchestra," a 10-piece big band which performs traditional jazz from the 1920s and 1930s. He continues to perform with several other grups in the Bay Area, write music, and record, and has been a frequent contributor to "Frets," "FIGA," and "Bluegrass Unlimited."
Dix
Bruce |
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 DON STEVISON, a well-known Ohio based musician, has created an entire collection of banjo literature, including instruction books, fake books, and banjo reference books Together, they cover an enormous span of banjo subject matter, from various 4-string banjo instruction, to chord encyclopedias, to vintage banjo identification. Don considers his books ongoing works in progress. He produces each book in a lay-flat, 3-ring, loose-leaf notebook format, which allows him to update them regularly with useful information he continually acquires. Don plays lead banjo for the Kettering Banjo Society and several dixieland groups in the Dayton, Ohio area. Don is a past president of the Fretted Instrument Guild of America and serves on the board of the National Four String Banjo Hall of Fame Museum. Don
Stevison
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Phil
Wilking |
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Buck Creek Jazz Band
Frank Mesich
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Brad
Boone
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Title
Lowell
Schreyer
