International Jazz Banjo Newsletter

The picture above is Derek with his first banjo, on a Hoseason rental boat called "Shangri-La", whilst cruising the Norfolk Broads for a couple of weeks in about 1956.

Derek who was born in London, England during WWII, did not start playing banjo until he was 17. Upon leaving high school, Derek and his friends went to a concert, where a Traditional jazz band (Dixieland) was playing. All enjoyed it so much, that the group decided to form their own Dixieland band. Everybody went out and bought the appropriate instrument, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, drums, bass, and Derek bought a banjo for the equivalent of $5. That Dixieland band was never formed, but Derek ended up with the classical 5-string banjo that he had bought. After struggling with it for a few weeks, Derek went to a local banjo teacher, who started to teach him how to play the classical 5-string banjo (this was very popular in England in the period between wars, but very rare until recently in USA). After playing in a small amateur orchestra with other classical banjo’s and mandolins, Derek decided he did not really enjoy that music.
A good friend who played clarinet and guitar, introduced Derek to music theory, where they both discovered the science and mathematics of music. The two worked together to develop a very full understanding of music theory. At the same time, Derek removed the fifth string from his banjo and replaced the other four nylon strings with steel strings. With a better understanding of music, Derek was able to teach himself a style of unique banjo playing, where he could play the full music, melody and chords, solo. By this time, Derek was working his way through college. Coming from a poor family, he found that he could drink free at the local pubs, by just playing the banjo, as well as earning a little money teaching music theory (with tuning forks, microphone and an unreliable, home made, vacuum tube oscilloscope), at evening classes. Derek had also taught himself to play rhythm guitar, playing regularly with a full twelve piece dance orchestra. Derek’s father then reminded him that he had a banjo mandolin, but never played it. He gave it to Derek, who taught himself how to play that too. Derek frequently "sat in", playing banjo with Dixieland bands, also forming a close friendship with a tenor saxophone player. This duet played at many parties and other social events. One vacation on the south coast of England, they both needed some money, so they entered a talent contest on the pier at Brighton. They won, walking away with a ten pound (almost $30) prize, which was adequate to continue the vacation.
In 1965, just before being transferred to a new job in USA, Derek had bought a better plectrum banjo for the equivalent of $75, but broke the index finger on his left hand. He took the banjo to the US, but did not play it again until 1972, when somebody saw the banjo case against the basement wall and suggested that he visit a local S. E. Michigan banjo club. As a result, Derek very quickly recovered his skills, playing with the club banjo band as well as participating in several smaller groups and substituting for other banjo players for sing-a-long music at local pizza parlors. One banjo foursome were invited to play regularly at the Stroh’s brewery Strohaus in Detroit. Encouraged by all of the activity, Derek purchased a basic professional custom made banjo from a luthier in Philadelphia.
In 1974, Derek was invited to join a group called "The Garter Snappers plus Four", which was a show band. All of the musicians were professionals in other fields, so they limited their engagements to 20 times a year (Derek was also professional, now a US Citizen and an engineer at Ford Motor Company). The GS+4 was hard work, as there was a rehearsal with a new program segment between every job. For the audience, an evening with the GS+4, included 45 minutes of dance music, followed by a 60 minute floor show, featuring the "plus four" singers and dancers, but also starring the talents of individual band members. The evening would be concluded with a couple more dance sets. After 15 years of enjoyment with this group, they faded out in the late 1980’s, with too many members passing away and retiring (Derek was the youngest member of the group). During this time, Derek also played with a charity Dixieland band, as well as playing solo at several retirement and nursing homes.
In 1991, Derek had a bad sailing accident, separating his bicep from the radius and ulna in his left arm, where the required surgery caused him to lose the rotation of his left arm. Derek could no longer play banjo or any other fretted instruments. Dismayed but not broken, Derek stayed in touch with other banjo players, by writing newsletters for local banjo clubs, as well as volunteering for committee work, organizing local banjo conventions and providing stage lighting for the shows. He continues to do this today.
In 1997, his daughter Diana took his banjo and asked him to teach her to play. It took her only 6 months to become a proficient soloist, but more important, Derek discovered that he now had a little rotation of his damaged arm without pain (except in his ears) and could almost play banjo again. As he had given his professional instrument to his daughter, he ordered another one from the luthier in Philadelphia, but this time, could afford a gold plated and well decorated instrument. As he played more and more, the rotation in his damaged arm improved. When Derek retired from Ford in 2002, he decided to remain active by playing banjo for the nursing homes again, some schools and occasionally before the show at a local movie theater.
Derek then took a long look at current banjo players and saw behind every banjo, was somebody 60 years old or more. He realized that in a few years, there would be very few banjo players. In an effort to reverse this trend, Derek and another long time banjo playing friend, decided to start a "Youth Orchestra", encouraging 7 to 17 year olds to play the 1920’s "Tin Pan Alley" music on the banjo. This took considerable effort, including advertising and finding a source of inexpensive and donated instruments that could be loaned to the kids, as well as finding a practice location. Starting in early June 2004, they now have a small orchestra of 15 kids playing banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass and ukulele, who very quickly showed that they could play several beginners tunes. The kids appropriately named the group the "Next Generation Banjo Band". They are now playing some more complex arrangements, written by Derek, they are ready to perform in public.
In the future, Derek looks forward to promoting the banjo by playing as often as possible for those that want to hear. Also, continuing to promote the banjo in the younger generation by donating as much time as possible to teaching them to play music from the early 20th century, on the banjo, mandolin, guitar and ukulele.