Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The East Bay Banjo Club get all aboard.
Back in September of 2006 we heard that Jack Convery of the East Bay Banjo Club along with the help of several others in the club was organizing a train trip from Oakland, California to Reno, Nevada. Fliers were distributed among the various banjo players in the region to let them know about the event. The event was entitled, The Snow Train to Reno. For those of you across the country who are not familiar with the California climate, let me explain. As you probably already know, Northern California has a very mild climate. The big cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and San Jose rarely see snow, but the eastern side the state where the Sierra Nevada Mountains are located gets snow every year and lots of it. Amtrak runs two "Party Trains" per week between Oakland and Reno. One is known as the Fun Train and the other is known as the Snow Train. The Fun Train goes on to Reno on Friday and comes back on Sunday. The Snow Train goes on Tuesday and comes back on Thursday. The banjo trip was scheduled for the Snow Train leaving on Tuesday, February 6th from a suburb of Oakland, Emeryville. It would make four stops in Martinez, Suisun City, Sacramento and Roseville and return on Thursday February 8th taking the same route in reverse.This was the first "Snow Train to Reno" trip for banjo players and for those who missed out, it probably won't be the last. In total there were about 50 of us all together: 3 from the Peninsula banjo band, 24 from the East Bay Banjo Club and 9 from the Sacramento Banjo Band plus Norm Gary an independent clarinet player and about 13 more who were spouses and others who just wanted to go on the trip.
The train left Emeryville at 11 o'clock. Banjo people were assigned to car #10 with any overflow in car #9. Only a few got on in Emeryville. Most of the banjo folks got on at the stop in Martinez and a few more got on in Roseville. This was the Snow Train and it was set up for folks to have a good time, and what a great time it was. On the train we played all the great banjo classics like: The Robert E. Lee, Alabama Jubilee, Darktown Strutters' Ball, If You Knew Susie, I Want a Girl and rarely stopped playing during the entire 8 hour trip.
We weren't the only ones on the train who were playing music. In Car #4 was a lounge where drinks were served and a Jazz Band was playing. Further up toward the front of the train was the dome car where you could observe spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains while sipping on a drink of your choice. And, if you smoked you could head off to car #11, the smoking car. Some folks on the train were just there to relax and enjoy the ride to Reno. Also on the train was a magician who performed some of the most unbelievable tricks you can imagine. He traveled from car to car and baffled the minds of many passengers.
When we got to Reno the train stopped at Harrah's Reno resort hotel in Downtown Reno. Jack Convery announced that he would be having a banjo workshop on Wednesday at 1:00 o'clock on the 2nd floor of the Harrah's Reno resort hotel and a buffet dinner at 5:00 and on Wednesday evening at 7:30 we would all get a chance to meet Georgette Twain who is about to be inducted into the 4 string banjo hall of fame. We exited the train in Reno and since we were all right at the Harrah's Reno resort hotel we adjourned to our rooms for the evening. On the following day, Wednesday we learned that the 2nd floor was reserved not only for the workshop but for the other banjo functions as well. It was so simple and convenient. When the elevator stopped on the second floor you'd step out and you were right there with the music.
At 1:00 o'clock we attended Jack Convery's workshop. Now, if you listen to Jack's recordings or hear Jack in person, you'll notice he has something in his strum that is unique and wonderful. In his workshop he was willing to let us in on the secrets of just what he does when he plays. We learned that to get that great sound that we hear in his recordings we should try to learn to do the following: When playing a tune written in 4/4 time, you must assign three strokes to each quarter note. So, a measure with 4 quarter notes will get 12 strums or 4 triplets. We also learned that to do this we must use the wrist rather than the whole arm for strumming because the strokes are done very rapidly. The mind has a little bit of difficulty thinking in three's, so it takes quite a bit of practice and mental discipline to get the concept down smoothly.
Around 8:00 o'clock we all got to meet Georgette Twain who played banjo accompanied by her daughter on violin. Georgette will be inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame in Guthrie, Oklahoma in May of this year. Georgette's daughter is no novice to music either. Her daughter Cecilia Yale is a violinist with the Carson Valley Pops. We all had a great time listening to and playing banjos with Georgette. Since everybody had their instrument with them it was time for a jam session. Jack told us we could jam until the management told us to a stop. But they never did, so the jam session went on but it didn't go too late because we all knew that we had to be back on the train by 8:30 AM the following day.
On the train going back, there were two jam session going on, one in car #10 and one in car #9. In car #10 the banjo music was accompanied by Norm Gary on the clarinet. Norm Gary is a fully accomplished musician and also known nationally for his expertise in Bee (the insect) Technology. Norm has a Doctorate in Bee Technology, is called upon by Hollywood whenever his expertise is needed and is also very well known among Banjoists.
The Snow Train to Reno was a first of its kind. We had a unique and wonderful time. We all thank the East Bay Banjo Band and Jack Convery for making the arrangements and planning the entire trip. If you would like information on the 2008 2nd Annual Banjo Snow Train to Reno, Please go to http://www.banjojazz.com/ and sign up on the mail list or email Jack Convery at mailto:entline@msn.com?subject=Snow.
Submitted by Jack Convery
Submitted by Jack Convery
