International Jazz Banjo Newsletter

Hi All,I'm Steve and I have an Eddie Peabody story.
It was in about 1958 or so, and I was a small boy, less than 10, living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a cold night and there was old frozen snow and ice on the ground. It was after dark and my mother was dressed to go out. She was on her way to a friend's house for a party, and for some reason, I wasn't allowed to stay home with my two younger brothers. We drove to a house in the northeast suburbs of Milwaukee, not too far from home, and went into her friend's house. A large home, with blue carpet and fireplaces and a full sized piano near the warm end of the large semi-formal living room. Others were arriving. I was the only kid, so I hid with the family dog. I was in altar-boy mode. Then in hops Eddie Peabody with his banjo under his arm! He goes straight for the fireplace and puts his banjo case down on the hearth near the piano, and pops it open.
By now I'm standing in front of him, not shy. He says "hello" and "would I like a picture of him"? I said "hello" and "yes, I would". At that, he picked his banjo out of the case and under it were several 8x10 glossies, one of which he signed and gave to me. I said thank you and the adults shooed me away so they could talk to him. It is late and some of the people, there were maybe 50 there, were drunk. I watched and listened to him play for maybe 45 minutes and he took a break. Then we all heard a loud drunk man say "If he's so friggin' good, let's hear him play 'Rhapsody in Blue' ". Well, Eddie was back sitting on the edge of the fireplace, where he'd sat since he got there. Without saying a word he picked up the banjo and played the most beautiful version of it I had ever heard some one play. It still brings tears to my eyes. The guy was all class. It was as if to say, "Not only can I play it but I can make you cry, fool." Wow.

By Steve Sindorf.