Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Looking back with my banjo to 2009.
It feels a long while ago now since January 2009, when I embarked on my 19th year of playing banjo for a living. January is a grim month of post-Christmas, pre-Spring blues, with all the bills coming in together and the heating blasting away in an effort to keep warm. My first jobs were together with my friends from Rod Mason’s Hot Five and we travelled eastwards (not warm place at all - but well paid) to do a short tour of some former DDR towns which included two concerts in churchs. Eastern Germany is gradually recovering from 40 years of neglect and decay by the former communist leaders and although major investment from the West has transformed most town centres into modern places, the buildings on the outskirts can be a bit derelict. Some buildings still remain from the war, bullet holes and all, the owners unknown. They cannot demolish or renovate the buildings until they are found so you often find renovated and modern buildings standing with a wreck in-between. Our hotel in Halle was a good example.The only other renovated building in street being the local Boredello !
I had made plans to record a new banjo album (my fifth) in the early part of 2009 and with the idea of placing my music within slightly different settings than on the previous recordings. My sister Hayley played some nice ragtime finger-style guitar and I was assisted by my friends on piano, bass sax, drums, double bass, washboard etc… and I was keen to record the beautiful ballad, "Autumn leaves" with my dear mother too, which she sings so lovely. The month was also fully occupied writing, rehearsing and generally preparing for a concentrated three days of studio work. I’m pleased with the results and even more pleased that people are buying them through(in jazz terms - new) digital platforms such as I-tunes, Napster etc, on the internet. A CD is always nice to hold in your hands but to send them across the Atlantic for example to my American customers pushes the price up to a level where it is not acceptable, so downloading is the answer. At last jazz and banjos enter the 21st century !
I’m always delighted when I get a call from the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, the first professional band I played with in 1990. They celebrated 40 years "on the road" this year and have recently gained a new German manager. Once again are active in concerts and more importantly television work here in Germany. I put almost 1000kms on my car in three days of jobs during February in Magdeburg, Erlangen and then Dortmund the following morning. But I love those old tunes of Duke Ellington, Roy Fox and Ted Weems and imagined the musicians who originally played those very same arrangements. I am sure they would be pleased and some-what astounded to know that joy is still being gained by both musicians and audience from their music.
The Hot Five embarked on our annual UK tour in March. We enjoy playing to our fellow countrymen and all was going well until Rod was struck with a heavy case of pneumonia. He never let on to the audience of just how awful he was feeling and simply “got on with the job”. There are no gold medals for old jazzmen yet but he certainly deserved one for sure. Three weeks later Rod and I joined forces with Roy Williams, Bob Culverhouse, Jonathon Vinten, Norman Emberson and John Crocker for the “Best of British Jazz Gala” tour in southern Germany and Switzerland. Veteran clarinetist Ian Wheeler had specially flown over to join us on the tour but had also been hit by the dreaded ’flu bug and had to go straight back home, despite getting to Stuttgart after a gruelling trip from Cornwall. An emergency call to Andy Leggett meant an overnight drove all the way from his beloved home town of Bristol to replace Ian at the last minute. Once again, gold medals all round.
Sometimes I front my own band and in April presented “Sean Moyses and the Hot Rhythm Boys” at a concert near Dortmund. Steffi Fust is most certainly not a boy (!) and has recently returned to Germany after spending many years living in Belgium. She is one of the most enthusiastic and happiest drummers I have ever seen. Max Schaaf, a young double bass player who is part of the up and coming Gypsy-jazz group of Joscho Stefans’, layed down the backbone of the band whilst Mirko Kirshbaum, a good young hot trumpeter, displayed his understanding of Louis Armstrong's technique. All good spontaneous jazz and it was encouraging to be on stage with such a high level of musicianship being played by the next generation of traditional jazzers. I took a short holiday and had two weeks back in my home town of Norwich, literally bumping into Keith Chettleburgh, the man behind the sessions at the now demolished live-stock market jazz sessions. He lives a few streets away from my sister in Hethersett, just outside Norwich. Keith loves his jazz and now assists on the occasional concert when he has time. I had initially planned to buy a house in Norwich again but a new relationship which had blossomed in March had changed my mind…more of that later!
During May Clive Fenton, the wonderful sousaphone player I have had the pleasure of working with in the Hot Five and Bob Kerr’s Whoopee Band for the past 19 years, were part of the Breda Jazz Festival. The concept of the festival has changed radically in the last few years, the emphasis seems to be on show-casing all sorts of jazz to a younger audience. The musicians are booked individually and sometimes meet for the first time on stage, so it is really a jam session. It can work or not, depending with whom you play and what musical combination you are thrown into. Since jazz is a wide genre, the opening session placed Clive and I with a Dutch rapper and very weird lady trumpeter who I am sure was smoking “herbal” cigarettes. We could only do our best. I was later told "it was an experiment". I filed my conclusion of the "experiment" and then thankfully had a joyous weekend of sunshine and good jazz with more conventional band settings.
The month of June is supposed to be summertime and the Hot Five had been booked to play an open air concert in Bad Hersfeld. Later in the evening Fraser Gartshore, my Scottish pianist pal with the Hot Five and I, were booked to play a duo gig know in our other guise of “22 Fingers of Fun!”. However, it simply poured down and we did our best in the cold and damp to entertain a similarly damp and cold audience. My heart always goes out to the people that have invested money in such events. The audience in Germany in a stalwart one though and were determined to enjoy themselves. Just three weeks later is was blazing heat however and three days with the band in Erfurt staying in a luxury hotel was just what was required. These events bring jazz to people of all walks of life and all ages. The music stands it own and does still entertain, of that I have faith.
An exceptional American banjoist, Lee Floyd, came over to play a few jobs in Germany this summer and a promoter near Frankfurt suggested that it would be fun to have a banjo concert with myself and Lee billed as “The New Banjo Kings”, so we emailed back and forth getting a programme together. I was familiar with his style, one that he had learned from the legendary American Vaudeville banjoist Eddie Peabody, "The King of the Banjo". Eddie had delivered to matching Vega Vox banjos to Lee and his Dad in the mid 1960’s and it was interesting to hear stories about the great man himself as I am a dedicated Peabody fan. I had been given one Peabody's banjos in February, a real honour to own and accept, and was on a search for any information, no matter how insignificant, to add to my growing collection of Peabody memorabilia. I have now heard from his Grandson, some of his old friends and members of the audience who were all willing to tell a story about him. Lee and I got on just great both socially and musically and he was not the only great banjoist I would have the pleasure of playing with this year.
Playing jazz can take you all places and you have to be ready to adapt to new situations. One job may be a concert, the other may be opening a new underground toilet…you just never know! A well paid quartet job was offered at a local golf club. The audience of 100+ male golfers were VERY noisy indeed and it was clear that our music was only to provide atmosphere to the occasion, to play anything remotely delicate was off the list so we set into “Hello Dolly,” (all done acoustically) and the usual tunes punters enjoy and can relate to. The boss actually came over and asked US to be quieter, saying he could not hear his friends speak. We simply had to say "yes of course", laugh between ourselves and carried on as before. Oh well, who said it was all concerts and fine art anyway?
An emergency call from the Pasadena Roof Orchestra one Saturday morning said “ Our banjo/guitarist just missed his flight this morning, what are you doing tonight and tomorrow night ? ”….well, as fortune would have it for them, nothing. Now I had two jobs. All plans had to change for myself and my darling Miyuki. Being an understanding partner to a musician also is a “gold medal job” too I am sure. Countless relationships have bitten the dust through my music and it takes special understanding by a partner to understand this is not a hobby but a job that brings in money to pay my way. The second concert with the PRO was in a suburb of Antwerp and celebrated the liberation of the city in 1944. It was very strange indeed to drive up to the gig, which was held in a marquee next to a chateu, with re-enactment World War 2 soldiers dressed in German, Canadian and British uniform. It did look a bit odd to see them all at the bar and eating hot-dogs together, certainly it was not like that 60 years ago. The Mayor had been presenting three of the original liberators with gifts during the day but, at over 80 years old, the old soldiers did not feel like staying up for the evening concert and simply went to bed.
I have always dreamed of going to Japan, I don’t know why, it simply appeals to me as a place with a completely different culture. My partner Miyuki is also Japanese. In October I achieved that ambition and was asked to present “The Greatest Banjo Battle of the Century!” with top Japanese banjoist Ken Aoki at the jazz festival in Kobe, near to Osaka. You may not have heard of Ken but if you have a computer, go to www.youtube.com and put his name in the search bar. It will be a pleasant shock to all those who poke fun at banjo players as he surely rates as one of the finest and a skillful musician too. We have known of each other for a while, having the same banjos built by Norbert Pietsch in Bremen, Germany. Although our communication skills in Japanese and English are very limited (and Miyuki helped enormously here) our musical language was very similar indeed. What a joy to meet somebody to put a second voicing to “Temptation Rag” for example? The promoter, Mr. Suehiro-san, was very pleased with our concert and wants me back again at some point. I really did not want to leave Japan and would certainly jump at the next opportunity to go there,next time making plans to join forces with Ken Aoki for concerts around Tokyo.
A different sort of job that stays in my memory is one I did with fellow Brit. John Defferary, who also lives with his lady Ute near Frankfurt. John has been a professional musician most of hhis life and lived in Denmark, playing with the famous Papa Bue Viking Jazzband for many years before joining the Big Chris Barber Jazzband and then "retiring" to Germany. A double bass player had come up with a job at a Vineyard and we were required to play as a trio from ten until midnight. We showed up at nine and prepared our instruments and sound system. To be surrounded by bottles of vintage wine must sound like a heaven to some, and given the average musician's reputation, tempting! We were offered a wonderful meal but as it normally goes, the promoter then came in saying “Can you be ready in five minutes?”. Rushing food is not nice but this has happened so many time before. Since the party ran late, as they usually do, we played for just an hour. I love playing music with John, he is such a creative musician and that hour passed quickly.
November saw the Hot Five in Switzerland. Two sell out concerts at a five star hotel overlooking beautiful lake Thun were just wonderful and then we travelled on to three more jobs in the area. There are quite a few British jazzers that have made there home in Switzerland and I can understand why, it is a very clean country with a high standard of living, plus they love jazz - especially with banjos, sousaphones, clarinets and cornets involved. The Swiss are people with taste I say !! A week on tour is exhausting though and I am amazed at the amount of energy my fellow band members have, three of whom are around 70 years old. Playing jazz is a special way of life and maybe should be on prescription for the older generation?!
Miyuki and I organised a banjo festival in Bonn in November. It was her first taste of promoting such an event with me. I know that to some the thought of 70 banjo enthusiasts together may not be your cup of tea, but if you are open minded and willing to give it a go, it is happiest events you can imagine. Ragtime, jazz, classics and everything in between was heard that night and played to a very high musical level indeed. My first memories of seeing a banjo being played was when I was a boy in the 1970's and watching the TV show “The Comedians” with Shep’s Banjo Boys playing the opening theme "When you're smiling". This year I was delighted to have Howard Shepherd (without his "boys") as part of our programme at our festival. Howard is also an Eddie Peabody fan and we spend time chatting about his long career and the Peabody connection. He is a true pro in every sense of the word. It was also Miyuki’s birthday at midnight so she was serenaded by banjos playing "happy birthday to you" as the cake and candles arrived. Now that is something unique!
I had a very busy December, thankfully the busiest ever, with a Hot Five tour featuring the American Gospel singer Brenda Boykin, with whom we had made a CD last year. She is a kind and gentle person and an excellent stage performer. Of course we had to play all the usual Christmas stuff but those arrangements are good and we had not forgotten them from last year. All the concerts were sold out and the enthusiastic German promoter, Götz Barmann, was very pleased with the results.Closing the year was The European Top Eight concert in Gelsenkirchen. It is an honour to perform at and I get to play with some other great musicians. It also means a gala evening out for myself and Miyuki, so we can use the hotel pool, sauna and in the evening have a great meal, dress up a bit and I‘ll earn some money too! This is how ideally all jobs should be...oh, if only ! It was however a nice way to round up 2009, a year I can look back at with great pride and joy.
So what does 2010 have in store I wonder?......
(c) Sean Moyses.
www.SeanMoyses.com
I had made plans to record a new banjo album (my fifth) in the early part of 2009 and with the idea of placing my music within slightly different settings than on the previous recordings. My sister Hayley played some nice ragtime finger-style guitar and I was assisted by my friends on piano, bass sax, drums, double bass, washboard etc… and I was keen to record the beautiful ballad, "Autumn leaves" with my dear mother too, which she sings so lovely. The month was also fully occupied writing, rehearsing and generally preparing for a concentrated three days of studio work. I’m pleased with the results and even more pleased that people are buying them through(in jazz terms - new) digital platforms such as I-tunes, Napster etc, on the internet. A CD is always nice to hold in your hands but to send them across the Atlantic for example to my American customers pushes the price up to a level where it is not acceptable, so downloading is the answer. At last jazz and banjos enter the 21st century !
I’m always delighted when I get a call from the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, the first professional band I played with in 1990. They celebrated 40 years "on the road" this year and have recently gained a new German manager. Once again are active in concerts and more importantly television work here in Germany. I put almost 1000kms on my car in three days of jobs during February in Magdeburg, Erlangen and then Dortmund the following morning. But I love those old tunes of Duke Ellington, Roy Fox and Ted Weems and imagined the musicians who originally played those very same arrangements. I am sure they would be pleased and some-what astounded to know that joy is still being gained by both musicians and audience from their music.
The Hot Five embarked on our annual UK tour in March. We enjoy playing to our fellow countrymen and all was going well until Rod was struck with a heavy case of pneumonia. He never let on to the audience of just how awful he was feeling and simply “got on with the job”. There are no gold medals for old jazzmen yet but he certainly deserved one for sure. Three weeks later Rod and I joined forces with Roy Williams, Bob Culverhouse, Jonathon Vinten, Norman Emberson and John Crocker for the “Best of British Jazz Gala” tour in southern Germany and Switzerland. Veteran clarinetist Ian Wheeler had specially flown over to join us on the tour but had also been hit by the dreaded ’flu bug and had to go straight back home, despite getting to Stuttgart after a gruelling trip from Cornwall. An emergency call to Andy Leggett meant an overnight drove all the way from his beloved home town of Bristol to replace Ian at the last minute. Once again, gold medals all round.
Sometimes I front my own band and in April presented “Sean Moyses and the Hot Rhythm Boys” at a concert near Dortmund. Steffi Fust is most certainly not a boy (!) and has recently returned to Germany after spending many years living in Belgium. She is one of the most enthusiastic and happiest drummers I have ever seen. Max Schaaf, a young double bass player who is part of the up and coming Gypsy-jazz group of Joscho Stefans’, layed down the backbone of the band whilst Mirko Kirshbaum, a good young hot trumpeter, displayed his understanding of Louis Armstrong's technique. All good spontaneous jazz and it was encouraging to be on stage with such a high level of musicianship being played by the next generation of traditional jazzers. I took a short holiday and had two weeks back in my home town of Norwich, literally bumping into Keith Chettleburgh, the man behind the sessions at the now demolished live-stock market jazz sessions. He lives a few streets away from my sister in Hethersett, just outside Norwich. Keith loves his jazz and now assists on the occasional concert when he has time. I had initially planned to buy a house in Norwich again but a new relationship which had blossomed in March had changed my mind…more of that later!
During May Clive Fenton, the wonderful sousaphone player I have had the pleasure of working with in the Hot Five and Bob Kerr’s Whoopee Band for the past 19 years, were part of the Breda Jazz Festival. The concept of the festival has changed radically in the last few years, the emphasis seems to be on show-casing all sorts of jazz to a younger audience. The musicians are booked individually and sometimes meet for the first time on stage, so it is really a jam session. It can work or not, depending with whom you play and what musical combination you are thrown into. Since jazz is a wide genre, the opening session placed Clive and I with a Dutch rapper and very weird lady trumpeter who I am sure was smoking “herbal” cigarettes. We could only do our best. I was later told "it was an experiment". I filed my conclusion of the "experiment" and then thankfully had a joyous weekend of sunshine and good jazz with more conventional band settings.
The month of June is supposed to be summertime and the Hot Five had been booked to play an open air concert in Bad Hersfeld. Later in the evening Fraser Gartshore, my Scottish pianist pal with the Hot Five and I, were booked to play a duo gig know in our other guise of “22 Fingers of Fun!”. However, it simply poured down and we did our best in the cold and damp to entertain a similarly damp and cold audience. My heart always goes out to the people that have invested money in such events. The audience in Germany in a stalwart one though and were determined to enjoy themselves. Just three weeks later is was blazing heat however and three days with the band in Erfurt staying in a luxury hotel was just what was required. These events bring jazz to people of all walks of life and all ages. The music stands it own and does still entertain, of that I have faith.
An exceptional American banjoist, Lee Floyd, came over to play a few jobs in Germany this summer and a promoter near Frankfurt suggested that it would be fun to have a banjo concert with myself and Lee billed as “The New Banjo Kings”, so we emailed back and forth getting a programme together. I was familiar with his style, one that he had learned from the legendary American Vaudeville banjoist Eddie Peabody, "The King of the Banjo". Eddie had delivered to matching Vega Vox banjos to Lee and his Dad in the mid 1960’s and it was interesting to hear stories about the great man himself as I am a dedicated Peabody fan. I had been given one Peabody's banjos in February, a real honour to own and accept, and was on a search for any information, no matter how insignificant, to add to my growing collection of Peabody memorabilia. I have now heard from his Grandson, some of his old friends and members of the audience who were all willing to tell a story about him. Lee and I got on just great both socially and musically and he was not the only great banjoist I would have the pleasure of playing with this year.
Playing jazz can take you all places and you have to be ready to adapt to new situations. One job may be a concert, the other may be opening a new underground toilet…you just never know! A well paid quartet job was offered at a local golf club. The audience of 100+ male golfers were VERY noisy indeed and it was clear that our music was only to provide atmosphere to the occasion, to play anything remotely delicate was off the list so we set into “Hello Dolly,” (all done acoustically) and the usual tunes punters enjoy and can relate to. The boss actually came over and asked US to be quieter, saying he could not hear his friends speak. We simply had to say "yes of course", laugh between ourselves and carried on as before. Oh well, who said it was all concerts and fine art anyway?
An emergency call from the Pasadena Roof Orchestra one Saturday morning said “ Our banjo/guitarist just missed his flight this morning, what are you doing tonight and tomorrow night ? ”….well, as fortune would have it for them, nothing. Now I had two jobs. All plans had to change for myself and my darling Miyuki. Being an understanding partner to a musician also is a “gold medal job” too I am sure. Countless relationships have bitten the dust through my music and it takes special understanding by a partner to understand this is not a hobby but a job that brings in money to pay my way. The second concert with the PRO was in a suburb of Antwerp and celebrated the liberation of the city in 1944. It was very strange indeed to drive up to the gig, which was held in a marquee next to a chateu, with re-enactment World War 2 soldiers dressed in German, Canadian and British uniform. It did look a bit odd to see them all at the bar and eating hot-dogs together, certainly it was not like that 60 years ago. The Mayor had been presenting three of the original liberators with gifts during the day but, at over 80 years old, the old soldiers did not feel like staying up for the evening concert and simply went to bed.
I have always dreamed of going to Japan, I don’t know why, it simply appeals to me as a place with a completely different culture. My partner Miyuki is also Japanese. In October I achieved that ambition and was asked to present “The Greatest Banjo Battle of the Century!” with top Japanese banjoist Ken Aoki at the jazz festival in Kobe, near to Osaka. You may not have heard of Ken but if you have a computer, go to www.youtube.com and put his name in the search bar. It will be a pleasant shock to all those who poke fun at banjo players as he surely rates as one of the finest and a skillful musician too. We have known of each other for a while, having the same banjos built by Norbert Pietsch in Bremen, Germany. Although our communication skills in Japanese and English are very limited (and Miyuki helped enormously here) our musical language was very similar indeed. What a joy to meet somebody to put a second voicing to “Temptation Rag” for example? The promoter, Mr. Suehiro-san, was very pleased with our concert and wants me back again at some point. I really did not want to leave Japan and would certainly jump at the next opportunity to go there,next time making plans to join forces with Ken Aoki for concerts around Tokyo.
A different sort of job that stays in my memory is one I did with fellow Brit. John Defferary, who also lives with his lady Ute near Frankfurt. John has been a professional musician most of hhis life and lived in Denmark, playing with the famous Papa Bue Viking Jazzband for many years before joining the Big Chris Barber Jazzband and then "retiring" to Germany. A double bass player had come up with a job at a Vineyard and we were required to play as a trio from ten until midnight. We showed up at nine and prepared our instruments and sound system. To be surrounded by bottles of vintage wine must sound like a heaven to some, and given the average musician's reputation, tempting! We were offered a wonderful meal but as it normally goes, the promoter then came in saying “Can you be ready in five minutes?”. Rushing food is not nice but this has happened so many time before. Since the party ran late, as they usually do, we played for just an hour. I love playing music with John, he is such a creative musician and that hour passed quickly.
November saw the Hot Five in Switzerland. Two sell out concerts at a five star hotel overlooking beautiful lake Thun were just wonderful and then we travelled on to three more jobs in the area. There are quite a few British jazzers that have made there home in Switzerland and I can understand why, it is a very clean country with a high standard of living, plus they love jazz - especially with banjos, sousaphones, clarinets and cornets involved. The Swiss are people with taste I say !! A week on tour is exhausting though and I am amazed at the amount of energy my fellow band members have, three of whom are around 70 years old. Playing jazz is a special way of life and maybe should be on prescription for the older generation?!
Miyuki and I organised a banjo festival in Bonn in November. It was her first taste of promoting such an event with me. I know that to some the thought of 70 banjo enthusiasts together may not be your cup of tea, but if you are open minded and willing to give it a go, it is happiest events you can imagine. Ragtime, jazz, classics and everything in between was heard that night and played to a very high musical level indeed. My first memories of seeing a banjo being played was when I was a boy in the 1970's and watching the TV show “The Comedians” with Shep’s Banjo Boys playing the opening theme "When you're smiling". This year I was delighted to have Howard Shepherd (without his "boys") as part of our programme at our festival. Howard is also an Eddie Peabody fan and we spend time chatting about his long career and the Peabody connection. He is a true pro in every sense of the word. It was also Miyuki’s birthday at midnight so she was serenaded by banjos playing "happy birthday to you" as the cake and candles arrived. Now that is something unique!
I had a very busy December, thankfully the busiest ever, with a Hot Five tour featuring the American Gospel singer Brenda Boykin, with whom we had made a CD last year. She is a kind and gentle person and an excellent stage performer. Of course we had to play all the usual Christmas stuff but those arrangements are good and we had not forgotten them from last year. All the concerts were sold out and the enthusiastic German promoter, Götz Barmann, was very pleased with the results.Closing the year was The European Top Eight concert in Gelsenkirchen. It is an honour to perform at and I get to play with some other great musicians. It also means a gala evening out for myself and Miyuki, so we can use the hotel pool, sauna and in the evening have a great meal, dress up a bit and I‘ll earn some money too! This is how ideally all jobs should be...oh, if only ! It was however a nice way to round up 2009, a year I can look back at with great pride and joy.
So what does 2010 have in store I wonder?......
(c) Sean Moyses.
www.SeanMoyses.com
