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 Dear Friends:
A Banjo For Christmas
has been quite an interesting project. I have played the banjo since I was ten
years old, which makes it my first musical instrument and love. Although I was
fortunate enough to make a living traveling around the country for several years
in my youth, most of my time was spent playing guitar and singing.
Now I spend my days as a partner in an
independent financial advisory company, Schannep Investment Advisors. But my
nights and weekends are often devoted to playing and singing with the banjo!
I’m proud to be a member of a world-class traditional jazz band, The Original
Wildcat Jass Band out of the University of Arizona. Indeed, it is my
relationship with this group of talented players that has inspired me to bring
my banjo skills back up to an elite professional level.
I made my first Banjo CD,
Always, in 2005. (I
should also mention here that The Wildcats have a new CD as well) My goal in
Always was to show the versatility of the plectrum banjo by showcasing it in
many musical styles and textures. I suppose that Banjo for Christmas is
an extension of that theme. So here it is, many of my all-time-favorite
Christmas songs either on banjo or with banjo accompaniment. Of course, there
is a lot of vocalizing, too. You can take the boy out of the Minstrels but you
can’t take the Minstrels out of the boy!
I should mention that my musical partner in crime, Rob
Boone has had at least an equal part in the creation and production of this
project. He is responsible for all the arrangements. Without Rob’s talents on
the keyboard, trombone, and computer this project could never have come to
fruition. Thanks to my wife Linda (vocals) and Rob’s wife, Dr. Christine
Vivona’s talents on harp as well. With the exception of God Rest Ye Merry
Gentlemen, which features Kelland Thomas, Kelly Thomas, Martin Patfield and
Rob Boone, the only non-synthesized tracks are the vocals, banjos, trombone and
harp. My banjo playing buddy, Steve Caddick, master tenor banjoist, plays a
banjo duet with me on Carol of the Bells. Everything else is computer
generated! However, it is our intention to perform these arrangements live with
a real orchestra in 2007. Keep an eye out for that.
You will notice in the photos, that I am wearing a tie,
which was usually the case since our normal routine was for me to show up at
lunch time (with sandwiches) and record for an hour or so.
The songs:
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Jingle Bells was one of the first songs recorded
and last to be completed. We laid the banjo tracks down first, to a click track
then we sort of filled in around that. It’s such a standard we tried hard to
have fun with it and make it original.
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The Christmas Song was the first Christmas song I
arranged for plectrum banjo. I’m proud to dedicate this song to my friend Dave
Frey, who has struggled mightily with his health the last few years and remains
a benchmark for teaching and playing plectrum banjo as well as an all around
terrific human being. It’s his favorite Christmas song. I worked on the
arrangement for several months. Then Rob filled in the orchestra with his
computer magic. Again, we recorded the banjo first without rhythm tracks to
give it the feel of a live orchestral performance. I think this is the most
artistic cut on the CD. Notice the beautiful harp played by Christine.
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Carol of the Bells is Bart Schannep’s (my
business partner at Schannep Investment Advisors) favorite Christmas Song. Rob
Boone did the arrangement after we went to a Bella Fleck concert. You may
notice the influence. This was especially fun because I had my buddy, Steve
Caddick, record some tracks at home. He sent us a disk, which Rob turned into a
virtual duet!
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Winter Wonderland is a tune that Linda and I used
to perform every year at Christmastime. I have to admit we had never tried it
with the banjo until now. It seems appropriate that we are finally recording
some of our duets because we will celebrate our 25th Anniversary
December 2006.
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Holly Jolly Christmas is a song I just had to
do. Ever since the classic claymation version of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
came out, it had bothered me that, although the snowman (voice of Burl Ives)
clearly was strumming a banjo, there was no banjo on any of the audio tracks.
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The Christmas Waltz is one of my favorite songs.
I asked Rob to create a jazz waltz arrangement for me to sing. As it turned out
I was never happy with my vocal but Rob’s trombone solo was so cool I didn’t
want to scrap it. So, a little banjo bop for the ages.
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Oh Christmas Tree is another one of the duets
Killer and I do every year. Believe it or not we once had a gig at a German
restaurant complete with lederhosen and drendle. I think we looked like Hansel
& Gretel (over 20 years ago)! Elsa Trottloff taught us to sing in German.
Again, thanks to Christine for the outstanding work on the harp.
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Sleigh Ride was by far the most difficult tune
for me to play on the plectrum banjo. It took me six months to master some of
the licks. The Boston Pops inspired Arrangement is very fun.
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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a banjo song.
It just works! Like many Johnny Marx tunes, it conjures up memories of simpler
times from days gone by. And it’s happy.
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Jingle Bell Rock is the one song Killer asked to
sing and boy am I glad because she did a great job and I really like my banjo
solo. It’s simple and a little different!
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Silent Night was supposed to be an instrumental,
in my mind, but Rob had a different idea. In fact, I put down some tracks with
the banjo playing melody and a descant. I suppose two banjos do not usually add
up to a silent night! This is the most religious song on the CD. I guess
that’s why you don’t see too many banjos in church!
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God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen features players from
The Original Wildcat Jass Band. I just couldn’t resist the temptation to do one
carol in a traditional jazz style. It starts out pretty straight but half way
through the first chorus we let her swing. It features, Kelly Thomas on tuba,
Kelland Thomas on Soprano Sax, Rob Boone on Trombone, and Martin Patfield on
trumpet. Thanks to the half-step modulations the boys got to jam in some wild
keys! Enjoy and Merry Christmas to all.
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