V/A - Masters Of The Banjo

A National Tour Of Traditional Banjo Styles

(Arhoolie CD 421) 1994

---

This is a compilation of live recordings made during a 'National Tour Of Traditional Banjo Styles' organised by the National Council for Traditional Arts, in late 1993 / early 1994.

The tour presented several styles of banjo playing, with clawhammer and Irish tenor, two-finger, three-finger and melodic styles all on display. It ran from 28 Oct 1993 - 14 Nov 1993, with a second round of shows from 27 Jan - 15 Feb 1994. The first set of shows also featured Ethiopoian, Seleshe Damessae singing in Amharic and playing his 'krar', a six string lyre which dates back to the ancient civilisations of the Nile.

Ralph:- "Seleshe would finger-pick that krar lightening fast, and he'd do some sort of talk-singing... We couldn't say much to each other, so we just talked through music. I got a kick out of Seleshe and his krar, and he got a kick out of my clawhammer... when I'd go out to do my part of the show he'd come out on stage and make a bow down to my banjo and sit right there at my feet. When I started playing, why, he would dance around and just have a time. Seleshe would hit the floor every time I played 'Shout Little Lulie'. He really thought it was it, and he would almost do somersaults and such onstage, the music made him so happy".^[1]

It seems a bit odd that Ralph commented on only being able to communicate with Seleshe through music - his English on the album is perfect, and he did spend twenty years in the US before returning to Ethiopia.^[2] Maybe Seleshe & Ralph had problems with each other's dialect, or that the 'communication' problem refers to being able to explain their banjo techniques - Ralph being more at home demonstrating his pickin' styles, than trying to explain music theory.

All the recordings on the CD come from November 1993 where eight of the 'Banjo Styles' shows were sandwiched between regular CMB appearances at clubs and festivals:-

• 4th Nov - McLean, Va, (McLean Community Centre)
• 5th Nov - (*) New Brunswick, NJ (New Brunswick Cultural Center)
• 6th Nov - (*) Wilmington, De, (Grand Opera House)
• 7th Nov - (*) Lowell, Ma, (Smith-Baker Center)
• 9th Nov - (*) Easton, Pa, (Lafayette College)
• 11th Nov - (*) Geneva, NY, (Smith Opera House)
• 12th Nov - (*) Washington DC, (Baird Auditorium,Smithsonian Institution)
• 13th Nov - (*) Annapolis, MD, (Maryland Center For Creative Arts)
• 14th Nov - (*) Blue Bell, Philadeliphia Pa, (Science Theatre Montgomery County Community Centre)
• 25th Nov - Myrtle Beach, SC, (24th Annual South Carolina State Bluegrass Festival)
• 27th Nov - Lockland, OH, (Willard & Jean's)
• 28th Nov - Clay City, Ky, (Kentucky Friends Of Bluegrass Club)

(*) 'National Tour Of Traditional Banjo Styles'

The CMB's didn't accompany Ralph on the tour, instead he was backed by a bluegrass all-star line-up, which make the recordings sound a little different and quite interesting:-

• Ralph Stanley: banjo, vocals
• Dudley Connell: guitar, vocals
• Tony Ellis: mandolin, vocals
• Laurie Lewis: fiddle, vocals
• Jimmy Trivette: bass

It's notable too, that even on a 'Banjo' tour, one of Ralph's a cappella perfomances (Children Go Where I Send Thee) was also so good it just had to be included!

A few years later Dudley Connell also helped Tony Ellis record Sounds Like Bluegrass To Me, with former CMB Lester Woodie on fiddle.

Other artwork / related images:

[1] Ralph Stanley and Eddie Dean's book 'Man Of Constant Sorrow' (p.437)
[2] http://musicinafrica.net/directory/seleshe-damessae