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Banjo players from around U.S. hold annual fall rally |
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Front Page -
Front Page Story
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Written by Tom Chapin
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Saturday, 24 October 2009 |
George Bucher (foreground) and Doug Kiessling perform "Berkeley March" Friday evening at the Pantall. (Photo by Tom Chapin/The Punxsutawney Spirit)
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Punxsutawney welcomed an annual visitor Friday, as the American Banjo Fraternity is holding its annual fall rally at the Pantall Hotel this weekend.
Eli Kaufman, who, along with wife Madeleine, edits the group's newsletter, "The 5-Stringer," said the American Banjo Fraternity was formed in 1948 by people such as Fred Van Eps, son of George Van Eps — considered the father of the seven-string guitar — and others who took up the style created and popularized by their forefathers.
The group formed to perpetuate classic banjo, a form of music that began shortly after the Civil War and gained enormous popularity in the late 1890s and just before World War I.
"Our goal is to keep it alive," said Paul Heilman, the organization's executive secretary, explaining that between the 1890s and 1910, many towns had banjo bands for entertainment, and certainly, many colleges had banjo bands for dances.
The term "classic banjo" does not refer to the kind of music performed on the instrument.
Kaufman, of Buffalo, N.Y., said the ABF library has between 3,000 and 4,000 pieces of classic banjo music, although he said he probably has more than that at home.
Heilman, of Williamson, N.Y., joined the group in 2000.
"I'm one of the new guys," he said.
ABF members — that number around 300 and hail from the United States, Canada, England, France, Japan, Australia and elsewhere — meet twice a year in what they call rallies, the spring rally at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport, and during the fall at the Pantall Hotel in Punxsy.
Bill Morris, of Chicago, said the group used to hold its fall rally at the Green Gables Hotel in Lewistown until 1990, when the hotel closed. It met in Gettysburg and Binghampton, N.Y., until one of its members discovered the Pantall Hotel in Punxsy.
The group has held rallies at the Pantall since 1995.
The Williamsport rally draws more members from the East Coast, Heilman said, while the Punxsy rally attracts more members from east of the Mississippi.
Highlights of the rallies include performances by a banjo orchestra, which, like a regular orchestra, has differently tuned banjos of varying sizes to play the parts.
For example, Heilman explained, banjos such as the ones played by the group would be considered Banjo I and II, while another type, the banjeaurine, is used for lead parts.
Musicians play the cello banjo for the low parts, and the piccolo banjo is used for the higher notes.
Friday, ABF members reviewed the music of the Dobson family, which is considered to be the "first family" of the banjo, according to the ABF.
The ABF said the five Dobson brothers regularly attended minstrel shows at the Ethiopian Opera House on the Bowery, New York City, and were among the first to have performed in the classic finger-picking styles.
Also, the Dobsons were active as teachers in the 1880s and 1890s, teaching both amateurs and professionals.
Between 1867 and 1895, various members of the Dobson family had about 10 banjo patents, and were building their own banjos as early as 1851. By the mid-1880s, large factories were building Dobson banjos.
During their rallies, players also perform in a round robin, in which every one — novice and expert players — play for the group, bum notes and all.
"We try to get all the people who play," Heilman said, adding that the first time he took part in a round robin, he was too nervous to play.
"They do withhold our salaries when we do that, but since we're not paid, it's OK," he joked.
This weekend's rally drew about 15 players, along with their relatives and friends. The players' vocations range from dentist, farmers and educators to architects and professional musicians.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 26 October 2009 )
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