Workshops BANJOREE 2011May 13th - 15th, 2011Tutors from 7 countries! These are the workshops that we plan to have at BANJOREE 2011 - check up here again on news: JEAN-MARIE REDON / F - Melodic Banjo JUERGEN BILLER / D - Scruggs Style in Rock, Jazz, Folk and Pop CHRIS SANDS / UK - Classic Banjo NEW: ELLY BEURSKENS / NL - Clawhammer Banjo TOM NECHVILLE / USA - Setup and Banjo Construction supported by LLUIS GOMEZ BRUNO VAN HOEK / NL - Stage- and Recording Techniques ULF JAGFORS / S - News from the African origins of the Banjo UDO WEIHRAUCH - Clawhammer-Banjo in Blues, Caribbean Music and traditional Jazz ANDREAS DAVID / D - Beginner 3-Finger If needed tablatures other material will be provided at the workshops. Even if the tutors will come from seven different countries - don't worry. All of them are pretty good in English, most of them also spleak German and in the unlikely case of a linguistic knot there will always be someone to translate. If you like to know more about each tutor feel free to visit their websites, youtube appearances, myspace pages of whatever else will appear on your screen. Many of the tutors give indivudual lesson, in case of interest please call them directly. |
BANJOREE 2011
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Jean-Marie Redon / F - Melodic Banjo Jean-Marie was one of the very first Europeans who released recordings in the then brandnew Melodic Banjo Style. That was way back in 70's and since then Jean-Marie was formative for many European banjo players. He and Philippe Bourgeois have been the only Europeans who made their way into Tony Trischka's standard work „Masters of the 5-string Banjo“. Jean-Marie is also a much sought-after banjo player for American bluegrassers who are touring Europe Meanwhile also is very busy teaching. He made a teaching DVD and is a very active teacher at home in Paris. If you know a little French you can visit actionbanjo.fr and also Jean-Marie's Website redon-lombardi.fr to watch some of Jean-Maries musical activities. Of course the BANJOREE-Workshop will be held in English....
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| Nils Tuxen / DK - Dobro
The resonator guitar is an inherent part of the banjo world. Many banjoplayers play dobro as well as banjo. One of the European masters of slide instruments is Nils Tuxen. Nils is an internationally very successful pedal-steel player. Since he is as well a masterful dobro player we are very proud to have him as a tutor for BANJOREE. He will demonstrate a variety of different musical styles on the dobro. In particular Nils will show us the secrets of "Pick-Blocking", "Palm-Blocking" und "Slants". And if the typical banjoplyer thinks he must speed up, Nils will certainly demontrate some "Speed-Picking". Aside slide instruments dobro, lap-steel and pedal-steel Nils also masters Telecaster-Guitar and Banjo. So he can refer to the special banjo-view of the world.
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 Foto: Rolf Baerenwald |
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| Chris Sands / UK - Classic Banjo
Chris Sands is one of the finest classical banjo performers in the world today. Chris studied the classical banjo with Tarrant Bailey Junior, who was one of the greatest English classical banjo performers of the 20th. century. Chris has given performances on the classical banjo all over the world. He is also an experienced teacher of the classical banjo at all levels. Classic Banjo is one of the less known banjo styles. "Classic" does not mean that you simply pick up a banjo and play classical music on it. Calssic Banjo is rather a complete banjo style on it's own. It was very popular between the middle of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century especially in England. You play it on an open back banjo with nylon strings and bare fingers. The picking technique is related rather to the classic guitar than to Bluegrass banjo. Classic banjo tunes were often written especially for the banjo and many of them highly viruoso. Chris Sands is one of the inner circle of those who keep Classic Banjo alive in the 21st century. And in order to make it sound good, Chris created hi own brand of nylon banjo strings. |
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Juergen Biller / D - Scruggs Style in Rock, Jazz, Folk und Pop Those who know BANJOREE know Juergen Biller. He has been with us since 2005. Juergen is one of the most distinguished 5-string banjo players in Europe and unsurpassed with his modern interpretation of Sruggs-Style playing. Like no other he is able to contribute to a band's sound with his tasteful backup as well as with his solo playing. Classic Scruggs Style is and always will be the basis for modern banjo playing. And this is not only true for the old Bluegrass Standards like Groundspeed or Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Sometimes a banjo player asks himself how to play any melody form Rock, Jazz, Folk or Blues with Scruggs Style picking techniques. Well, Mr. Scruggs has done it all the time and Juergen shows us how to do it. In the WWW you can find Juergen and his band Four Wheel Drive there: And if you want to hear AND see how Juergen plays you go to YouTube, put in his name and watch the videos... |
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| Elly Beurskens / NL - Clawhammer Banjo
Elly has discovered clawhammer banjo relatively late by playing in the trio Skyland with Theo Lissenberg, the gifted singer and clawhammer player. After his untimely death in 2003 she bought one of his banjos and became more and more hooked by this instrument and it's possibilities. As a singer Elly always concerned herself with the banjo's function as an accompanying instrument which very much shaped her clawhammer style. Her subtle playing style gives her band 'Babes in the Grass' just the right flavour of Oldtime Mountain Music. Under the motto "Not all that you play with it is all right" Elly will teach in this workshop how to accompany singing and also some simply intrumentals in an effective and tastefull manner. Her husband Bruno van Hoek will assist her with guitar and Bluegrass banjo. She also will present some example on video. The participants will practice to accompany effectively simple songs and instrumental tunes. |  |
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| Tom Nechville / USA - Setup and Banjo Construction supported on banjo by Lluis Gomez / Spain You cannot avoid to practice rolls, scales and songs when you want to express yourself on the 5-string banjo. But it is also necessary to understand and maintain the tools you are working with. That's why we have this workshop. Tom Nechville will show us how to influence the banjo's sound and playability and how everybody can make the proper adjustments. Tom is not only an expert for his own Heli-Mount system but also for the traditionally contructed instruments. In 1989 Tom Nechville revolutionized the world of banjo-lutherie with a fundamentally new design for the banjo. Instead of the traditional construction with dozens of hard to reach screws and hooks he develloped the "Heli-Mount Design" and a new and easy way to adjust the neck angle. No matter how your banjo is constructed, whether you prefer the traditional construction or one of the contemporary variants, Tom can show you how to get the best out of it. Tom will be assisted by Lluis Gomez who will fly in from Barcelona / Spain. There among other projects he plays in the Barcelona Bluegrass Band, he has published a banjo tutorial in Spanish and certainly will bring his new CD. |
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Bruno von Hoek / NL - Stage- and Recording Techniques As a co-organiser of EWOB Bruno von Hoek is very well known in the European Bluegrass community. He plays many acoustic instruments with his focus on the 5-string banjo. One of his current musical projects is the duo Heartstrings with his partner Elly Beurskens. Since 1976 works as an engineer at theaters and recording studios. He also was a repairman for manufacturers like Tascam, Neumann and JBL. Since 1996 he is "Operator Master Control Room Radio Netherlands Worldwide". At home has has his own recording studio. We were hooked on the spot when Bruno offerd this workshop. All of us know this problem: We partice endlessly on our instruments and then we end up on stage, standing in the wrong position in front of a wrong instrument and then do not know how to communcate with the soundman. Bruno will tell us how to bring a well sounding result of our prctice hours to the ears of our audience. To the adjacent photo Bruno says: "Here I play the banjo over an SM-58. If the quality of the sound system is only mediocre, super microphones will not help. Quite the contrary...". Yes, these are the clues we are waiting for!
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Ulf Jagfors / S - African Banjo Roots - An Update For more than 40 years Ulf Jagfors engages himself in American Mountain Music. 20 years ago he became fascinated with the origins of the 5-string banjo. Since then he is travelling back and forth between Africa, America and Europe researching the issue. The result are insights about the relationship between the West African Akonting and the banjo that we would not have without Ulf. In 2006 Ulf founded the "Akonting Center for Senegambian Folk Music" in Africa and conducted the first international conference about the African origins of the banjo. Ulf Jagfors participated in BANJOREE a couple of times, in 2009 unfortunately he could not come. So now we are very eager to learn what's new since his last stay. |
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| Udo Weihrauch - Progressive Clawhammer
If you did not hear Udo playing, you would not believe what is possible in this style. Udo definitely is one of the world's most proficient progressive clawhammer players. In his workshop he will provide everybody with new exciting insights. Udo Weihrauch has been fascinated with the banjo since childhood. He only discovered the difference between four and five-string banjo in 1979, when he bought his first banjo. Since he loved everything played on the banjo, he learned both kinds at the same time. On the five-string he developed a strong preference for old time techniques. At the end of the 1980s he got the opportunity to join the "Hot Pepper Jazz Band" in Hannover as a professional. Years of playing Dixieland influenced in clawhammer playing, a combination which led to his own style which he now plays with his wife Ulrike in "Two U". Udo's description of his workshop at BANJOREE 2011: Ich werde zeigen, wie die typischen Stile dieser Musikrichtungen mit traditionellen Clawhammertechniken sowie auch untypischen, aber passenden, Strummingformen in Einklang gebracht werden können. Dabei wird der Bogen vom klassischen Clawhammer bis zum "Chord-melody playing", wie im Dixieland üblich, gespannt. Dieser Workshop richtet sich an Anfänger sowie Fortgeschrittene, die einen Blick über den Tellerrand des traditionellen Clawhammer werfen möchten. Besondere Vorkenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich. |
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Andreas David / D - Beginning 3-Finger Styles This year Andreas will focus on the beginners of 3-finger styles. Andreas David is not only an outstanding master of the Five String Banjo, he also is a very proficient player of acoustic and electric guitars, the mandolin, ukulele dobro and lap-/pedal steel guitars. In 1986 he founded the „Hot String Quintet“, which today belongs to the leading bluegrass bands in Europe. Since 2002 he is member of the Jo-Roloff-Combo (backing group of „Geschwister Pfister“). Because of his stilistic versatility (Jazz, Pop/Rock, Country) he is a sought-aftern sideman of many other formations („Metropolitan Swing“, „Country Classic Circus“, „Berlin Hot Jazz Band“ etc.). Andreas is a versatile studio musician who can be heard on many recordings for soundtracks, jingles and CDs of various artists. Furthermore he is arranger and musical director of various shows (e.g. „Bonjour Kathrin“ – a show about Caterina-Valente or "Sirenen auf See“ ), performing regularly on cruise ships like the M.S. Europa and the M.S. Deutschland („Traumschiff"). In his hometown Berlin Andreas is a long-time and experienced teacher of all the musical styles and instruments he plays. Current musical projects: |
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For beginners it is always difficult to develop the routines requiered for successful musical playing with others. BANJOREE tries to help at this point. Below you find suggestions for a couple of tunes that will be played at Slow-Jam. These tunes are well known at sessions and not too hard to play. We suggest that you learn these tunes as good as your present abilities allow. Your playing style (e.g. Clawhammer, 3-Finger), your instrument and also the source where you get the tune from don't matter very much. Only the key shoul be the right one. You don't have to know all these tunes for Slow-Jam and you don't have to know them perfectly. Andreas David kindly offered to support and help us with Slow-Jam. In his Beginner's Workshop (see above) he will also have a lokk at some of these tunes. Hier nun die Liste: - Boil (bile) them cabbage down (G-major) - Old Joe Clark (A-major) = G-major Capo 2nd fret - Skip to my Lou (G-major) - Cripple Creek (A-major) = G-major Capo 2nd fret - Wildwood Flower (D-major) - Jambalaja on the Bayou (G-major) |
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