Confession: I’m just crazy about Walt Koken’s banjo playing. If I was a younger guy, with more time on my hands and fewer responsibilities, there’s nothing that would keep me from camping out in his kitchen and learning tune from tune from him. Let me break it down the way I see it… Walt’s playing is absolutely complete - it’s easy to talk about his mastery of chords and the way he uses them to create his sound, but it doesn’t stop there. The first thing that impressed me about him was the depth and solidity of his rhythm - both original and grounded in tradition.

Another confession: I love Walt’s original tunes even more than his traditional tunes. As great a traditional player as he is, it’s his original music that is the most comprehensive statement of his style. Tunes like The Valentine, Bluebird Rag, Sequoia Farewell, Rag-a-Muffin, Jerry and Lynda - they all seem to encapsulate all the things that are wonderful about American music, without being bound to any particular stylistic bucket.

Yet another confession: I am a fool for Walt’s talent for adapting music that, on first thought, would appear to be either awkward or impossible to render on the 5-string banjo. The end result is music for which the means of sound production is totally irrelevant - it’s simply great music: Mississippi John Hurt’s Candyman, Mineola Rag from the East Texas Serenaders, Jelly Roll Morton’s Doctor Jazz… it’s all there - perfectly rendered, full of rhythm, harmony, melody and joy.

While I’m confessing: Walt’s take on traditional tunes is breathtaking. Just to set your expectations - we are talking here about a very powerful and original musician. His sense of history and attention to detail is astounding, but more amazing still is the stamp he puts on the music that falls under his touch. What you’ll hear when you sit down across from him is a pure outpouring of the stream of American music, distilled through Walt’s personal style - in crystalline relief.

Here’s a youtube video of Walt playing Blue Bird Rag - this is what it’s like to sit in Walt’s kitchen, after breakfast, some coffee in your mug and an earful of tunes:

That’s right… if only I was a younger guy…

Luckily, if you’re a younger guy (or girl) and you’ve got some time on your hands, and some inclination - you’ve got one hell of an opportunity. This is a chance comparable only to the opportunity to take guitar lessons from the Reverend Gary Davis. Their styles similarly embrace the totality of their instruments and stretch a traditional style to its limits - all subject to their considerable intellect and imagination.

If you’re reading this and live within driving distance of Kennett Square, PA - well then… what else do I need to say? Go git yer banjo…

So, it’s clearly an ongoing obsession, but I just finished working out the lyrics and keys for the following Document CDs:

Walter Vincson 1928 - 1941 (BDCD-6017)
Charlie McCoy 1928 - 1932 (BDCD-6018)
Mississippi String Bands & Associates 1928 - 1931 (BDCD-6013)

You can see the results on the just-been-published page: The Jackson Crew - Mississippi Sheiks satellite groups.

…and I’m going to go do something else, now.