European Concerts, May 2013

My wife, Nida, and I toured Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany for my various concerts in May, 2013. It was a chilly spring!

My first 2 concerts were in Pforzheim, Germany - for the eleventh year in a row. It was enjoyable seeing many friends who attend each year. Some of them played on stage with me too.

The next concert was just south of Munich, Germany, where I performed as a guest of Hans Dengler and the Munich Banjo Band. The local newspaper had a few nice things to say about the show.

Friends of mine, Joachim and Michaela Schmidt, had an early birthday party in Wuerzburg, Germany, and arranged a nice concert venue in their home town. Joachim played a few songs with me on his beautiful banjo.

                                                                                                                                          

My final concert happened in the Hague, Netherlands, where I offered a banjo workshop then played a banjo concert. My friend, Tom Stuip, made some wonderful musical guest appearances during my concert.

2013 JazzSea Farewell Caribbean Cruise

After 30 years of organizing cruises for "trad" jazz enthusiasts, Bob and Carol Neumann, of "JazzSea Cruises", chose to retire with this wonderful 14 day cruise to the southern Caribbean. With 4 jazz bands on board, as well as Dick Williams' "Jammers", and my "Banjos Aweigh" group, we honored the Neumanns with a farewell cocktail party - as well as 14 days of music and touring!

The cruise saw 8 islands in the 14 days:  starting from Ft. Lauderdale on January 4, 2013, we visited St. Thomas, St. Bart's, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Bonaire, Curacao, and Half Moon Cay (Bahamas).
With good weather and relatively calm seas, this final cruise was a real treat.


Here is my wife, Nida, in Grenada.









 St. Lucia's famous mountains








I performed a solo concert in the main Show Lounge, with Karla West accompanying me on piano. I accompanied Karla on her Ragtime show which we performed in the piano bar.

Most days, I conducted rehearsals and jamming with "Banjos Aweigh" in the Half Moon Room then we performed many evenings by the Lido pool.
























 I  enjoyed playing as a sideman with some of the bands, including a put-together band which we called the "Wheezers and Geezers"- lots of fun!

Wheezers And Geezers

It's possible that some smaller organized tours might be organized to keep the trad jazz enthusiasts and the banjos and jammers happy, but there is no word yet as to what might happen.

2012 JazzSea Caribbean Cruise

On January 2, 2012, my wife and I boarded the Holland America Cruise ship, M.S. Maasdam for an 11 day JazzSea cruise to the southeast Caribbean leaving from and returning to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We enjoyed visits to 7 islands: Half Moon Cay (Bahamas), St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Maarten.

There was music everyday on board the ship in various venues. I performed 2 solo concerts on my banjo in the "Crow's Nest" with accompaniment by Karla West on piano. On other days, I conducted the "Banjos Aweigh" band - 25 members consisting of amateur banjo players and other instrumentalists, eg, trombone, clarinet, violin, and washboard. On other occasions, I made guest appearances in the various featured jazz bands. On one occasion, I accompanied Karla West as she performed a Ragtime concert.

In the "Crow's Nest" 

Rehearsing with "Banjos Aweigh" in the
Half Moon Room







Conducting "Banjos Aweigh" in the
Ocean Bar wearing our new JazzSea T-shirt

Banjos Aweigh concert in the Ocean Bar









Banjos Aweigh concert by the Lido pool

Dinner with my wife, Nida







 In 2013, this same ship, the Maasdam, will tour the JazzSea group for the organization's 30th anniversary cruise.

2011 JazzSea Panama Cruise

On Jan.2, 2011 my wife, Nida, and I boarded the Celebrity Constellation for our 13 day cruise from San Diego, California, through the Panama Canal, ending up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. There was good weather, good ports of call - and great music!







I performed my solo concert halfway through the cruise in the beautiful "Reflections" Nightclub, with piano accompaniment by Karla West. In my show, I also included a guest singer, named Jesse DeTorres, for his outstanding version of Al Jolson's "Mammy". For my finale, my clarinet friend from Florida, Dr. Bob Felman, accompanied me on the Wm. Tell Overture.








Meanwhile, everyday I conducted and rehearsed the Banjos Aweigh band in preparation for their concert which we played towards the end of the cruise with great success.

Every year the band consists of different members, amateur players from all over North America and Europe. This year, the 27 members consisted mostly of banjos, but there was also a tuba, clarinet, violin, ukulele, mandolin, gut-bucket, washboards, spoons, a vocalist, and 4 dancers. These players just want to have fun while learning how to play. I even offered lessons while on board.

I also was asked to play with 2 other bands, Toronto's "Climax Jazz Band" and "Tex Williams And Friends". What fun!

Next year, the JazzSea Caribbean cruise will leave Ft. Lauderdale for an 11 day trip on Holland-America's Maasdam. For more information, please check out www.jazzsea.com.

2010 JazzSea 10 day Caribbean Cruise

The 2010 JazzSea Caribbean Cruise was another memorable success. This year we boarded the brand new Celebrity Equinox in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and cruised to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Kitts, Dominica, and St. Maarten, returning to Ft. Lauderdale after 10 days of good music and mostly calm seas.














I performed my solo concert with banjo and guitar along with piano accompanist, Karla West.


The next day, I conducted the Banjos Aweigh banjo band as they performed their concert with 30 musicians playing and singing their hearts out to a packed audience.










I conducted and rehearsed Banjos Aweigh - all amateur musicians - for a week before their concert and they sounded great within a day or two. The band consisted of tenor and plectrum banjos, tuba, trombone, clarinet, violin,piano, drums, washboards and spoons, gut-bucket, harmonicas, as well as a musical saw! We even had 3 lovely singers, the “Elegant Sweethearts”, on microphone to help with the sing along.

Glacier Jazz Festival, Oct. 2 & 3, 2009

I played a few shows at the beginning of October at the annual Glacier Jazz Festival in Kalispell, Montana. The music coordinator for the festival is Karla West whom you can see playing piano in the following photo. Karla is the leader of the "Rocky Mountain Rhythm Kings". I had fun playing with her band as well as some of the other featured bands at the festival. I also had my own concerts in which Karla accompanied me.

Germany Concerts, May 2009

I returned to Germany for my annual concerts in Pforzheim, as well as a concert and banjo workshop near Munich.

In the photo above, I had invited Rainer Daub, the Pforzheim concert organizer, to perform "Dueling Banjos".

After Pforzheim, Nida and I drove to Fuessen Germany, near Munich, to see King Ludwig's famous castle in one of the prettiest parts of Germany.













In the Munich area, I performed a concert which was organized by Hans Dengler, leader of the Munich Banjoband, some of whom are seen in the photo below, when I invited them to play during the concert.













Hans Dengler, seen in the picture with me and Nida, also arranged a banjo workshop for the following day.