Maryland Banjo Academy 1998




Make A Joyful Noise, All Ye Banjos: MBA 1998 Maryland Banjo Academy 98 Video Clips

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By Murphy Henry The day after the Maryland Banjo Academy ended, I walked into Circuit City to buy a TV. As I was waiting for my newly-purchased TV, I heard the mellifluous and sonorous sounds of a banjo coming over the store speakers. A banjo? In Circuit City? I walked over and asked, "Who's that playing?" (I knew it wasn't Ralph!) His reply? "Bella Fleck." "Oh," I said knowingly, "Bayla. I thought that was him on the banjo." And I smugly walked away, savoring the fact that Bela and I had both been teachers at the MBA.
It was on a cold frosty morning in the month of November (when the clouds were hanging low) that several hundred banjo students and over 40 instructors and builders gathered together for the second time at the Bishop Claggett Center in Buckeystown, Maryland, to celebrate the five-string banjo. Once more, bluegrass and old-time players of all ilks proved that it was possible to share housing, break bread, and even jam together. (Without bloodshed!) Although I thought the MBA of 1996 went well, improvements had been made for this year's event. The exhibitors, of which there were many, including Stelling, Deering, Ome, Nechville, Elderly Instruments, and House of Musical Traditions, were housed on the large second floor, which was still incredibly crowded! The old-time students had designated leaders for their jam sessions, several faculty-led slow jams were held for beginning bluegrass players, the few women students no longer had to share a bathroom with the men, a group picture was taken (very efficiently, I might add), and the faculty concert had been moved to Friday night at the Weinburg Center in downtown Frederick.

NANCY NITCHIE AND BELA FLECK	The concert, which drew close to 500 people, was a professional production all the way. The sheer size of the faculty made it impossible for everyone to perform, but even so, the concert ran almost four hours. MCs Ken Perlman, Ronnie Reno and their volunteers kept things on track, though. Since Casey and I were on last, along with Martha and Eddie Adcock, I was able to see much of the show. One of the highlights was watching Bela perform with an Indian drummer. Talk about precise timing! They both played while seated cross-legged on the stage (no shoes), stayed that way for 15 minutes, and then were both able to rise up and walk. I was as impressed with that as I was with their playing!

Bill Keith was generous with his stage time, sharing the spotlight with young Ilya Toshinsky, from Obninsk, Russia. They had just begun the intricate Caravan when the unimaginable happened -- Bill Keith broke a string. He looked stunned. But, without dropping a beat, Ilya coolly stepped into the mike and continued. Meanwhile, Bill was backstage borrowing a banjo from Tony Ellis, who was up next. Tony was undoubtedly in some sort of funky tuning, but Bill tuned 'er up and popped back on stage to join Ilya in twinning Caravan.

The workshops, of course, are the main thrust of the weekend, and I taught classes on Intro to Bluegrass, Intro to Improv, Intro to Backup, and Playing with Others. I enjoyed the class on playing with others the most, probably because I was able to coerce two students into serving as guinea pigs. With Casey on banjo and myself on guitar, we played Do Lord and Cripple Creek, and showed, in living color, what truly happens when beginners try to jam with each other. We were able to demonstrate that what matters in a jam is being able to play through your mistakes. Playing it perfect ain't gonna happen. Forget that. The skill required for jamming is the ability to keep going.

	The slow jams also demonstrated the importance of learning to play with other people. And, unfortunately, the only way to learn to play with other people is to play with other people. Several students (and teachers) left MBA fired up to start their own slow jams. I highly recommend it. I suggested finding a starving young person who could be paid to sit and play guitar for a couple of hours. If you had even five people at the jam, at $10 a piece, $25 an hour sure beats McDonald's!

I learned a lot about leading slow jams, too, as Saturday night I was faced with no less than 30 beginning banjo players, all anxious to play! Ah, the joyful noise of it all. I never cease to be astounded at how cooperative everyone is -- with a little direction, they all vamped quietly and all took some sort of lead breaks when we played in unison. Note to teachers: playing in unison is a good thing when leading a large jam. I realize it's not the bluegrass way, but it very comforting to beginners not to be put on the spot for a break. It took me a long time to learn this, and I pass it on to you free of charge! When I was not teaching, I had the opportunity to sit in on a workshop by Mike Seeger on "Dock Boggs Style." Dock was an old-time banjo player from Southwest Virginia who had a very distinctive style which Mike demonstrated ably. Mike also has a distinctive, laid-back style of teaching which I admired very much. I decided that when I grow up, I want to be Mike Seeger. Mike and I both agreed that we'd like to see more singing mixed in with the banjo playing. At the concert, Mike sang the longest version of Molly and Tenbrooks I'd ever heard and got a great round of applause. Sunday afternoon, I participated in an All Star Bluegrass Jam which started out with Eddie Adcock, Bill Emerson, and myself, and grew to include Mark Johnson, Tony Trischka, Dean Sapp, and Mike Munford. Martha Adcock had the unenviable task of keeping us all together with the rhythm guitar, which she did with her usual aplomb. Bill, who was the de facto leader, wisely insisted on sticking to the old standards (thank you, Bill). So we played Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Old Joe Clark, Lonesome Road Blues, Themetime, Dixie Breakdown, Make Me A Pallet On The Floor, Sally Ann, Farewell Blues, and Bluegrass Breakdown.

Serious bluegrass players take note: These are standards you are required to know. Learn them. Learn the original arrangements. Then you can do your own thing. I was aghast at our recent IBMA Trade Show when I tried to initiate a jam with a young professional banjo player who did not know Fireball Mail. The thing that impressed me most about these icons of the banjo world was that they are incredibly polite in these showcase jams. Nobody tries to outgun anybody. Everyone vamps quietly -- almost inaudibly -- when other folks are playing. There is no fancy Scruggs backup when someone else is playing lead. Sometimes a player would quit vamping entirely just to listen closely to someone else. Still and yet, after about an hour, I was banjoed-out. I bailed. As I left, I heard them launching into Cowboys and Indians, which, with apologies to Big E, I never learned.

I went upstairs where the Nitchies had thoughtfully provided refreshments. (Great dip, Sandy!) Spencer's daughter, Sofia, was still hard at work, hawking T-shirts as she had been all weekend. (When she wasn't reading!) The MBA is truly a family affair -- not only the Nitchies but also long-time BNL family members Ken Perlman and Jack Hatfield worked tirelessly to put it all together. Thanks, folks! There is so much I haven't mentioned: Bill Evans' "History of the Banjo" workshop, Dwight Diller's new video which is in the can awaiting release, LeRoy Troy, my new Stelling Murphy Flower with the arched fingerboard, Don Wayne Reno's incredible playing, Tom Hanway's slick new Mel Bay book of Celtic tunes for banjo, the Hoover Uprights, Bruce Molsky. The list is endless. Next time, come see for yourself!

	Now available: "And There You Have It!" A book of Murphy’'s BNL columns from 1983-94. Soft-cover, 184 pgs, pictures. All my radical ideas about teaching in one place! $15 plus $3 shipping. Murphy Henry POB 2498, Winchester, VA 22604.