tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post770975713041577755..comments2024-03-22T13:57:00.805-04:00Comments on Stomp Off: Elmer Snowden's Harlem BanjoChris Albertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12056345320709233401noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-16400314987205418492016-02-14T19:42:18.058-05:002016-02-14T19:42:18.058-05:00 Want more 4 String Tenor and Plectrum banjo? Goog... Want more 4 String Tenor and Plectrum banjo? Google FIGA. Fretted. Instrument Guild of America. Or, Jazz Banjo. Your off and running.<br /> Incidentally, Elmer Snowden was inducted into the, Banjo Hall of Fame, last year, 2015 in Oklahoma.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01460211031744774530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-36320829826854846992012-08-09T20:09:30.413-04:002012-08-09T20:09:30.413-04:00I am very pleased that we have made contact and th...I am very pleased that we have made contact and that I now can put what I have of your father's memorabilia into your possession, where it belongs.Chris Albertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12056345320709233401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-49549839460053933372012-08-09T18:44:35.871-04:002012-08-09T18:44:35.871-04:00Elmer was my Dad but I only knew him for a short t...Elmer was my Dad but I only knew him for a short time before he died. I visited him in his West Philly studio several times and then he passed away in 1973. I burried him and donated his banjo to the New York Local 801 Musicians Union. Eura and Pearl Baily assisted in the burial and Duke sent a telegram.<br /><br />I am very pleased to see his memory still lives on. You obviously were a friend of his and knew him more than I did. It did my heart good to see the posts and the interest in his music. My name is Joseph Urbano (Snowden) and I live in Colorado now. Elmer had me with Rita Urbano in 1955. He then went to Canada to form a band or he with his band; I'm not sure which. My Grandmother gave him the money to finance the band.<br /><br />Anyway, its nice to think of him and see that others appreciated his music.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-63357695899330718582012-01-11T11:04:30.241-05:002012-01-11T11:04:30.241-05:00Chris, thanks for all the info. It would be HUGE i...Chris, thanks for all the info. It would be HUGE if you can unearth any of those tracks! I researched the Eldridge album. Very difficult and expensive to get. Its my hunch that Snowdens guitar playing is on tenor guitar (4 string). The voicings sound tenor tuning rather than 6 string. Any recollection there? Very eager to hear both Eldridge and Jackson tracks. Thanks again.Jamie Masefieldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-68473490411839327472011-12-31T17:47:58.797-05:002011-12-31T17:47:58.797-05:00Thanks for your comments, Jamie. I am looking for ...Thanks for your comments, Jamie. I am looking for the rejected sessions I did with Elmer and I will post them as soon as I can. The album with Roy Eldridge was originally issued in Europe on Fontana, under Elmer's name (as "Saturday Night Fish Fry"), but they subsequently put it out on Black Lion as an Eldridge album—it has Elmer playing guitar, but that same year, we did a Cliff Jackson Prestige Swingville session (4 selections) with a small band that has him on banjo. I'll post something from that very soon.<br /><br />Good luck with your music.Chris Albertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12056345320709233401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-23886700788602886732011-12-31T14:06:01.104-05:002011-12-31T14:06:01.104-05:00Thanks Chris for posting this info. I started taki...Thanks Chris for posting this info. I started taking tenor lessons when I was 11. My teacher had me listen to this album and it changed everything. I modeled my style after Snowden's. He's the only tenor player that Im aware of that really improvises like a jazz musician. Im always on the look out for other recordings of him soloing. If you can ever dig up those unreleased recordings you'd be doing a great service to so many people! Is the album he did with Roy Eldridge available? What was its name? Did he play banjo or guitar? Thanks again.Jamie Masefieldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-88744656095089642912011-07-29T15:23:09.861-04:002011-07-29T15:23:09.861-04:00Thanks for commenting, Lanny. No, I'm afraid t...Thanks for commenting, Lanny. No, I'm afraid that I don't know of other 4-string banjo recordings, but that does not mean that they don't exist. Have you listened to Cynthia Sayers?Chris Albertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12056345320709233401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-81890101802817586792011-07-29T14:45:39.508-04:002011-07-29T14:45:39.508-04:00Excited to read anything I can about this landmark...Excited to read anything I can about this landmark recording. Thanks! Do you know of any other recordings with the 4-string banjo up front like that?Tanner Llewellynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12618290583056122314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-71769561415054335692010-08-17T23:33:21.090-04:002010-08-17T23:33:21.090-04:00Yes, Elmer deserved it—he spent too many years in ...Yes, Elmer deserved it—he spent too many years in relative obscurity, but he was never a bitter man. Elmer knew how to enjoy life, and he did.Chris Albertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12056345320709233401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-57828405411164103082010-08-17T22:36:03.819-04:002010-08-17T22:36:03.819-04:00An absolute charming delight - and great to know t...An absolute charming delight - and great to know there was life after Duke for Elmer :-)<br />Bill EganBill and Jean Eganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09767650746082205479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-51152835016429673192010-08-13T20:52:45.949-04:002010-08-13T20:52:45.949-04:00Thanks, Brew. There should be nothing humble about...Thanks, Brew. There should be nothing humble about your opinion—Elmer did, indeed, swing on an instrument that in most hands is somewhat rigid.<br />That's my humble opinion :)Chris Albertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12056345320709233401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-62621793274794976922010-08-13T18:39:11.884-04:002010-08-13T18:39:11.884-04:00Very swingin', in my humble opinion. We do not...Very swingin', in my humble opinion. We do not have so much of Banjo in Germany!<br /><br /><br />BrewAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-38278083348510029192010-08-13T17:30:03.115-04:002010-08-13T17:30:03.115-04:00Thank you for your comment, tommersl.
Yes, having...Thank you for your comment, tommersl.<br /><br />Yes, having the right combination of musicians is very important.<br /><br />Elmer never really stopped playing, he just became too local (Philadelphia) to attract attention, and most of his activity was on the guitar. Fortunately, he brought his banjo to my apartment and when he played it my feelings about that instrument changed. As for his style, even jazz players were basically strummers so Elmer really had his own thing going. Today, Cynthia Sayers—inspired by Elmer—keeps it alive.Chris Albertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12056345320709233401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6398250808488627384.post-2500837310340812192010-08-13T16:35:02.753-04:002010-08-13T16:35:02.753-04:00I am fascinated that the record came to life only ...I am fascinated that the record came to life only when the musicians were comfortable to do what they were willing.<br /><br />I like the New Orleans style of rhythm section banjo, I didn't know Elmer Snowden's banjo Jazz style exist until I heard "Harlem Banjo". <br /><br />I wonder how Elmer kept his play in excellent condition as such after that many years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com