Ken Aoki
( Naar de Nederlandse vertaling.)
While searching the web to Harry Reser solos I found some great fragments of a Japanese banjo player, Ken Aoki. Ken Aoki has his own band, The Dixie Castle. Ken Aoki is one of those instrumentalists that should be introduced in my daily Keep Swinging web log. That's why I posted this contribution today. Ken Aoki is a giant on his instrument and he was one of the guests to play at the Traditional Jazz Festival in Breda, in the south of The Netherlands. He played on stage with members of the Dutch Aces of Syncopation, featuring Robert Veen on reeds, Tom Stuip at the banjo and Paul Habraken on the sousaphone. Refering to the reviews I found, that concert must have been great. I found another image of Ken Aoki together with the Aces of Syncopation at the Kobe Jazz Festival in Japan. A good reason for me to play the great CD "Lastic", made by "our" Aces of Syncopation.
PLAYLIST
howard rumsey lighthouse all-stars/sunday jazz a la lighthouse = dilermando reis/o violao de dilermando reis-compilation = aces of syncopation/lastic = the complete hit of the week recordings/volume 3 (2) = frank trumbauer o/get happy - volume 1 (lp) = ella fitzgerald-magnificient seven/30 by ella
Nederlands ( To the English translation )
Gisteren viel mijn oog op een Japanse banjoist, leider van de Dixie Castle, banjoist Ken Aoki. Deze Japanse snarenvirtuoos ontbrak nog in mijn dagelijkse Keep Swinging web log. Dat gaan we vandaag goed maken. Drie jaar geleden trad hij in ons land op tijdens het Oude Stijl Jazz Festival in Breda. Ken Aoki is een meester op zijn instrument. Hij speelde samen met de Nederlandse groep Aces of Syncopation, gevormd door Robert Veen op rietinstrumenten, Tom Stuip op de banjo en Paul Habraken op sousafoon. Afgaand op de recenties moet dit een onvergetelijk concert geweest zijn. Ik vond ook een foto van deze groep, samen met Ken tijdens het Kobe Jazz Festival in Japan.
SPEELLIJST
howard rumsey lighthouse all-stars/sunday jazz a la lighthouse = dilermando reis/o violao de dilermando reis-compilation = aces of syncopation/lastic = the complete hit of the week recordings/volume 3 (2) = frank trumbauer o/get happy - volume 1 (lp) = ella fitzgerald-magnificient seven/30 by ella
While searching the web to Harry Reser solos I found some great fragments of a Japanese banjo player, Ken Aoki. Ken Aoki has his own band, The Dixie Castle. Ken Aoki is one of those instrumentalists that should be introduced in my daily Keep Swinging web log. That's why I posted this contribution today. Ken Aoki is a giant on his instrument and he was one of the guests to play at the Traditional Jazz Festival in Breda, in the south of The Netherlands. He played on stage with members of the Dutch Aces of Syncopation, featuring Robert Veen on reeds, Tom Stuip at the banjo and Paul Habraken on the sousaphone. Refering to the reviews I found, that concert must have been great. I found another image of Ken Aoki together with the Aces of Syncopation at the Kobe Jazz Festival in Japan. A good reason for me to play the great CD "Lastic", made by "our" Aces of Syncopation.
Ken Aoki is strongly infuenced by Harry Reser, Fred Van Eps and Perry Bechtel. For me the first two names are wel known - Perry Bechtel was new for me. He was active as a banjo player in the 1920s and played, how nice, in one of the 1920s Phil Spitalny, the leader of the Durium "house" bands in the early 1930s. Perry Bechtel was called "The Man with 10,000 Fingers". He became famous due to a 1958 recording with Chet Atkins. Harry Reser, the Banjo King, is known as a many-sided musician and band leader in the 1920s in dance bands like the Clicquot Club Eskimos, The High Hatters, The Jazz Pilots and The Seven Little Polar Bears. When I was a teenager I was fascinated by his 1920s banjo solos, like Savannah and Lolly Pops. I found two film fragments of two of his most famous banjo solos, Lolly Pops and Flapperette as played by Ken Aoki.
Ken Aoki started to play the banjo when he was 13 years old and became a professional musician when he was eighteen as a member of the Japanese Traditional Jazz Band The Dixie Castle. He has, nowadays, several own groups and is labeled as one of the best, if not The Best, banjo player of the world.
Not so long ago he released his first album, titled Banjo On Stage. This album contains 19 tracks with all kinds of music, all played on the banjo. Don´t be amazed to hear tunes like Chick Corea´s Spain, Charlie Christians Air Mail Special or music from Bach or Souza. I found a great fragment where you can hear Ken play The Flight of the Bumble Bee, also available on this album.
I hope you survived this hive and enjoyed this great Japanese banjo player. I hope to hear and review this great Banjo On Stage CD sometimes in this blog and wish Ken all the best in his career.
If you can help me to obtain a copy of this great album, please contact me.
AT RANDOM:
Creme de Menthe - HOWARD RUMSEY'S LIGHTHOUSE ALL-STARS
Featuring: Shorty Rogers on trumpet - Maynard Ferguson trumpet - Milt Bernhart trombone - Jimmy Giuffre tenorsax - Bob Cooper tenor sax - Frank Patchen piano - Hampton Hawes piano - Howard Rumsey bass - Shelly Manne drums - Carlos Vidal conga.
AT RANDOM:
Creme de Menthe - HOWARD RUMSEY'S LIGHTHOUSE ALL-STARS
Featuring: Shorty Rogers on trumpet - Maynard Ferguson trumpet - Milt Bernhart trombone - Jimmy Giuffre tenorsax - Bob Cooper tenor sax - Frank Patchen piano - Hampton Hawes piano - Howard Rumsey bass - Shelly Manne drums - Carlos Vidal conga.
Recorded at the Lighthouse Jazz Club at Hermosa Beach CA in 1953.
Time exposure for the 3rd of December:
1927:
Time exposure for the 3rd of December:
1927:
- ballin' the jack / grandma's ball = chicago footwarmers
- putting pants on philip = stan laurel - oliver hardy
- nobody's fault but mine = blind willie johnson
- when the robert e. lee comes to town = seven little polar bears
1937:
- getting some fun out of life = howard jacobs orchestra for dancing
1977:
- oleo = red garland trio
PLAYLIST
howard rumsey lighthouse all-stars/sunday jazz a la lighthouse = dilermando reis/o violao de dilermando reis-compilation = aces of syncopation/lastic = the complete hit of the week recordings/volume 3 (2) = frank trumbauer o/get happy - volume 1 (lp) = ella fitzgerald-magnificient seven/30 by ella
Nederlands ( To the English translation )
Ken Aoki is in zijn spel beinvloed door musici als Harry Reser, Fred van Eps en Perry Bechtel. De eerste twee namen kende ik uiteraard, maar van Perry Bechtel had ik nog nooit gehoord. Perry Bechtel was een banjoist, die voornamelijk actief was in de jaren twintig en o.a. speelde in het orkest van Phil Spitalny, die ik weer ken als "huisorkest" van de Durium opnamen begin jaren dertig. Hij werd wel "The Man with 10,000 Fingers" ( = De Man met de 10.000 vingers) genoemd, wat iets zegt over zijn spel. Hij werd beroemd in 1958 toen hij een plaat opnam met Chet Atkins. Harry Reser, the Banjo King ( = De koning van de banjo), is bekend als een veelzijdig instrumentalist op de banjo en leider van tientallen dansorkesten, die in de jaren twintig optraden onder kleurrijke namen als de Clicquot Club Eskimos, The High Hatters, The Jazz Pilots of de Seven Little Polar Bears. Ik was vroeger vooral gefascineerd door zijn banjosolos uit de jaren twintig met titels als Savannah en Lolly Pops. Ik vond twee uitvoeringen terug van deze beroemde solo's gespeeld door Ken Aoki op de banjo: Lolly Pops en Flapperette:
Ken Aoki begon op de banjo toen hij 13 jaar was en werd professioneel muzikant op zijn achttiende als banjoist in de Japanse traditionele jazzgroep The Dixie Castles. Tegenwoordig speelt hij in eigen bands en wordt hij gerekend tot één van de beste, zo niet allerbeste, banjospeler van de wereld.
Nog niet zo lang geleden maakte hij zijn eerste eigen soloplaat, getiteld Banjo On Stage. Deze plaat bevat 19 nummers met allerlei soorten muziek gespeeld op de banjo. Schrik dan ook niet om, naast Harry Reser titels, ook nummers uit het repertoire van Chick Corea ( Spain), Charlie Christian (Air Mail Special), Bach of Souza tegen te komen. Ik vond een fragment van een optreden waarin Ken Aoki zijn kunnen laat zien en horen op het nummer The Flight of the Bumble Bee; Dit nummer staat ook op zijn plaat.
Ik hoop dat iedereen deze zwerm bijen overleefd heeft. Ik wil de Banjo On Stage CD binnenkort hier nog eens bespreken en wens Ken al het beste toe in zijn carriere.
Als iemand me kan helpen aan een exemplaar van deze CD, mail me dan even: keepswinging@live.nl
Als iemand me kan helpen aan een exemplaar van deze CD, mail me dan even: keepswinging@live.nl
AT RANDOM:
Creme de Menthe - HOWARD RUMSEY'S LIGHTHOUSE ALL-STARS
Featuring: Shorty Rogers on trumpet - Maynard Ferguson trumpet - Milt Bernhart trombone - Jimmy Giuffre tenorsax - Bob Cooper tenor sax - Frank Patchen piano - Hampton Hawes piano - Howard Rumsey bass - Shelly Manne drums - Carlos Vidal conga.
Creme de Menthe - HOWARD RUMSEY'S LIGHTHOUSE ALL-STARS
Featuring: Shorty Rogers on trumpet - Maynard Ferguson trumpet - Milt Bernhart trombone - Jimmy Giuffre tenorsax - Bob Cooper tenor sax - Frank Patchen piano - Hampton Hawes piano - Howard Rumsey bass - Shelly Manne drums - Carlos Vidal conga.
- ballin' the jack / grandma's ball = chicago footwarmers
- putting pants on philip = stan laurel - oliver hardy
- nobody's fault but mine = blind willie johnson
- when the robert e. lee comes to town = seven little polar bears
1937:
- getting some fun out of life = howard jacobs orchestra for dancing
1977:
- oleo = red garland trio
SPEELLIJST
howard rumsey lighthouse all-stars/sunday jazz a la lighthouse = dilermando reis/o violao de dilermando reis-compilation = aces of syncopation/lastic = the complete hit of the week recordings/volume 3 (2) = frank trumbauer o/get happy - volume 1 (lp) = ella fitzgerald-magnificient seven/30 by ella
Labels: aces of syncopation, banjo, ken aoki, paul habraken, robert veen, tokyo okawari boys, tom stuip
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