Customer Reviews

Banjonique

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Clawhammer style banjo has much more character than Blue Grass banjo. Walt seems to be a master at this kind of banjo playing although his singing is a bit scratchy it seems to fit this style of music. Every song on this CD is lots of fun and makes me want to tap my feet, clap my hands, drum on the desk and get up out of my seat and hop and dance around. My favorite song is Berkely Days. This is happy feel good music with lots of melody. It's Americana.

What a superb CD! Essential listening for anyone interested in clawhammer style banjo. Walt Koken is a master of the art.

Koken is the master of American clawhammer banjo and this album is his masterpeice. His loping rhythm is infectious. This is American music stripped of all overdubbing and studio pretensions. As clawhammer nearly fell extinct to the wonderbread Scruggs style, Koken and a small devoted following in the 60s kept the flame alive. Clawhammer became the ultimate underground music. A sort of secret language nearly lost.
The biggest deficiency of Scruggs style is the lack of rhythm. It arose in a time when music became sterilized, louder and squeaky clean. Melody became king. Clawhammer nearly died out as a result of the virus that was Scruggs. In the hands of a man like Koken though, both melody and rhythm can float along a like a hot foot pursuit. But ultimatly, Koken's clawhammer is a freight train of rhythm; and rhythm is American music.
His voice? Well, its like the the calfskin that covers his banjo; dinged up, worn and stretched raw. Any other voice just wouldn't sound right.

This is a collection of simple, yet masterful banjo melodies. Koken captures the heart of the claw-hammer banjo technique perfectly. Best of all, there is a rawness to this album, that I've not encountered as much with many other modern banjo players, that brings out the spirit of this beautiful American instrument. It makes it impossible not to clap your hands, stomp your feet and bounce your head to the beat. And Koken is pullin' it off entirely by himself on one banjo!