H I L L INO S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007. 0OP, r Number 33 &0414 April 15, 1970 MIKE SEEGER HERE TONIGHT April 15, 8:00 p.m., Lincoln Hall Theater Mike Seeger was born in New York City in 1933 and has lived most of his adult life in the Baltimore-Washington area. His father, Charles, a musicologist, and his mother, Ruth, a composer, became interested in folk music in the early thirties, and sang folksongs informally with their four children, Mike, Penny, Peggy, and Barbara. In addition to this family circle, Mike Seeger's education consisted of listening to hundreds of Library of Congress field recordings as well as to early commercial records of southern mountain music. Albums by his brother, Peter, also were daily fare at home. Mike began to play the guitar in 1951, followed by the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, harmonica, autoharp, and dulcimer. In mid-1958, John Cohen, Tom Paley, and Mike Seeger formed the New Lost City Ramblers, whose style was based on old-time American string bands. Since 1962, when Tom Paley was replaced by Tracy Schwarz, the group has expanded its repertoire to include unaccompanied ballads as well as more modern bluegrass selections. Also, the Ramblers have become the leading performer-spokesmen for traditional country music in the United States. The group has recorded many albums for Folkways. Seeger has recorded four excellent solo albums on Vanguard and Folkways. Over the past ten years, Mike Seeger's tours have included folk festivals, college concerts, and coffee houses in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. He has been active in such important scenes as the Newport Festival and the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folk Life. Perhaps Mike Seeger's most memorable contribution will prove to be that of folksong field collector. He has worked with such great artists as Dock Boggs, Elizabeth Cotton, and Ernest "Pop" Stoneman to produce LPs of tremendous significance--documents of our nation's traditional heritage. CONCERT REVIEW Buell Kazee at the U. of I., March 21, 1969 The problem of the "folk" esthetic is a ubiquitous one. When the so-called "folksong revival" was at its height, the scene in this country, at least, was a confused one, from the scholar's point of view. The situation was unique; for the first time, "folk" music and "folk" song made up a not inconsiderable portion of the popular cultural scene. The obfuscation and nit-picking which followed, not only in the halls of Academe, but in the midst of the masses, resulted in no concrete definitions. But the value of that period to all truly interested parties cannot be discounted, at least in one sense, to wit: the confusion of the period drove home to many people the realization that all art must be judged in terms of its proper esthetic. That is, it is inappropriate to judge a "folk singer" in terms of "pop" esthetic. Similarly, it is equally inappropriate to judge a "pop" singer in terms of the esthetic of "folk" society. This is not a terribly profound comment, but neither is it trivial. The battles have raged back and forth in the academic journals, in SING OUTI, and most vehemently in the Campus Folksong Club. Folk song "purists" derided Judy Collins as being "un-ethnic" and "not traditional." Kingston Trio enthusiasts scorned the music of, say, Leadbelly, as being "unpolished" or even "crude." Who was (and is) right? The answer: neither group; both the "purists" and the "commercialists" went to extremes in their accusations, and both factions neglected to objectively consider the criteria upon which their esthetic was based. Buell Kazee, who performed in concert for the Campus Folksong Club on March 21, 1969, has caused a great deal of local commentary in terms of "esthetics." The problem is this: Mr. Kazee is a singer of "folk" material; that is, material that has come to him through the slightly mysterious process of "oral tradition," and Mr. Kazee is also a very intelligent and well educated man who has had, among other things, formal voice training. Even to those who did not see Mr. Kazee here in Champaign on March 21 the problem is obvious. Is Buell Kazee a "folk singer?" Mr. Kazee has been compared with Richard Dyer-Bennett. That, I feel, is an unfortunate comparison. Both men sing "traditional" songs, and both men are accomplished instrumentalists, and both men have trained voices. Yet I would unhesitatingly pronounce Buell Kazee a "folksinger" and Richard Dyer-Bennett an "art singer of folk songs." The difference is this: Buell Kazee is not only singing traditional material, he is moreover performing material which is specifically in his own tradition; Dyer-Bennett, on the other hand, is repro- ducing something from a tradition not his own. Simply put, Buell Kazee is a folksinger because he is a "folk," and Richard Dyer-Bennett is not a folksinger because he is not a "folk." Now, all of this seems mighty familiar. So far this article is a restate- ment of the "ox-driver" argument. That is, "if you are not now and never have been an ox-driver, and you sing a traditional song of the ox-drivers, are you a folksinger?" The answers to that question are as varied as the answerers. Many very learned men, confronted with this question, have thrown up their hands in despair and said, "It depends." The argument proper has never (at least, not to my satisfaction) been settled. What has come out of discussions of that argument is the very important and germane point that ox-drivers, singing their ox-driver- song, should be judged according to the stylistic esthetics of their own tra- dition, and other men, singing the ox-drivers song, should be judged esthetically in terms of their own traditions. Having gotten all of this seemingly picayune business out of the way, I shall proceed to the main thesis of this article, which is that Buell Kazee, judged in terms of his own traditions and his own proper esthetic, is a great musician and singer, and that he demonstrated that greatness fully on the even- ing of March 21, in 141 Commerce West Hall of this campus. Mr. Kazee began his program slowly, having informed the audience that "it often takes half an hour or so. You can't just sit down and do this..not properly." After a number of ballads and slow songs, Mr. Kazee played some of the more lyrical and lighter songs. Still, the high point of the evening, for myself at least, was "Lady Gay." A number of people in the audience pointed out later that many of Mr. Kazeets tunes were unfamiliar to them, though the song texts were old favorites. I noticed "different" (to me) tunes to both t Sporting Bachelors" and "The Rowan County Crew," but it should be once more pointed out that Buell Kazee sticks strictly to his own traditions. The tunes he sang are the tunes he learned when he was a boy. Just one word about the banjo styles involved: Mr. Kazee utilizes what many people call "frailing." (That is, downpicking with the fingernail, then a brush across the strings, and then the striking of the fifth string with the thumb.) However, Mr. Kazee does not think of his style as frailing. (He told me that frailing was a different way of playing, but he did not explain it further,) There is at least one aspect of Mr. Kazee's banjo playing which is (as far as I know) unique. Occasinnally he brings his thumb over to hit one of the inside strings, that is, the second or thrid string. This is found frequently in the "double-thumbing" style, but Buell Kazee is the only man I have ever seen pick a string with his thum while the thumb is moving upwards. While up-picking with the thumb-nail is the logical extension of a frailing style, it is extremely difficult to do. Banjo players who pay close attention to Mr. Kazee's technique should note the distinctive flavor of this unusual fillip. The concert proper ended with an impromptu collusion of Buell Kazee and The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band. As a member of the GBVB, I found that to be a real pleasure and a marvelous experience; Mr. Kazee is the finest old-timey banjo picker I have ever had the pleasure to accompany. Though I have indicated my own enjoyment of the Buell Kazee concert, all readers of AUTOHARP should form their own opinions. Those who missed the concert on March 21 should strive to hear Mr. Kazee, somehow, somewhere. The LP album Buell Kazee (Folkways FS 3810) is a good start. He is a great man and a great performer, and he deserves the attention of all who are interested in traditional American folksong. -- Tom Adler POLK FESTIVAL OF THE SMOKIES May 28, 29, 30 1970 Civic Auditorium--Gatlinburg, Tennessee Dear Friends, You are cordially invited to attend the second annual "FOLK FESTIVAL OF THE SMOKIES," to be held in the Civic Auditorium, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on May 28, 29, 30, 1970, sponsored by the Folk Life Center of the Smokies, Inc., and directed by Jean and Lee Schilling of Cosby, Tennessee. The Festival, founded by Jean, received national recognition last year through the facilities of the National Educational Television Network, which broadcast nationally a two-hour, color, videotape of the Festival as a part of its series "Sounds of Summer." As a result, letters of acclaim were received from all parts of the country, from California to Maine.