As a classical music buff, I purchased this CD being curious of the works of the so-called “Girl Gershwin” Dana Suesse and of the other lesser-known composers of the “jazz age.” What I discovered was a “Suite for Banjo” written in 1922 by Harry Reser and orchestrated and performed by Louisiana’s own Don Vappie.
Harry Reser, a name I didn’t know, turns out to be one of the greatest banjoists of all time. Reser is the author of most of the standard method books for the banjo, as well as for the guitar and ukulele. He was inducted into the National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame in 1999.
The work is in three movements, and is essentially a jazz guitar concerto. Listening to the work, you hear so much going on it seems impossible for any one person to be playing a single banjo. The middle movement is more lyrical, with the banjo reminiscent of a ukulele, while the outer movements are a whirlwind of banjo notes that showcases Vappie’s skill. There’s a breath-taking performance by Vappie, but the orchestration that answers the melody played by the banjo shows an amazing grasp of the orchestral possibilities.
As for the other works on the CD, Dana Suesse is no Gershwin, but the two works presented here, like Gershwin’s, are firmly rooted in popular musical style.
The Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra should be congratulated for exposing this interesting, rarely-performed music, and for their previous releases that included the music of Louisiana composers Edmond Dèdè and Louis Gottschalk.
