Although
Joe is better known as half of JOE GORDON and SALLY LOGAN, he has always
had a great love of Ragtime and Traditional Jazz since his early days
in Skiffle Groups and Jazz Clubs!
His playing
of Ragtime Banjo has surprised many listeners, and his first CD, "JOE
GORDON'S RAGTIME BANJOS!" attracted many favourable comments. Joe
was invited to play at the EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL that
year, and he has been a regular ever since!
For the
Banjo Enthusiasts!.......Joe has two main banjos. A restored WEYMANN,
which is VERY ornate, and a "BITSA"??!!
Well, Joe
says,"It has 'bitsa-this-and-bitsa- that'! A lovely old John Grey
neck that really suits me.And the rest is made up from a mixture of
bits. I bought this a number of years ago, from my good friend Alastair
McDonald, and decorated the resonator myself. ( It has 14 coats of lacquer!)
It has been all over the world with us AND in the wars! Broken neck.
Cracked peg heads and resonator. But I have always ended up having it
repaired, usually by Jimmy Egypt up in Glasgow. He does a marvellous
job! He's a complete craftsman.
My WEYMANN
I bought from Jock Westwater in Edinburgh. I had bought a BACON &
DAY SILVER BELL PLECTRUM from him, but I found the neck of that too
deep for my small hands. So I swapped for the WEYMANN. It too, is lovely
to play. I'll be using it on my next CD."
For those
interested in sound, I use SHURE SM 58's for vocals, and a MICROVOX
SWAN NECK CONDENSER mic that allows me to move aound if I want to. It
attaches to the pot with velcro.