Don Vappie who plays his passions, to open Nickel-A-Dime series

2nd March 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

“I tend to just allow myself to grow and not decide which way I’m growing,” says banjoist, guitarist, vocalist and composer Don Vappie who will be performing with his Creole Jazz Serenaders to open the spring Nickel-A-Dance series on Sunday, March 1, 2020. “I like to incorporate those influences from the Caribbean which I think are really important.”

This edition of the Serenaders will include an all-star cast with bassist Richard Moten, clarinetist Tom Fischer, trumpeters Kevin Louis and Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown, drummer Karl Budo and pianist Michael Pellera. “We do a lot of music from the late ‘20s and ‘30s like some of Jelly Roll Morton’s compositions such as ‘Black Bottom Stomp’ and King Oliver’s classics like ‘High Society.’

The band will also feature music from Vappie’s latest album, The Blue Book of Storyville, which was released digitally last fall and is now available on CD. Performed in a quartet setting by Don Vappie & the Jazz Creole, it focuses on the leader’s great passion for the Creole culture and the banjo both of which he’s been responsible for bringing to the forefront.

The album begins with “Eh Las Bas,” that is, perhaps, one of the most recognizable tunes that marries jazz and the Creole French, which has been defined as “a francophone language with connections to West Africa.” The song gained greater exposure when it was recorded by banjoist/guitarist/vocalist Danny Barker, who, in part inspired Vappie’s interest in and promotion of the culture and instrument.

“It’s a cultural term for me,” Vappie says. “It has nothing to do what race. New Orleans is a Creole culture, southeast Louisiana is a Creole culture. I think that played a big part in what jazz is. Otherwise Charleston would have jazz too. It’s a similar place but it was under British rule and we weren’t.”

The Caribbean is wonderfully embraced in the rhythms and the spirit of many of the tunes on the album with the connection accented by Vappie singing the lyrics in Creole French.

Growing up, Vappie never spoke the language. “Like many people my age, we experienced the same thing in that the older people would speak in Creole when they didn’t want the young kids to know what they were talking about,” he says, adding they also knew that kids who spoke Creole French were often frowned up. “They (our elders) did it to protect us.”

He sees many of the rhythmic aspects of New Orleans music coming from Haiti due to the exodus of Haitians to the Crescent City following the revolution in the island nation. “It was an easy way to fit in because we were a dominant French culture even though there were different dialects of the language. Cultures develop — they find common ground and they evolve. I think that’s what my music is doing. I sort of agree with Nicholas Payton in his quest to change jazz to BAM — Black American Music. I’m fine with the thing called jazz too,” he adds.

On “The Blue Book of Storyville,” Vappie also turns to traditional jazz numbers like Morton’s “Buddy Bolden Blues,” which opens with a strong banjo solo. The group also does a straight-up version of “Basin Street Blues” that trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong made popular in 1928. Following the lively and fun “I Would if I Could,” the mood changes on a waltz-tempo tune, “Abandon,” that begins with the mournful clarinet of David Horniblow. His clarinet and Vappie’s banjo weave and dance together.

Vappie has performed numerous times during the Nickel-A-Dance series, which began in 1994, dating back to when it was held at the now defunct Frenchmen Street club, Cafe Brazil. Through the years, the free concerts that are kid friendly and take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., have continued to be a Frenchmen Street staple.

“One thing special about the series is that it acknowledges the fact that a lot of the early jazz music was dance music,” Vappie says. The people come to dance.”

Earlier on Sundays, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Vappie leads a trio with clarinetist Alonzo Bowens and bassist Peter Harris at a “strolling” jazz brunch at chef John Folse’s Restaurant Revolution, located in Royal Sonesta hotel.

Don Vappie continues to spread the word on the banjo’s musical legacy and the influences of the Creole culture as a teacher at the Don “Moose” Jamison Heritage School of Music and by leading banjo camps around the country. Most of all, he brings awareness to them through his always inspired live performances and recordings.

This article originally published in the March 2, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.