ZUM TOD DES US-AMERIKANISCHEN BANJO-SPIELERS BILL KEITH

Der am 20. Dezember 1939 in Boston (Massachusetts) geborene US-amerikanische Bluegrass-Musiker Bill Keith (Bild) ist am 23. Oktober 2015 gestorben. Keith hatte mehrere wichtige Neuerungen in Spielweise und Aufbau des Banjos eingeführt. Am 1. Oktober 2015 wurde er in die Bluegrass Hall of Fame aufgenommen. Bill Keith war 1977 mit grossem Erfolg am 1. Int. Folkfestival Bern-Gurten aufgetreten.

Foto: https://www.facebook.com/bill.keith.16/photos

1962 hatte Keith nach einem Konzert Gelegenheit, sein grosses Vorbild Earl Scruggs persönlich anzusprechen und ihm seine Tabulaturen vorzulegen. Scruggs, der weder Tabulaturen noch Noten lesen konnte, liess ihn vorspielen und war so beeindruckt, dass er ihn einlud, an seinem geplanten Lehrbuch mitzuwirken. Keith zog nach Nashville und quartierte sich in Scruggs Landhaus ein. Nach einem Auftritt in der Grand Ole Opry wurde Bill Monroe auf das Talent aufmerksam, und nahm ihn in seine Begleitband, die Bluegrass Boys auf.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Keith

Over the years, Keith explored jazz and classic banjo, recording brilliant versions of Night In Tunisia, Nola, Caravan, Mood Indigo and many others along with a variety of fiddle and banjo tunes. His innovations paved the way for contemporary banjo wizards like Béla Fleck, Noam Pikelny, and Ryan Cavanaugh.

John Lawless

http://bluegrasstoday.com/bill-keith-passes/

Legendary Banjo Player Bill Keith Passes Away

Keith is widely considered a pioneer of banjo playing: his three-finger picking («Keith-style picking»), inspired by Earl Scruggs, continues to be heavily influential for bluegrass players of all ages. A Boston native, he began banjo playing as a teenager, becoming more serious while a student at Amherst College. He enjoyed a brief stint with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1963 before devoting more time to session work and playing with a handful of other bands in the Boston area, eventually moving to Woodstock, NY in the ’70s.

Brittney McKenna

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2015/10/banjo-player-bill-keith-passes-away/

Widely referred to as Keith-style picking, Mr. Keith’s signature technique was an extension of the rolling style popularized by the pioneering bluegrass banjoist Earl Scruggs in the 1940s and ’50s. Mr. Keith rethought what the instrument was capable of as a result of his desire to play classic fiddle melodies like «The Devil’s Dream» in linear, note-for-note fashion.

Bill Friskics-Warren

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/arts/music/bill-keith-who-transformed-banjo-playing-dies-at-75.html?_r=0

Bluegrass Hall of Fame Member Bill Keith Dead at 75

Banjo Innovator Worked With Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys and Others

Edward Morris

http://www.cmt.com/news/1759617/bluegrass-hall-of-fame-member-bill-keith-dead-at-75/

Bill Keith, who has died aged 75, was a banjo player whose influence on bluegrass music in the 1960s and 70s was second only to that of the original bluegrass banjoist, Earl Scruggs. In particular his expansion of banjo technique to incorporate the playing of complex fiddle tunes inspired a generation of musicians to extend both their own skills and the scope of the bluegrass repertoire.

Tony Russell

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/nov/02/bill-keith

Bill Keith was the first Northern-born, college-educated musician from the folk revival to have a major impact on bluegrass music, at several levels.

http://bluegrassireland.blogspot.ch/2015/10/bill-keith-1939-2015.html

Remembering Bill Keith with a Lesson

I was lucky enough to get to know Bill from the time I spent living in Woodstock, New York after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bill lived just up the road and I would often go up to his house to learn as much as I could about the banjo and music.

I have decided to remember him by sharing with everyone one of the lessons I took with him back then:

https://soundcloud.com/banjo-studio/bill-keith-lesson

David Bandrowski

http://www.banjostudio.com/blogs/blog/51804801-remembering-bill-keith-with-a-lesson

1963 sass Keith im Backstagebereich der Grand Ole Opry und spielte so vor sich hin, unter anderem «The Devil’s Dream». Das hörte durch Zufall Bill Monroe und bot Keith gleich einen Job in seiner Band an. Acht Monate war Keith Mitglied der Blue Grass Boys.

Seitdem war er ein gern gesehener Musiker und ist auf diversen Plattenaufnahmen zu hören.

http://www.countrymusicnews.de/aktuelle-nachrichten/8197-bluegrass-hall-of-fame-mitglied-bill-keith-verstorben

Videos:

2015 ~ I.B.M.A. ~ Bill Keith Hall of Fame Award~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ZxvoxLmXY

Keith Style Banjo Summit – Part 1 – Grey Fox 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3kLB4p_Fvc

Bill Keith Banjo Workshop – Grey Fox 2003

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6nqzR49eSU

Bill Keith talks about the banjo and Bill Monroe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0SDteYtk-8

Audios:

Grisman, Rice, Greene & Keith – Bluegrass Quintet – 5/9/76 FM-Tokyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goanLHp7QxQ

Bill Keith & Jim Rooney 09/02/1962 Vol.2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DbpWm0IXsE

Mehr:

https://www.facebook.com/bill.keith.16

http://www.beaconbanjo.com/

http://frobbi.org/billkeith/index.html

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-keith-mn0000069805

http://banjobasics.julieferris.com/BANJOPLAYERS/10.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Keith_(musician)