Hear Jens Kruger's Banjo in a classical piece. Recorded Sep. 20, 2011 at Double Time Studio in North Wilkesboro, NC. Produced by Philip Zanon. Features AEA A840 Ribbon microphone, Deering Jens Kruger Banjo.
Bach sounds good on almost any instrument. The chord progressions are so melodic and structured, that allows for many beautiful crossover instrumentations.
Most three-finger type banjo music is made with streams of sixteenth notes; executing the work of Bach on the instrument is only natural. Beautiful piece.
Who said that the banjo cannot be classified as a classical instrument?? Is that good enough for you?? Jens you played that beautifully and made my eyes well up with the beauty of your playing. You are my master and I love you.
Like most great successes, the banjo was the result of the convergence of cultures; an African lute of Central Asian origin modified by European technology until we have the perfect instrument. It's the hybrid vigor that brings out the best.
@Jay Cole21 Not the oud. That was a much later instrument. There are ancient rock carvings of a Mesopotamian string instrument that appear to have had two strings and a hide face on a small body like a shamisen or sanshin, possibly made from a small gourd. This instrument was carried along the trade routes through Central Asia and Egypt until it evolved into the instruments we know today in China, Japan and West Africa, and then across the ocean where it was modified according to European fashions to become the modern banjo.
It is simply amazing to watch and listen to Jens become one with his instrument and the musical composition he happens to be playing, whether a Bach concerto suite or a bluegrass breakdown. I continue to be in awe of this fine musician and nice guy!
Lorsque je l’avais entendu pour la première fois en 2011 au Merlefest en Caroline du Nord j’avais été étonné et touché par la délicatesse et la sensibilité du toucher de l’artiste donnant à l’instrument ces notes si légères. Jens Kruger est un artiste de très grands talents sachant apporter cette sensibilité dans son répertoire de la musique classique à la musique Blue grasse au sein du groupe Kruger Brothers For the first time in 2011 in Merlefest in the North Carolina I had by the sensibility of the touch) of the instrument of the artist. Jens Kruger is an artist of very great talents who brings his sensibility of the classical music to the Blue fat music in the group Kruger of the Brothers
My wife who does not care for banjo does have a great ear for music. She noted that he's the first banjo player she ever heard use dynamics. What a difference it makes.
Jens Kruger plays his OWN classical-style compositions, too. Check out Appalachian Concerto or Roan Mountain Suite or Spirit of the Rockies, composed and scored for string quartet, or chamber orchestra or full orchestra. The man is brilliant. Just sayin'
You sir are a virtuoso. I have never heard a banjo player with your ability to play so smoothly and flawlessly all the while making it look effortless..
I have followed The Krugers for about 10 years now in Ottawa 🇨🇦 and Kingston 🇨🇦. I have seen them 8 times and can say I have enjoyed their concerts and music like no other band or format. Wish they would make another trip to Ottawa for another hurrah. I remember St Frigid!😍 #TheKrugerBrothers.
You play with great skill and feeling. Well done! I love finding unusual banjo pieces, and this is great! Bach was such a genius . His musical pieces sound wonderful on ANY instrument.
I noticed that too. Looks like his finger picks are bent. I tried this before and couldn't do it. When I die, it will be from pick noise. I have asked before on forums how the pros do it, never got any real answer. I suspect that audio processing also plays a part. That's not terribly hard to do with a solo instrument, but this is soooo clean. What I notice is that there is more pick noise when the string is already vibrating, and it is not only noise: there is also a pitch sometimes, as the string can actually vibrate audibly between the nut and the pick while it is touching the string (which inevitably produces a very discordant note). And yet, the guys who have escaped from pick noise never mention any of this.
@@chuckkhubbard610 I've recently discovered this issue on my Gold Tone Ebm 5. If you have any solution, that would be very welcome : as of now, the only way for me to record stuff and to avoid this "very discordant note" is to use another mic than the mic that is inside my banjo. What is the point of an acoustic-electric banjo if you can't play the sound that is coming straight from the mic :(
Beautiful Jens, just beautiful!! I wish I would have met you when I was much younger. I wouldn't have been alone blowing in the wind as it always seemed for me. I love ya man!! Eddy Davis (You know "The Manhattan Minstrel")
*imagine a duo being played on both a front porch in the mountains and then fading into a performance within a grand cathedral hall...both would be exquisite*
Really beautiful playing! I love the way you let notes ring together and use open strings. Interesting to hear this on 5-string banjo. I have played this on tenor banjo which is tuned like a cello but up an octave which enables the use of cello fingerings. Very different sounding with this tuning even if the notes are the mostly the same...
Around the time that the banjo was coming into it's modern form in the 19th century it would have been used to play music like this. Ves Osman and Fred Van Eps (father of the well known jazz guitarist) would probably have given concerts of classical music and ragtime.
