Billy Novick and Guy VanDuser

at the Sherborn Inn, February 12, 2013

Billy Novick and Guy VanDuser have been working together longer than most marriages; they celebrated their 35th Anniversary at Passim Coffee House in Harvard Square last month.

Billy was jet-lagged - just returned from a performance in Sacramento with  his Great Gatsby - Blue Syncopators.  It went very well - and he ended up doing some old fashioned scatting for some 2400 listeners.

Guy is a wizard on guitar.  He said his Father got him interested in music when he was 11 with his Chet Atkins records.

Tonight they played many Dixieland tunes, and kicked it off  with Bix Beiderbecke's Royal Garden Blues, George Gershwin's Mine. Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin', Jitterbug Waltz.

Scott Joplin's rag Swipsey Cakewalk - we remember Jack and Mary Curran doing the Cakewalk at the Sticky Wicket.  Embraceable You, Wabash Blues - the two harmonizing. Beautiful, The crowd was utterly silent.

Billy Novick wrote Sonora's Blues for a Disney Movie, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (it's about a horse.)  It's a very nice blues, but Disney never used it.

In spite of the snow and icy roads,  Bob and Janet Chicoine drove from Connecticut to hear them, here with their daughter and son in law Roxanne and David Lowe of Boston. Billy and Guy had played at the Chicoine's 40th wedding anniversary some sixteen years before.  Their request for a Wonderful World was played as a nice sweet ballad.

Guy and Billy encouraged everyone to dance with Stomping at the Savoy.     Wabash Blues - Billy taking the lead, Guy comping - beautiful. The crowd was absolutely silent.  A New Orleans spiritual, Just a Little While to Stay Here; they were both singing on an  up-tempo Sweet Sue.

Composer Theron Catlan Bennett introduced Saint Louis Tickle at the 1904 World's Fair in Forest Park, St. Louis.  In the 60's it was  made popular by folk guitarist Dave Van Ronk.  (There was much discussion and folks checking their IPods for this one.)

Chet Atkins was Guy's favorite guitar player, and he wasn't going to let the evening go by without some folk guitar. He started Back Home Again in Indiana with the original verse.  Another spiritual, Sing On, was great jazz with low register clarinet, Guy sneaking in some Chet Atkins licks.  He said "Chet never traded fours".

Guy taught himself to play guitar listening to Chet on his  Father's records.  Listening carefully, he didn't realize that Chet was using artificial background echoes that made the guitar sound huge. So Guy learned to do all the parts himself, became his own echo, and developed the breath-taking technique of playing  bass lines, chords and melodies all at the same time.

Juan Tizol learned from Chet Atkins, when he composed the jazz standard Caravan.  For the Finale, Billy and Guy demonstrated with Billy's clarinet playing the melody, and Guy's guitar playing melody, chords and echo.   

In spite of their longevity, Guy can still sneak in something that will catch Billy by surprise and make him laugh.  Camaraderie - it comes out in their music, and they make a lot of music!