Fred Guy

From allmusic.com :

Fred Guy spent most of his playing career with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He grew up in New York City. Guy worked with Joseph C. Smith’s Orchestra and then led his own group. However after joining Duke Ellington’s Washingtonians in the spring of 1925 (replacing the group’s former leader Elmer Snowden who left after a money dispute), Guy was with Ellington for the next 24 years. He played banjo up until the early 1930’s and his rhythmic and percussive style was an asset to the early band. However after switching to guitar, Guy tended to be inaudible and (since he never soloed) an increasingly minor force in the music. When he departed from Ellington in 1949, there was no need to replace him. Fred Guy (who never led his own record date) was never again a fulltime musician, working as a manager of a ballroom in Chicago. He was long forgotten (except by jazz historians) by the time he passed away in 1971. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Duke Ellington And His Orchestra – The Brunswick Era Vol I 1926-29 features Fred on Banjo.

Here is a nice podcast episode from THE HISTORY ANEW PODCAST Presented by Antony Pepper that features some Duke Ellington tunes with Fred on the banjo.

Fred Guy playing the guitar

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on March 5, 2009 at 11:52 pm Comments (8)

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8 CommentsLeave a comment

On June 16, 2009 at 1:40 pm Chris Albertson said:

How about Elmer Snowden?

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On September 20, 2009 at 3:37 am J B Latimer said:

You have a brilliant niche blog here. I would love to hear something about the versatile banjoists in Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra.

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On November 10, 2009 at 1:41 am And said:

Hey, I like this blog. Are you going to update?

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On December 11, 2009 at 6:13 pm mrramon said:

Hello,

Just a quick word to let you know that you are featured in our blogroll on Radio.Video.Jazz

Please check our site. If you like our work, do link back to us.

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On February 9, 2011 at 2:27 pm coolio said:

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On February 9, 2011 at 2:28 pm coolio said:

Elmer snowden is da shit

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