Music
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Ebony Hillbillies serenade New York commuters from Grand Central to Times Square.
December 25, 2007|Paul Lieberman, Times Staff Writer
NEW YORK — When you play one of the busiest spots in one of the world's busiest cities, what you mostly get -- it's a fact of life in this gig -- is people passing by, whizzing by, rushing to make connections.
The Ebony Hillbillies perform underground two mornings a week by the S train, the shuttle between Times Square and Grand Central Station. An average of 172,873 people a day enter the New York subway system through the Times Square station, and that doesn't count the hordes that swipe through the turnstiles elsewhere, up and down the West Side, then make their way here to catch the shuttle under 42nd Street to Grand Central so they can hook up with commuter trains to the suburbs or the subways that run along Manhattan's fashionable East Side. All in all, tens of thousands take the short underground shuttle each weekday.
Perhaps that's why none of the Ebony Hillbillies was sure who "Kristy" was, the woman who dropped the card in Henrique Prince's violin case during their last subway gig before Christmas.
Prince is by far the youngest of the group at 59 but the leader, "the kid with the big idea." His idea was to form a 19th century-style string band to do music African Americans used to perform and dance to before they found the blues and jazz and the other stuff became associated with grizzled mountain white guys -- what they called "old-timey" music in that George Clooney movie a few years back, "O Brother, Where Art Thou." Prince and his original banjo player came up with the name Ebony Hillbillies a decade ago, but the other fellow has since moved on and been replaced by Norris, "just Norris," who worked the streets of Europe for years and taught school in Berkeley. Norris, who uses a bright blue cane when he walks, won't give his age, but says his five-string banjo is 82. He plays the mountain dulcimer too and the auto-harp and provides vocals. A black cowboy hat on his head, Norris sits front left when the group sets up for its regular Friday morning spot, on the Grand Central side of the shuttle. Standing next to him is Prince, who once played in a classical string quartet but preferred the improvisation he learned from his family of Virgin Island musicians. He's the only one without a hat, better to let his dreadlocks fly free while he fiddles.
- LA Times
Two weeks ago the Ebony Hillbillies had no idea that they would be the surprise hit at Wintergrass. .....They were on stage Thursday night at the Hotel Murano pavillion with new fans twirling in the aisles as they delivered the foot-stomping sounds of old time string band music. - The News Tribune Tacoma WA
The music was good and sweet and stuck in my mind - daBrooklyn.com Live review
"the Ebony Hillbillies made love to us with old school, down home dancin' music. People
were up and out of their seats. From corner to corner you could see waltzes, jitterbugs, and
maybe even a little running man if you looked real hard. These guys came straight from
playing in the New York subways to our delicate green city. One of the songs they so eloquently
described as "a song written by a French soldier walking backward." They were incredibly
- The News Tribune Tacoma WA
Discography
Sabrina's Holiday
I Thought You Knew
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Bio
While The Ebony Hillbillies would prefer to let their uniquely syncretic music speak for itself, a
little history lesson is in order. After all, had the Harlem born, Queens raised Henrique Prince
never heard the popular 1930s guitar-fiddle group The Mississippi Sheiks, those Black String
band albums like ‘Altamont’ featuring Murph Gribble and others like Nathan Frazier and Frank Patterson, he might have taken his formal West Coast musical education and become a member of a symphony orchestra. Then he never would have met Norris Bennett after an audition for an NYC bluegrass band. The two wouldn’t have played “Shenandoah” on a lark at Grand Central Station and realized the magic they could create together.
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“These songs are part of Americana,” Prince says, “but because of the direction commercial
music pushed everyone into and also the fact that in black communities the music was maligned because of its association with Jim Crow,( mainly because of its association with the banjo,), the art form has been somewhat forgotten. Old time string band music is important because it is the root of modern jazz and the blues- including the first evidence of syncopation.
“It’s great to play all those venues and be appreciated by people from so many countries, cultures and walks of life,” says Prince. “But when we play on the street, it’s a stage where we can work on songs and just get the message out. It’s a very old and honorable endeavor. At one time, troubadours and singers were the newspaper, bringing the news and art to the people. When you play on the streets, you bring the theatre, the temple and the church with you. You create that atmosphere. It’s a gift you bring to the people and a service as well and the payback is immediate. People who would have never conceived of this kind of music are suddenly asking questions about it, and that feels good.
“This is a part of who we are,” Prince adds. “More than simply keeping an important tradition
alive, we listen to today. It gets people asking questions and we love that. They walk by with their cell phones and hold it up so the person on the other end can hear us play. They’ll get back on the phone and say, ‘and they’re…black!’” . It’s hard to explain why I’ve dedicated my life to making this music. There’s just something wild and endearing about it that connects me to the music and its glorious past.”
Dave Gibson
Percussion
Philadelphia born musician Dave Gibson is paving his way toward that pantheon of jazz greats. Paying all the dues required to develop his prodigious talent. Gibson has earned an impeccable reputation in the jazz world. He’s one of the rare drummers who can jump into any groove and swing or stretch out dynamically. His charisma on the bandstand further connects the audience to an experience of jazz as an entertaining and challenging American art form.
Music critic Chip Deffa, (The New York Post) says that “Gibson’s drumming is strong and fluid and as satisfying as any drummer I heard in years”. Music critic Jerry Carrier (The Philadelphia Daily News) says, ”Gibson may be the ultimate Big Band drummer” His music credentials verify his outstanding rhythmic and melodic abilities. He has toured and recorded with The Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Frank Foster. He worked directly with Joe Williams and the Frank Foster Non Electric Company and also The Diane Schuur Trio. His work in vanguard style includes guest spots with the Sun Ra Arkestra and the David Murray Big Band as well as other adventurous performances and educational projects.
Gibson earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Temple University and is currently working on his Master of Music in Jazz Studies at Rutgers University. An active interest in Television media initiated a number of collaborations with producers of local Philadelphia programs including City Lights, Perspective and Sesame Street. He has recorded over 100 musical tracks for a religious cable show called Time of Deliverance. Living in New York City has resulted in numerous television appearances from CNN – Entertainment to Jazz Festival coverage in America and abroad. Gibson’s television involvement expanded to produce his own monthly cable access show – Drummin’ with Dave.
William Salter
Acoustic Bass and vocals
William Salter’s life encompasses virtually every arena of music. He is a two time Grammy award winning composer, producer and publisher (Where is the Love?” and “Just the Two of Us “) and a versatile musician. Salter is a native born son of Harlem, NY who began his music studies at the “High School for the Performing Arts”. He has toured all over the world with such celebrated musicians as Peter Seeger and Company, Herbie Mann, Leon Thomas, Horace Silver, Oscar Brown Jr, and Harry Belafonte to name a few.
Salter’s affiliation with Jazzmobile, co –founder Billy Taylor
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