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Contact
Information
Dan Mazer
201-B Main St.
Laurel, MD 20707
Tel: 301-789-2594
Cell: 202-489-3028
E-mail: banjerdan@yahoo.com
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Click Here to view
Picture Gallery 2
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promo photo 1992 - 2001
photo by my friend Debbie Bernhardt
Note the devil's beard and the wicked grin!
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The
"Old Stuff" Photo
This photo was taken in the playground of Anthony Hyde Elementary School
in Washington, DC, in 1968. All these years later, it's still my favorite
picture of myself. I remember the photographer, who looked like a college
student, taking the photo. A week or so later, he showed up at my family's
house with the photograph beautifully matted! (I believe the photographer
was Tom Zito, who's gone on a very successful career.) The print was
damaged in a flood, but I kept it around for years afterward. In 1999, I
took the damaged print to a photo restoration shop in San Diego. I think
they did a bang-up job!
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The "Old Stuff" Photo
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My First Banjo
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My
First Banjo
In 1973, in the wake of the "Duelling Banjos" scare, my younger
brother, Josh, asked a banjo, and got one that December for his 13th
birthday. By the next summer, I'd become interested in the banjo and
insisted he share it with me. Pretty soon, obsession set in and the banjo
became mine. Josh turned to guitar. This photo was taken by M. Reid Bush
during a cross-country camping trip. The banjo was an Asian-manufactured
cheapie, with a sticker reading "Leban" on the peghead. I couple
of years later, I dropped it and broke the peghead right in half. As I
recall it did have a wood neck and pot, so it was superior to the
all-plastic Harmony banjo that followed. When I graduated to a Gibson-copy
"Bradley" banjo, I started taking the old banjos to bluegrass
festivals to collect autographs on the heads. In the early 1990s, I donated
those autographed banjo heads to the International Bluegrass Music Museum.
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Danny
and Josh
This is me with my little brother in 1961.
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Danny and Josh
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Zachary and Me
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Zachary
and Me
Here I am with my nephew, Zachary, in the spring of 1999.
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Shaved
Head!
In April 1999, I participated in a Native American-style sweatlodge
ceremony. I was going through a lot of turmoil at the time, and shaved my
head to symbolize a new beginning.
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Shaved Head!
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"No Strings Attached"
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"No
Strings Attached"
This is the band I was in around 1981, called "No Strings
Attached." (No connection to the other band which has had that name
for many years.) Some of these folks were later at the session which
produced my CD, "Old Stuff." This photo was taken at the Tiffany
Tavern in Alexandria, VA. From left to right, the personnel are: Dan Mazer,
Bob Hummer, Dave Whitaker, Steve George, Dave Bernhardt, and Don Walters.
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The
Black Pond Sessions Band
This is the core group for the first recording sessions that
eventually produced "Old Stuff." Three tunes from that session made
it to the CD. From left to right, the musicians are Dave Bernhardt, Dave
Whitaker, Dan Mazer, Bob Hummer, John Akin, and Allan Hughes.
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The Black Pond Sessions Band
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Big Mon and BanjerDan
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Big
Mon and BanjerDan
I had the honor of playing music with Bill Monroe one time, in May of
1995. As was usual on Tuesday nights when I lived in Nashville, I was at
the Station Inn, enjoying the
music of The Sidemen. Bill Monroe walked in unannounced with a group of
pickers who weren't the Blue Grass Boys, and took over The Sidemen's show!
(What were they going to do, say "no" to Bill Monroe? I don't
think so!) So Mr. Monroe and his friends began playing, but there was no
banjo player. Robbie McCoury sought me out and offered to lend me his
banjo, an act of kindness for which I'll remain forever grateful.
In between songs, I just walked onstage with Robbie's banjo, and Mr. Monroe
(who I only knew well enough to greet respectfully on occasion) seemed
happy to get a banjo player - ANY banjo player! - into the group, though he
had never heard me play. As Mr. Monroe introduced "Muleskinner
Blues," the fiddle player whispered to me that he and his friends
weren't professional musicians; they were all farmers and neighbors of Mr.
Monroe, who were just jamming at Mr. Monroe's place when he suddenly
decided to take them all to the Station Inn! As we played, I saw a flash
and later sought out the photographer, who happened to be visiting the
Station Inn from Japan. I gave him my address and pleaded with him to send
me a print. I deeply appreciate that he took the time to do so, and I regret
that I've forgotten his name.
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The
Washboard Banjo
Seeing is believing! This is a real-live, playable banjo made
from a washboard! It resides at Bob and Carmon Brittain's "Last Stage
West" restaurant in Atascadero, CA. This photo was taken during my performance
there in May 1999.
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The Washboard Banjo
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Ronnie McCoury and Dan Mazer
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Ronnie
McCoury and Dan Mazer
Ronnie McCoury of The Del
McCoury Band is a man overflowing with talent and class. Here we are
goofing off and modeling paper pirate hats at the Huck Finn Jubilee in
Victorville, California around 1997.
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Bob
Perilla and Dan Mazer
There's no better way to spend a spare Wednesday evening in Washington,
DC than to catch Bob
Perilla and Big Hillbilly Bluegrass at Madam's Organ. Whenever I show up,
the Big Hillbilly himself magnanimously invites me to sit in, giving a
respite to banjo hoss Mike Munford.
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Bob Perilla and Dan Mazer
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Jackstraws "Safari Bush
Band"
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Jackstraws
"Safari Bush Band"
The Jackstraws have performed
for many years at the world-famous San
Diego Zoo as "The Safari Bush Band." The players on this job
on this day (circa 1998) were, from left to right, Dan Mazer, Tony Irvine,
and Tom Cunningham.
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Jackstraws
"Full Sail"
"Full Sail" is a very popular Jackstraws theme. It's musically
the most flexible theme, and well-suited to private parties and receptions
in San Diego. On this convention job, circa 1996, the cast was (left to
right) Dan Mazer, Loren Smith, Gary Lehman, and Tony Irvine.
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Jackstraws "Full Sail"
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Jackstraws "Engineers"
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Jackstraws
"Engineers"
This is a promo photo for The
Jackstraws "Singing Engineers" show. Photo by Donna Smith,
circa 1997. (Clockwise from top left: Loren Smith, Tony Irvine, David
Kendall, Dan Mazer)
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"Bosun
Berry"
This photo was taken at the Cabrillo National Monument near San Diego, I
think in the Spring of 1996. As a member of The Jackstraws "Pirate
Landing Party," my character was "Bosun Berry." ("Why
do they call me 'Bosun Berry?' Because I love to jam!") The sunglasses
were epitome ultra-cool cheap shades: the iridescent reflective lenses were
convex, so people looking closely saw themselves and the world mirrored
upside-down! One day, an optician told me that those lenses weren't
UV-protected, so the shading was causing my pupils to open, and the shape
of the lenses was channelling concentrated UV rays into my eyes. So, I got
rid of the coolest sunglasses I've ever owned.
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"Bosun Berry"
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Woodystock
II Grand Finale L-R: Eric Weinberg, Bill Parsons, Banjer Dan, Alicia
Deeney, Carey Colvin, Granger Helvey, Franklin Taggart, Verlette Simon
Washington, DC, March 2002
Photo by ZPG
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Woodystock
2002
I found this photograph at the website of Carey Colvin, a fine
singer/songwriter based in the DC area. http://www.careycolvin.com
The event was "Woodystock 2002," a celebration of the music and
activism of Woody Guthrie
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BanjerDan
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BanjerDan
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