Biography
Fred Van Eps earned recognition as the preeminent banjo player on the earliest commercial discs and cylinders, even amid notable acoustic-era rivals such as Vess L. Ossman and Olly Oakley. During that period the banjo ranked among the most favored mainstream instruments, its crisp and penetrating tone making it especially suitable for the limitations of acoustic recording technology. Born in New Jersey, Van Eps had not yet reached his twentieth birthday when he acquired his first phonograph in 1896, motivated chiefly by a desire to listen to discs cut by his idol, Vess L. Ossman. Within twelve months he had begun cutting his own wax-cylinder home recordings, and by 1897 he had offered his services to the Edison company. Although those initial Edison cylinders enjoyed brisk sales, Van Eps entered the disc market more gradually, with his debut Columbia release appearing in 1904 and his first Victor side, “The Burglar Buck,” emerging only in 1910. The latter title proved highly successful for Victor, and throughout the following decade Van Eps recorded so extensively that he supplied virtually every American label, though his Victor pressings consistently outsold those issued elsewhere.
In 1912 he organized the Van Eps Trio, enlisting pianist Felix Arndt and his brother Bill Van Eps; the ensemble anchored the intensive recording schedule that occupied him throughout the ensuing decade. Although his ensembles never grew larger than five musicians, the resulting discs appeared under numerous billing variations, among them Van Eps Banjo Orchestra, Van Eps Quartet, and Van Eps Specialty Four. The personnel included percussionists George Hamilton Green and Eddie King, saxophonists Nathan Glantz and Rudy Wiedoeft, and pianist Frank Banta, who shared co-billing with Van Eps on certain releases credited to the Van Eps-Banta Trio. In 1921 the Van Eps Trio participated in the earliest known synchronized-sound film of popular music, the short subject A Bit of Jazz produced by talking-picture pioneer O.T. Kellum.
Around 1922 Van Eps gradually reduced his studio commitments after joining a touring company of Victor artists; together they invested in the manufacture of a novel banjo design he had developed. The enterprise collapsed, and the introduction of electrical recording in 1925, coupled with the waning popularity of ragtime, effectively ended his commercial viability. His final 78-rpm sides were cut for Grey Gull in 1927, yet during the preceding thirty years of activity he had amassed hundreds of distinct titles that ultimately yielded well over a thousand individual issues.
Van Eps resumed recording in 1950 on his own 5 String Banjo label and completed a final album in 1956, thereby extending his documented recording career across fifty-nine years—one of the longest such spans on record. Although his technical facility surpassed that of Ossman—he could execute fourteen notes per second—many enthusiasts of ragtime still favor the raw vigor of Ossman’s playing. Van Eps likewise never matched the harmonic sophistication of his younger contemporary Harry Reser, nor did he share Reser’s inclination to blend into a jazz ensemble; instead he preferred to perform chiefly as a soloist. His son, George Van Eps, began on banjo before switching to guitar and becoming a pioneering figure in jazz guitar; George remained active in the studio at the time of the centennial of his father’s first recordings in 1997.
In 1912 he organized the Van Eps Trio, enlisting pianist Felix Arndt and his brother Bill Van Eps; the ensemble anchored the intensive recording schedule that occupied him throughout the ensuing decade. Although his ensembles never grew larger than five musicians, the resulting discs appeared under numerous billing variations, among them Van Eps Banjo Orchestra, Van Eps Quartet, and Van Eps Specialty Four. The personnel included percussionists George Hamilton Green and Eddie King, saxophonists Nathan Glantz and Rudy Wiedoeft, and pianist Frank Banta, who shared co-billing with Van Eps on certain releases credited to the Van Eps-Banta Trio. In 1921 the Van Eps Trio participated in the earliest known synchronized-sound film of popular music, the short subject A Bit of Jazz produced by talking-picture pioneer O.T. Kellum.
Around 1922 Van Eps gradually reduced his studio commitments after joining a touring company of Victor artists; together they invested in the manufacture of a novel banjo design he had developed. The enterprise collapsed, and the introduction of electrical recording in 1925, coupled with the waning popularity of ragtime, effectively ended his commercial viability. His final 78-rpm sides were cut for Grey Gull in 1927, yet during the preceding thirty years of activity he had amassed hundreds of distinct titles that ultimately yielded well over a thousand individual issues.
Van Eps resumed recording in 1950 on his own 5 String Banjo label and completed a final album in 1956, thereby extending his documented recording career across fifty-nine years—one of the longest such spans on record. Although his technical facility surpassed that of Ossman—he could execute fourteen notes per second—many enthusiasts of ragtime still favor the raw vigor of Ossman’s playing. Van Eps likewise never matched the harmonic sophistication of his younger contemporary Harry Reser, nor did he share Reser’s inclination to blend into a jazz ensemble; instead he preferred to perform chiefly as a soloist. His son, George Van Eps, began on banjo before switching to guitar and becoming a pioneering figure in jazz guitar; George remained active in the studio at the time of the centennial of his father’s first recordings in 1997.
Singles
