French Banjos
Originally the music for the folk dances was provided by the bagpipe, the Musette player, often playing with ankle bracelets of bells to keep time and drive the dance rhythms.
Sometimes he was alone, sometimes he was accompanied by violin and hurdy-gurdy.
The accordion arrived with the Italians in the mid-1910s, and the banjo and drums began to arrive soon after played by American minstrel-show and jazz musicians, and the American Army bands of World War 1.
The banjo was the ideal accompaniment to the accordion with its percussive sound like a drum, harmonic chords like a harp, or bass lines of a string bass. 'And it was blessed with a sharp volume and trebly tone that cut through the accordion's powerful voice.'
By the 1920s, three types of banjo had evolved to suit the Paris music scene and Bal Musette, the 8-string mandolin banjo (or 4-string melody banjo), the tenor banjo and the guitar banjo. The high pitched mandolin banjo could play the melody line above the accordion, the tenor banjo brought percussive rhythm, and the guitar banjo could do rhythm and the bass line.
The French family of banjos were based on American (and English) designs, but they were built right there, in Paris. Many were built by craftsmen from Italy and, particularly, Sicily.
'The first Sicilian luthier to emigrate from Catania and settle in Paris was Vincenzo Jaccobacci... he arrived in France in 1920 and he soon travelled many times to Catania to find more luthiers and brought them to France, with a solid working contract. This is how Sicilian luthiers started making wonderful guitars in Paris from 1930 until the late 1970's.
The poor economy of the Catania region led to the huge migrant wave in the 20s towards France that gave birth to an extraordinary school of French luthiery. Some luthiers from Catania are to be mentioned: Di Mauro, Anastasio, Bucolo, Favino, and Burgassi. All these great luthiers, trained in the prestigious school in Catania.'(Jean Paul Karc).
Two banjo designs emerged in Paris. The Banjo Anglais, like Django Reinhart's guitar banjo, was based on late-19th century English Zither banjos. The Banjo Americain developed from new American resonator/tone ring designs which appeared in Europe from the mid-1920s.
One catalogue reads: 'Modeles Americains avec cercle et monture nickeles.'Another catalogue offers a 'Modele type Paramount, avec grande monture metalique exterieure peau montee sur tubaphone.' A third one lists ' Banjo Tenor, mod americain pr professionels, grande peau avec renforcature de son, fond amovible, manche special fixe a la caisse du resonateur, cordier reglable.' The French makers borrowed not just the resonator concept, but also designs for tone rings, flanges, tension hoops and hooks. Components such as tailpieces were sometimes brought in from America.
A whole industry grew up in Paris. ' French pre-war banjos were mostly made by leading companies in Paris like Guarnierius, Chevin, Clavero, DeLauve, Malberto etc' (Guenter Amendt). Some companies, such as Busato, built a range of instruments - drums, mandolins, banjos, accordions and wind instruments, although some might have been sub-contracted.
A Busato catalog from the 1940's mentions 'any special instrument on request.' Other firms were specialist sub-contractors, offering metal work, plating, inlay and marquetry, and decorative plastic work (skills learned in accordion making).
The instrument making community purchased components and services from each other – some banjos, from different builders, share the same designs and decorative techniques, apparently sent out for finishing and decoration.
Many of these instruments have extraordinary decoration, bright colours, brilliant images, reflecting the excitement of the Bals Musette and the tastes of working class Paris musicians in the 20s, inlayed pictures built from coloured woods and plastics, twinkling abalone and jewels, catching the light on the bandstand.
Some of these instruments were factory made but some were hand- crafted and reflect French design traditions of Art Nouveau and Deco. A few of these instruments are as fine as the best American banjos from the jazz age.
Chevin
The Chevin company is described online as a 'facteur de banjo et de jazz band,' a maker of banjos and jazz band instruments. They certainly made a lot of banjos under their own name – tenor, plectrum. ,melody, guitar, mandolin banjos, and so on.
Chevin instruments have a certain style of construction and decoration, and it appears they also made banjos for other companies, such as the retailer Paul Beuscher.
They also distributed instruments made by other people. They were the distributor for the US-made Leedy instruments in France. And some of the instruments bearing their name were made elsewhere in Paris – for example a tenor guitar by Siro Burgassi. .
It does appear that instrument makers in Paris, such as Chevin and Busato, outsourced much of the work to other specialist firms. In the case of banjos we know that necks were bought in from guitar makers, metal pots were bought in from metal workers, small components such as tailpieces and tuners were bought in, sometimes from America. Above all plastic work, pearl work and engraving went out to the likes of accordion companies and specialist engravers. That is why French banjos bearing different names can have very similar decoration.
METJAZZ
Metjazz built musical instruments, drums and banjos. Their company letterheading lists: batteries de jazz, banjos tous modeles, instruments de rythme, accessories.They were based in Sucy-en-Brie, a suburb of Paris. The company was founded by Jean Metzgar who worked for the Paul Beuscher company from 1914. He left in 1945 and started his own firm, Metjazz, with his three sons. Metjazz drums were high quality and popular, and commanded the same prices as those imported from the USA, but they ceased production in 1964 when cheaper Japanese drums arrived in France.
Metjazz drums looked like no others, brightly coloured, highly decorated and distinctively French. They were often covered in a material called Nacrolaque, imitation mother of pearl, sometimes inset with imitation precious stones. Such elaborate decoration was often used on Paris-made banjos and accordions from the 1920s onwards, but was new for drum kits and seems to have gone down well in the Paris jazz scene.
The Metjazz range of banjos all have Nacrolaque decoration with inset jewels. The decoration on banjos from Metjazz, the design, patterns and colours, are also found on banjos from Busato, Chevin and Guarnierius. It seems that they all went out for decoration by a specialist Nacrolaque firm, probably with a background in finishing accordions.
Guarnierius
The finest French banjos of the jazz age were made under the name of Banjos Guarnierius, or Guarnieri, Luthier. The luthier's name was G. Guarnieri, first name unknown. His banjos are hand-crafted to the highest standards, with outstanding workmanship in woodwork and marquetry. They use the finest materials, birds eye maple, ebony, boxwood, abalone, mother-of-pearl . They are often fine examples of French design, Art Nouveau in style, typically French. Their sound and playability compare favourably to the best of American banjos.
Guarnieri ran a shop at 5, Rue Forest, in Montmartre, 50 metres from the Moulin Rouge. It appears the shop sold musical supplies (it certainly sold strings) to Paris musicians, but crafted its own banjos. Many of Guarnieri's banjos carry the address of the shop in pearl on the headstock:
Guarnierius Luthier 5 Rue Forest Paris
Or on a metal plate:
G.Guarnieri Luthier Fabricant 5, Rue Forest, Paris 18
Guarnierius top-line instruments were built to the highest standards, with outstanding levels of craftsmanship in their woodwork and decoration. They also fine examples of French design, Art Nouveau in style, understated but beautifully crafted.
Le Non Plus Ultra
Guarnier's top line banjos were called Le Non Plus Ultra. These are large, powerful banjos, with an 11 13/16 inch head size, 22 3/8 inch scale and, usually, 18 frets. They all have a brass pot, flange and archtop tonering, and woods such as birdseye maple and mahogany burl. Their decoration is exquisite, with fine wood marquetry, and pearl and abalone work on the headstock which twinkles in the light like jewels. The artistry is superior to most American banjos of the period.
We have not found a Guarnierius catalogue, but an advertisement has turned up from the catalogue for the 1926 Paris Exposition, Salon de la Musique, Stand 316. The advertisement features the Le Non Plus Ultra. The copy reads:
Banjo Guarnierius
Marque Unique rivalisant avec les Marques les plus reputes d'Amerique
LE NON PLUS ULTRA
Denier Modele Brevete S.G.D.G
Instrument parfait dans tout les details.
Le plus apprecie des Artistes et Connaisseurs par la sonorite incomparable.
ZAZZ BAND PERFECTIONNE
GUARNIERI, Luthier 5, rue Forest, Paris 18