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Don Vappie's Banjo Beat

Vappielle, Inc.

Don Vappie can play just about anything on banjo — classical compositions, traditional jazz, even funk music. So wherever he goes musically, there's always an audience eager to hear what he has to say.

What most people may not know is that Vappie's talent extends to bass, guitar and any other instrument that needs playing. His ears are just that big. And his hands are just that good. Maybe that's why Vappie tells Music Inside Out that one of his favorite songs is the old Charles Wright hit, "Express Yourself." Because that's what Vappie does best.

Music Playlist

Classified
James Booker

The Flying Deuces from The Flying Deuces (also known as Flying Aces (1939))
Directed by: A. Edward Sullivan
Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

Salee Dames, Bon Jour
Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders

Look at Me
Don Vappie

The World is Waiting for the Sunrise
Don Vappie

The World is Waiting for the Sunrise from The Flying Deuces
Laurel and Hardy

Must Be Santa
Bob Dylan

Froggie Moore
Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders

Skoodle Um Skoo
Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders

Riverside Blues
Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders

Buddy Bolden Blues
Don Vappie

Careless Love
Don Vappie

A.T.T.
Amadou Toumani Toure

Jazz Battle
Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders

Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)
Chick Webb and His Orchestra

The Joint is Jumpin'
Fats Waller

Les Oignons
Don Vappie

Cissy Strut
Don Vappie

Cissy Strut
The Meters

That's the Way of the World
Don Vappie

Carnival (Manha de Carnaval)
Freddie Hubbard

Fantasy
Earth, Wind and Fire

Suite for Banjo and Orchestra
Richard Rosenberg, Hot Springs Music Festival Orchestra, and Don Vappie

Ran So Hard the Sun Went Down
Otis Taylor (with Don Vappie)

Theme From the Pink Panther
Henry Mancini, (with Plas Johnson)

Flying Horses
Don Vappie

My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
Don Vappie

Classified
James Booker

Express Yourself
Don Vappie

Stay Connected
Gwen Thompkins is a New Orleans native, NPR veteran and host of WWNO's Music Inside Out, where she brings to bear the knowledge and experience she amassed as senior editor of Weekend Edition, an East Africa correspondent, the holder of Nieman and Watson Fellowships, and as a longtime student of music from around the world.