Jazz Banjo IV: Guitar Vs. Banjo

Johnny St. Cyr with a 6-string banjo/ banjitar

I think how it is interesting that jazz banjo greats usually thought of themselves as guitar players or other instrumentalists first, and banjoists second. In my own personal playing, I am a guitar player, who dabbles in banjo. I think it's interesting that banjo greats from the ages of old such as Elmer Snowden and Johnny St. Cyr started on guitar, and some still thought of themselves as guitar players. Even modern Preservation Hall Jazz Band banjoists like Carl LeBlanc are also guitar players, with Google calling him as such. The great Don Vappie even states he also plays guitar and bass in his Jazz At Lincoln Center instructional video, almost like an excuse. By about 1900, banjos and all sorts of hybrid banjos became the comping instrument of choice in New Orleans. Banjos with guitar necks, mandolins with banjo bodies, and all other sorts of hybrids became the norm. Although the banjo playing left is fantastic, I think it's a bit of a drag that a lot of these musicians were required to play instruments that weren't their hearts' first choice. I suppose, as we so often see with jazz, the art came out of being limited, and the stark beauty left is where the magic resides.