Don Vappie is one of the best practitioners of traditional Creole banjo playing and his mind holds a vast repository of information about the history, the songs and the traditions of Créole culture across the vast diaspora. On his new album, The Blue Book of Storyville, Vappie distills everything he has learned into a 17-song collection that features well-known traditional jazz tunes, obscure titles, traditional Créole songs from the Caribbean and three outstanding originals.

The album opens with “Eh La Bas,” a call-and-response favorite popularized by Danny Barker. From the first strummed chords on his banjo, followed by the stellar clarinet work of David Horniblow, the steady rhythm guitar of Dave Kelbie (he also produced the album) and the double bass of Sebastien Giradot, the listener immediately knows Vappie has a winning album on his hands.

Despite so much focus on the musicology associated with traditional musical forms, this music is inherently joyful. You can hear it in Vappie’s singing voice especially when he is singing in French; you can hear it in the exuberance of the clarinet and in the trilling banjo solos and crisp lead lines that populate the album.

The songs from the Caribbean are some of the highlights of the album. The title of “La Ville Jacmel” name checks the southern Haitian city whose architecture of wrought iron influenced the world-famous style of the French Quarter. Vappie takes a stunning solo on the cut.

“Abandon,” an instrumental ballad from Martinique, opens with Horniblow’s clarinet in its mournful lower register. As the song progresses, Vappie plays an intricate single note solo that merges organically when the clarinet enters again. 

This album is one you can listen to over and over and if you so choose; delve into the extensive liner notes for even more enrichment.