I'll Be A Friend, With Pleasure (GJB 8/18/012) is a live recording of our 2012 summer concert at Music Mountain in Falls Village, CT. Our featured guests were Long Island's premiere banjo-vocalist and together with Russ Whitman, Bill Sinclair, and the rest of the GJB. On August 18, 2013, the Galvanized Jazz Band returned to Gordon Hall at Music Mountain for our 19th annual summer concert. Music Mountain is Connecticut’s own version of Tanglewood, and is known as the string quartet capital of the universe. The people there have wisely chosen to present a series of jazz concerts every summer, and the GJB has enjoyed being part of that series. This time we chose to invite Bob Barta to join us on banjo and vocals, along with Noel Kaletsky and Russ Whitman on clarinet and saxophones, and Bill Sinclair on the Steinway grand piano. Mr. Barta grew up on Long Island, where he was an early member of the Long Island Banjo Society and the Banjo-Aires. In the 1980s he became a student and friend of the great “Wizard of the Strings”, Roy Smeck. In 1986 he became a member of the no-doubt world-famous “Howard Hovey Trio”, performing frequently at street fairs, political events, and house parties in the summer homes of the rich and famous. More recently Bob has worked with the “Isotope Stompers” and his own “Sunnyland Jazz Band”. This CD is a recording of his second gig with the GJB; the first was earlier on that same day at a country club in Waterbury. Noel Kaletsky is no stranger to our long-time fans. He was a mainstay of the GJB right from the start and is on many of our early recordings. When he moved to Florida a few years ago we brought in Russ Whitman; now that Noel is back we frequently have the pleasure of working with both of them.

To hear sample tracks in MP3 format click on "Limehouse Blues" or "I'll Be a Friend" in the tune list below: