From 6-9 p.m. this Saturday (Aug. 18), there will be a ceremony at Downtown's Herzog Music celebrating Cincinnati's King David's Jug Band being inducted into the Jug Band Hall of Fame in 2017.
Cincinnati Dancing Pigs will perform; there is a $5 admission charge for the all-ages event. Hosted by Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, the event will also include presentation of a commemorative plaque, a preview of the Sept. 15 National Jug Band Jubilee in Louisville, and a talk by Jug band historian Michael Jones on the genre, about how African-American music traveled up and down our rivers, and the importance of jug band music to Cincinnati's and Louisville's history.
According to an email from the Jug Band Jubilee's publicist and other sources, King David's Jug Band was from the west side of town and recorded for Okeh Records in 1930. Their recordings included "Sweet Potato Blues," "Rising Sun Blues," "Tear It Down" and "What's That Tastes Like Gravy."
The Jug Band Hall of Fame says that, "Perhaps the most impressive thing about the one recording session from King David's Jug Band is the virtuoso stovepipe performances from the aptly named Stovepipe No. 1 (Samuel Jones). Jones plays the melody during every break of "What's That Tastes Like Gravy" so accurately it sounds like a kazoo ... but the rough attack of his lines on "Tear It Down" indicate that he's playing jug-style, by buzzing his lips into a metal pipe."King David" is probably David Crockett, who recorded several duets with Jones.
For more information on the Sept. 15 Jug Band Jubilee in Louisville, visit jugbandjubilee.com. For information about Saturday's event, visit herzogmusic.com.
