Perhaps the surname "Bland" is not the best one to have if one's life is going to be picked at by music critics. Nonetheless, there is a sense of justice in that name being given to a banjoist and guitarist from the '20s jazz era, just as there would be to find an AOR disc jockey named Bland. Jack Bland is best-known as the banjoist for the Mound City Blue Blowers, a group he co-founded with Red McKenzie in the early '20s out of St. Louis. In this era of jazz, the unbiased listener might surmise that there was a plot afoot to give string players less and less to do, while pianists began to grab more and more of the rhythmic action. The banjo was surviving simply because it was so darn loud; the sometimes wandering rhythm sections of the New Orleans era liked having one instrument that could plunk a chord with enough impact to get through the rest of their sound. It is a style of playing that could be justifiably described as bland, however, resulting in an army of interesting but inevitably faceless players in a genre that is better known for inspiring individuality. At any rate, Bland struck gold with the aforementioned Mound City Blue Blowers in 1924 when the group had a hit record in the Chicago area with Arkansas Blues, no doubt performed while looking west across the Mississippi river. Later that year, the fine guitarist Eddie Lang bopped his way into the group, joining the lineup in time for a historic tour of England. Bland may have found the banjo bland himself, at least in this context, because he began trying out other instruments, such as the cello and the four-string tenor guitar. In 1929, it was so long Lang and the Mound City Blue Blowers became Red McKenzie's Mound City Blue Blowers, moving toward more of a traditional hot sound and no wonder, since one of the new additions to the band was none other than drummer Gene Krupa. This version of the band was something of a jazz all-star lineup that also included Muggsy Spanier on cornet, the great Coleman Hawkins on tenor sax, and Eddie Condon, a string player who had switched from banjo to guitar. It was a popular move at this point, as if banjoists were receiving summations in the mail to exchange their instruments. All in all, it added up to an enormous change in the sound of the band, which had started out highlighting instruments such as the simple comb and tissue paper, played in a kazoo style by McKenzie; combined with an actual kazoo; and of course, a slightly more prominent banjo sound. On film, the group is documented by an appearance in the 1929 short entitled #The Opry House. In the '30s, Bland freelanced around New York City and recorded with the Billy Banks Orchestra, featuring the extraordinary clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, the blustery Henry Red Allen on trumpet, and enterprising drummer Zutty Singleton. After this, Bland became part of a project known as the Rhythmmakers, all-star recording sessions which would be released under a variety of different names. One week it was Jack Bland the Rhythmmakers, then it was Eddie Condon the Rhythmmakers. Billy Banks also got the treatment, again sending the typesetter scrambling for double "m"s. Some companies tried the idea minus the big shot in front, releasing sides spartanly supplied by simply the Rhythmakers. Musically, the best version was recorded in 1938 with Pee Wee Russell's Rhythmakers. Pops Foster on bass was a participant in some of these sessions and so was the magnificent Fats Waller on piano. Bland's turn at the helm of this enterprise came in 1932, when he recorded fronting a group that included trombonist Tommy Dorsey, as well Condon on banjo. By the '40s, Bland became part of the jam session scene at Jimmy Ryan's Club on 52nd Street, a musical happening that no one ever described as dull, let alone bland. He was in a crew of players under the wings of producer and Commodore jazz record label honcho Milt Gabler, along with cohorts such as Allen, Singleton, clarinetist Edmond Hall, trumpeter Hot Lips Page, tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec, trombonist Vic Dickenson, and many others who would be assembled for top-flight recording sessions. In 1940, Bland cut tracks with Condon's steady drummer George Wettling, later that year forming his own group where he focused mostly on guitar. In 1942, Bland rebounded into the freelance market, collaborating with pianist Art Hodes from 1942 to 1944 and with Spanier in Chicago during the same period. By 1944, Bland's leadership abilities had again taken over and he kept up his own group until the end of the decade. In the '50s, he moved to Los Angeles, retiring from music but having more contact with other musicians than ever, although much more fleeting, literally: He began working for a taxi service. He died in the late '60s while still in Los Angeles. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi