Washboard jungle

Washboard Jungle, credited as the first post-digital jug band, was formed in 1989 by Henry Hample with Stuart Cameron Vance, J.P. Shipherd and Bob Goldberg. The band performed as a working group from 1989 until its breakup in 1994, but reunited with some frequency afterward, and continues to perform through the present (2008).

The original lineup of the group was Henry on fiddle and banjo, Stuart on guitar, JP on bass, and Bob on washboard and keyboard. They were joined in the first few performances by Desi Bartok, on lute (he had been a steel-guitar legend back in Larchmont years before). Shortly thereafter, Bartok left (following an ill-fated coup attempt), as did Shipherd (to pursue other pursuits). They were joined by McPaul Smith, who remained with the band from then on.

The Jungle (as they became known) rehearsed at the Brooklyn Academy of Noise, on Joralemon Street in Brooklyn, New York. At first, they pursued a traditional jug band sound; this changed when Bob introduced a Casio SK-5 digital sampler into the mix - adding a chorus of singing dogs on the old-time standard "Hound Dog". It was downhill from there, as they began to add additional instruments to their collection - Henry added ukulele and mandolin; Stuart added slide guitar; Bob added electric keyboards, and eventually took up the "japan banjo" (or bulbul tarang), an Indian stringed instrument; the percussion collection expanded to include bongoes, dumbek, horse hooves, and pieces of a trap drum set. Typically, they toured with a collection of over 50 instruments between the four of them.

Their road manager for much of this time was Dan Ratner, a photographer and visual artist, who stayed with them faithfully until their breakup in 1994. He is widely remembered for having left a floor tom on the sidewalk outside New York's Public Theater, and was once accused of f@cking up the steering wheel of their van. Ratner passed away in 1996, due to complications, and is remembered in the songs "Photograph" (which Stu wrote), "Time Flies" (a McPaul composition), and the rarely heard "(Did You Find the Drum) In the Next World".

At its peak, the Jungle incorporated props and theatrical elements - dancing, kitchen utensils, small household appliances, occasional fruits and vegetables - into their act, and toured successfully throughout the Northeastern US.

In 1993 the band recorded its first CD, "The Wash Cycle". A later CD, "The Brown Album", was compiled somewhat later, while Henry was a graduate student in ethnomusicology at Brown University - it included early studio recordings with some live tracks.

Though not strictly a jug band, the Jungle is acknowledged as the "grandpappies" of the 21st-Century jug band revival.

In 2007 they performed a successful series of benefit concerts, and were last heard playing in Arnaudville, Louisiana, in March 2008 (their first appearance in the Mississippi Delta region).

Career highlights

"Mrs. Murphy's Chowder", an early signature tune, established their speed-metal approach to the washboard.

"The Ship Titanic", their only tune that actually used a jug, introduced choreography into the act. McPaul and Stu were bored singing backup vocals, and there was a mirror-wall in Bob's studio.

"The Old Cow Died", a funeral ritual sung "a cappella", featured their most fully-developed choreography.

"One Meat Ball", a reworking of a 1930's hit by Lou Singer and Hy Zaret, was perhaps their most sinister arrangement, built around a spook-house pipe organ, with Stu and McPaul as executioners. When recording this song for their first album "The Wash Cycle", the background vocals were sung into engineer Mick Cantarella's dryer, which happened to be there.