Dave Van Ronk

Raised in Brooklyn in the late 1940s, singer/guitarist Dave Van RonkÆs first musical love was traditional New Orleans jazz. Van RonkÆs grandfather was a pianist who played Scott Joplin and John Philip Sousa pieces and the Poet and Peasant overture around the house. Van Ronk played tenor banjo in the Brute Force Jazz Band in New York. Switching to guitar when jazz evolved into the revolutionary sounds of be-bop and free jazz, he turned his attention elsewhere. He began experimenting with different styles, including blues, jug band, and folk.