The Night Dr. Jazz Brought His Banjo

#34 / Flood Time Capsule: 2001

It was 21 years ago this week that Chuck Romine opened up a whole new chapter in The Flood Story by bringing his well-tempered tenor banjo to jam for us for the first time.

Now, we had known the convivial Chuck Romine for a long time. Not only had he been one of Cabell County's representatives in the state legislature, but he also had famously fronted a beloved local Dixieland ensemble, The Lucky Jazz Band, in the 1960s and '70s with Don Preston on trumpet and Paul “Cuz” Carney on trombone (along with Ruth Sullivan on the piano, Fred Cummings on the clarinet, Clyde Fuller on drums and John Hagan on tuba).

Until his Flood exposure that night, though, Chuck had never played with an acoustic string band; he was used to making his banjo roar along with all that Dixieland brass. However, it turned out that Chuck also could turn it down and play a light, precise style that clicked right away with The Flood’s swing/jugband/folk/country repertoire.

One of the first tunes Chuck brought to us that winter’s night was his rendition of a classic jazz standard, Joe “King” Oliver’s composition, “Hello, Central, Give Me Doctor Jazz.” It would not only become his theme song in our band, but also would morph into his nickname. To this day, Chuck Romine is “Dr. Jazz” in The Floodisphere.

He would later recall his Flood roots on air during the band’s Fall 2002 visit to Joe Dobbs’ “Music from the Mountains” radio show on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Click here to hear that story.

But back to that first Night of the Banjo… Jan. 31, 2001, was funny evening, because it got off to such a rocky start. As Charlie told his mom in an email the next morning, Joe hadn't been practicing much the previous couple of weeks -- mainly he had been crawling around under his house to deal with frozen water pipes -- and even when David arrived to jump in with his Autoharp and kazoo, the session was just limping along.

But then Doug showed up with his bass and then Chuck arrived with the party-in-a-box that was his banjo, and suddenly the night went from rocky to rockin' and stayed solidly hot for the next two hours.

Another of the numbers Chuck played with us that first chilly night was "Bill Bailey," which also made its way onto The Flood's first studio album later that year. Click here for a little taste of Chuck's signature tune.

Even though Romine left The Flood in late 2004, you really can't get The Flood out of your blood that easily. As a Floodster Emeritus (he was, incidentally, the first former member to carry that title, which Sam St. Clair came up with), Chuck and his irrepressible tenor have been welcomed back to sit in with us many times over the years. For instance, here from April 2009 are two Chuck Romine specials that our manager, Pamela Bowen, filmed at jam sessions at the Bowen house.

In the first track, Chuck trades choruses with Joe’s fiddle on "Alabama Jubilee." Next, at a party-like gathering a week or so later, Chuck croons one of his favorite tunes, "Coney Island Washboard Roundalay," for Rose Marie Riter and Norman and Shirley Davis over the pensive accompaniment of David and his Wallace the Washboard #2.

Right up until the end, Chuck always brought the party with him. Want some more? You can listen to a randomly selected playlist of Chuck Romine numbers over the years on The Chuck Channel of our free Radio Floodango music service feature by clicking here.