Acoustic Roots

Leo Wijnkamp and Kees van der Poel are together again after more than forty years with their swinging groove on finger picking guitar. Their programme ‘The Ragtime Guitar Parlour’ consists of rags (a.o. Scott Joplin), folk- and fiddle tunes and Americana.

Karin van den Boogaert talks to Leo Wijnkamp and Kees van der Poel

Van der Poel is a multi-instrumentalist (next to string instruments he also plays the melodeon and the hurdy-gurdy a.o.). He is a composer of complex finger style guitar pieces. Kees van der Poel got fascinated by Dutch traditional singing on old recordings and that became the basis of the Dutch folk group Wargaren and the later legendary folk group Wolverlei. Nowadays he tours with his old buddy Leo Wijnkamp. Wijnkamp is probably not so well-known in the Netherlands, but internationally he has been making a name for himself as a guitarist. That’s how he ended up on the Kicking Mule lable of Stefan Grossman in the 1970’s and toured with Grossman, Marcel Dadi, John Renbourn and Davey Graham. Wijnkamp is an authority in the ragtime for guitar, a passion which he shares with Van der Poel. Their interest is particularly centered around the magistral guitarist Blind Blake.

In 2016 the CD Ragtime Guitar Parlour was released on Pan Records with guitar duets, arranged by Leo Wijnkamp. In 2018 the MediMuse label released a new collective CD of him, titled The Incredible Leo Wijnkamp.

For more info: medimuse@xs4all.nl

Playlist:

1. Black and White Rag, George Botsford
2. Franklin Blues, Sam Mc Ghee
3. Dance of the Goldenrod, Merle Travis
4. Magnetic Rag / Easy Winners, Scott Joplin
5. Rag, Ervin Schulhoff
6. Feeling my Way, Eddie Lang & Carl Kress
7. Harry Lime Theme (solo Leo),  Anton Karas
8. West Coast Blues (solo Kees),  Blind Blake
9. Tickle Her / Crowley Walz, traditionals
10. Mississippi Blues / Kind Hearted Woman, Willy Brown, Robert Johnson