Don Vappie is the 2021 STEVE MARTIN BANJO PRIZE WINNER and 2022 BANJO HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE.
Vappie is a jazz banjoist/guitarist/bassist/vocalist from New Orleans. Through music and film, he has been an ardent keeper of New Orleans tradition. He has received awards from the Creole Heritage Center and the Louisiana Creole Research Society for outstanding contributions to the preservation of Creole culture. Don's distinctive banjo sound is heard on numerous recordings of his own and with various artists such as the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis, Otis Taylor Trance Blues, the Hot Springs Music Festival Orchestra, and many others. Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune regarded his holiday CD release, A Very Vappie Christmas, as one of "the best seasonal jazz recordings of new and recent vintage."
The BLUE BOOK OF STORYVILLE was the top jazz album of 2020 in the TIMES of London.