Customer Reviews

African Banjo Echoes In Appalachia: Study Folk Traditions (Publications of the American Folklore Society)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Today, there is a greater awareness of the fact that the banjo, so often identified as an American original, is in fact of African descent. Yet, with the exception of Dena Epstein's and Paul Oliver's pioneering research, there's has been little in the way of literature devoted specifically to the subject of the banjo's African and African-American heritage.

Cecelia Conway's AFRICAN BANJO ECHOES IN APPALACHIA fills this frankly embarassing void in banjo literature. Ms. Conway is a folklorist who, back in the 1970s, had done field work in the North Carolina Piedmont documenting some of the last bearers of the centuries-old African-American folk banjo tradition. In the beginning of the book, she introduces us to venerable African-American traditional musicians, whose music predates the blues and jazz, such as Dink Roberts, John Snipes and Joe and Odell Thompson (of all the aforementioned, fiddler Joe Thompson is the only one left to carry on the tradition, which he still does with great vigor and determination). From there, Ms. Conway launches into a fascinating, scholarly exploration of the history and evolution of the banjo.

This leads to the thorny issue of just how the banjo-- now considered, along with the fiddle and mountain dulcimer, to be the quintessential musical manifestation of white Appalachia-- was introduced and absorbed into the folk culture of the European-American communities of the Southern Mountains. Ms. Conway, in true scientific fashion, utilizes the historical record and empiric evidence to boldly challenge the conventional suppositions of her fellow scholars and folklorists, such as Robert Winans, Alan Lomax and Tony Russell, that the banjo entered the remote white southern mountain communities after the Civil War via traveling Minstrel shows and returning veterans. I'll leave you to read the book for Ms. Conway's theory on the subject.

All in all, AFRICAN BANJO ECHOES is well-researched, well-documented and well-written with loads of great illustrations. It would be a worthy addition to any library. I highly recommend it not just to devotees of the banjo and old-time music, but to anyone interested in the evolution of American folk culture and pop music.

i HAD JUST handed in my MFA thesis to be published. I realized library priviledges I had had for 12 years would be gone in a couple weeks, I went to the music section of the FIU library and bumped into this book. I loved it, it loved me. I read it straight through--didnt go to work the next day. I have been studying and playing traditional American music for 40 years, and this is one of the best books on any level I have ever read. Ater talking about picking up the banjo for 40 years, I bought one right after I read this book and have bought another since.

So much of history and opinion about popular music is just congealed prejudice and wishful thinking. This is science and real life. The banjo is an African instrument, the traditional way of playing it is the African way of playing it. Not to speak of the non traditional post WWII guitar influenced Bluegrass way which simply adds as many blue and blues notes into the music as can be found.

What romanced me in this book is her interviews with African American banjo players from North Carolina and Virgina--some of whom have passed on since the book came out. The Photographs in there are great too.

Cece Also made a movie of these guys that was shown back when the book first came out. While it has been out of circulation for years, she will be showing it at the April 7-10 2005 Black Banjo Then and Now Gathering at Appalachian State College in Boone North Carolina.

You see that scene in the library was 6 years and three banjos ago. The book and the recordings and other development have brought many African American artists back to the banjo and back to the roots players that inspired Cece's book. Earlier this year (2004), I launched Black Banjo Then and Now, a group on Yahoo that carried forward where this book leaves off. We gather together Black banjoists from around the country, many scholars of the banjo including Cece, and folks of many types who honor or are interested in the Black legacy of the instrument. You might want to join us.

But back to this book: Buy it, give it to your friends, make sure every library has this book, make sure this book is taught in the schools, This is it!

Cecelia Conway and Scott Odell should be awarded an enormous fellowship from the MacArthur or Guggenheim folks for additional research. This book merits a readership among anyone who so much as owns a "banjer." The accompanying CD (called "Black Banjo Songsters" and available on the Smithsonian/Folkways label) is a bit academic in its notes and its repetition of songs, but hearing the likes of John Snipes and Dink Roberts go to town is thrilling.

An educational and informative discourse on a key aspect of african-american folk music brought to life by the first person reminiscences of the children of black slaves. This book ensures that their lives and stories do not disappear into the sands of time. Although the banjo is the central topic of this book, it is really the framework to tell the stories of the black banjo songsters. All in all a good read.

I have only recently began playing the banjo and feel this book has taken me 100% closer to being the well rounded musician I aspire to be. If you are interested in history, music, and the banjo this is where to start!

A controversial but compelling argument concerning the early history and transmission of the banjo and it's music in America from black Africans to white players. One should also investigate opposing views published by individuals like Bob Winans.

It's generally understood that the quintessentially American instrument---the banjo---was brought to the new world by slaves in colonial times; but this unusual collection of field recordings is a real eye-opener. It's banjo music from rural African-Americans; some tunes well-known and others unique to the Black banjo repertoire. With in-depth notes by Cece Conway, author of "African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia," the definitive book on this neglected topic.

Dr. Conway is a professor of Folklore: Roots of Mountain Music (African Roots of the Banjo; Ballad Keepers)
Appalachian Culture & Literature and 20th C American Literature. She was married to the late Tommy Thompson, founder of the Red Clay Ramblers of Chapel Hill.

I had the privilege of taking "Old Time Music Traditions" two years ago at Appalachian State University. We traveled all over the southern Appalachian Mountains meeting and video taping hundreds of hours of pure traditionalist of old-time mountain music, dancers, ballad singers and instrument builders. The fall semester of 2010 will be a semester I will forever remember and I am appreciative of the opportunities she provided to preserve pure American musical history of the Appalachians.

Dr. Conway and Appalachian State hosted the first black banjo gathering and workshops in 2005. Black Banjo, Blues and Jazz is a celebration of the AfricanAmerican influence on traditional music.

After researching to find a good book for a friend who plays the banjo, I found Cecilia Conway's book and it is excellent. I gave the book the friend who is an avid reader as well as a musician. It was the perfect gift.