American minstrel banjo & minstrel music
Hi. I thought I would post some information on my project.
I'm currently putting together a project which will look at the resurgence of interest in early American minstrel banjo in the greater Boston area. There are in fact many people in MA who are either building reproduction banjos &/or documenting, playing, and writing on early banjo and minstrelsy history in MA.
Some really great people to just quickly highlight here are Jay Moschella who builds wonderful early banjos and even gourd banjos (banjos more closely related to its West African ancestor, the akonting), Jim Dalton from Salem who has done extensive research on early minstrel banjo repertoire (& who is my current banjo teacher) and Paul Sedgwick who is involved in theater and education in Boston. Paul is doing some incredibly fascinating work in bringing together live performance/character plays in order to teach about the development of the banjo in America.
If you're interested in folk music, banjo, or just music in general I would encourage you to check out their websites:
Paul Sedgwick -- http://www.gourddidgeridoo.com/
Jay Moschella -- http://www.jaymoschella.com/
Another related project I am hoping to undertake this summer is looking at how early banjo and minstrel music was documented in both art (playbills from that period, illustrations, etc) and photographs (ferrotypes and tintypes of the late 19th century & photos from early 20th century).
I would love any suggestions folks might have about resources in MA that might house early photographs. Thanks!
(Some great photos of early banjos --- all from a great site, www.banjoonmyknee.com)
I'm currently putting together a project which will look at the resurgence of interest in early American minstrel banjo in the greater Boston area. There are in fact many people in MA who are either building reproduction banjos &/or documenting, playing, and writing on early banjo and minstrelsy history in MA.
Some really great people to just quickly highlight here are Jay Moschella who builds wonderful early banjos and even gourd banjos (banjos more closely related to its West African ancestor, the akonting), Jim Dalton from Salem who has done extensive research on early minstrel banjo repertoire (& who is my current banjo teacher) and Paul Sedgwick who is involved in theater and education in Boston. Paul is doing some incredibly fascinating work in bringing together live performance/character plays in order to teach about the development of the banjo in America.
If you're interested in folk music, banjo, or just music in general I would encourage you to check out their websites:
Paul Sedgwick -- http://www.gourddidgeridoo.com/
Jay Moschella -- http://www.jaymoschella.com/
Another related project I am hoping to undertake this summer is looking at how early banjo and minstrel music was documented in both art (playbills from that period, illustrations, etc) and photographs (ferrotypes and tintypes of the late 19th century & photos from early 20th century).
I would love any suggestions folks might have about resources in MA that might house early photographs. Thanks!
(Some great photos of early banjos --- all from a great site, www.banjoonmyknee.com)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kim Zunino on -
Hi!
Here in Lowell, we have a resident musician/ historian, Alex Demas. Here is a link to a story that was done by the Boston Herald.
http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view/2009_...
We might have pictures stored either at the Lowell National Historical Park or the Center for Lowell History. Mr. Demas would know. The Lowell National Historical Park can be reached here : (978) 970-5000
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