I found unconfirmed Yokohama minstrel tune in 1854.

[Samurai banjo]

I carried this program before.

This program of the minstrel show which was played in Yokohama in Japan on March 27th in 1854.

I could not find the Sheet music of "Canal Boys" and "Sally Weaver".

I found 2 pieces of the music in "The Ethiopian glee book".

"Sally Weaver" is

http://archive.org/stream/ethiopiangleeboo00howe#page/34/mode/2up

"Canal Boys"  is

http://archive.org/stream/ethiopiangleeboo00howe#page/148/mode/2up

Do you think that this is right?

5 pieces of the other music were contained.

Satoshi Hara "Samurai Banjo"

[John Masciale]

Samurai Banjo, that looks right to me.  We didn't have this book when you first asked about these songs.  It is a good feeling to find a song from the past that you've seen reference to.  Congratulations on finding the music!

[Tony Thomas]

Samarai I asked before what is the provenance of this menu.  Where does it come from.  I am writing a referenced article on Picayune Butler for Oxford University press and refer to it, but I need a better sourcing than it being posted on a minstrel banjo site,  WHERE DOES IT COME FROM HELP

[John Masciale]

Here is another copy:

http://www.forumrarebooks.com/Perry-Matthew-Calbraith-Ethiopian-uni...

And another link:

http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/black_ships_and_samurai/bss_...

[Bob Sayers]

Tony, The two best sources are:

1.  "Mrs. Belmont, Matthew Perry and the 'Japanese Minstrels'" in American Music, Vol. 14, No. 3, Autumn 1996.

2.   And this in the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society:   http://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44497932.pdf

One of our early banjo friends, book dealer Robert Fraker, apparently found the second know copy of Commodore Perry's minstrel show program--which may be the one that John posted (and which is now for sale for $35,000!).        

[Tony Thomas]

There is an enormous amount of good material on the visit and the minstrel group on the web.   There are two different playbills from the  minstrel shows.  One of them is the one that is linked to in two of the three links Bob gives us.  However, both of those play bills are NOT for the playbill mentioned in this thread the one that leads off with "Picayune Butler."  My purpose is including documentation and possibly even the picture in an article on Picayune Butler for Oxford University Press's African American Biography project as a prelude to presentations on this at the Antietam Early Banjo Gathering and a major article in a music history journal, several people have proposed I write a scholarly book about it.   In such contexts, undocumented sources like referencing a link to the play bill above are useless or worse.  CAN ANYONE PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION FOR THE PLAYBILL THAT APPEARS AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE STARTING WITH PICAYUNE BUTLER EVERYTHING ELSE IS USELESS   Thanks

[Tony Thomas]

Just to add to this there is a wealth of information including a number of books on the Perry visit several of which feature the issue of the minstrel show,  A couple years ago a book collector who has obtained the book printed by Perry on his trip gave an excellent presentatiopn at the banjo collectors gathering.

Anyway there are two playbills apparently from two different shows.  I need the one with the Picayune Butler song on it and documentation sufficient to sopurce it in a scholarly book, article or presentation

]

thanks

[Bob Sayers]

Tony, That speaker would have been the Robert Fraker whom I mentioned previously.  I was all set to attend the banjo collectors' gathering at Ferrum College two years ago, but had to stay home at the last minute because of a family emergency.  

In any event, I just assumed that Samurai Banjo's program was the one shown in the Yellin article in American Music.  I don't have a copy of the article at hand right now (it's accessible on jStor), so I can't double-check. 

Other possibilities:  Perhaps the Picayune Butler program is printed on the backside of the Belmont sheet at Annapolis (sometimes programs were two-sided).  Or perhaps Japanese researchers have located another program somewhere, one with the Picayune Butler song.  

I just did a quick web search and discovered, to my surprise, a reference to a "Catalogue of Objects of Interest Belonging to the New Haven Colony Historical Society" (1885), which contains the entry:  "86.  Programme of an Ethiopian Concert, printed on board the United States frigate 'Powhatan,' in March 1854.  The paper is made from mulberry bark, and was a Japanese handkerchief of superior fineness.  Presented by Prof S.W Williams, one of the gentlemen present."  S.W. Williams would be S. Wells Williams, the translator for the Perry Expedition.

So maybe the program you're looking for is the one at the New Haven Colony Historical Society (now the New Haven Museum).  

Hopefully, Samurai Banjo can clear this up, as I don't have anything more to offer.  Good luck with your hunt!

[Tony Thomas]

It is interesting there is a huge body of work not just on Perry's trip but on the minstrel troupe and its various performances in the voyages Perry took and how similar troupe existed on other naval ships and also how this troupe coupled with the presence of several African and a few Black sailors on Perry's ships impacted initial Japanese concepts of African Americans. 

I have been trying to query Satoshi Hara/Samuri Banjo about this  since August, not only here but on another site te where he posted  with no response..  If anyone knows how to reach him directly it would be great. 

I will be giving a presentation on Pic Butler, antebellum minstrelsy and Black performance at the Antietam Early Banjo Gathering and will also be writing a major journal article on the issue as well.

  It is unfortunate, but the other menu seems to be on display everywhere else.  Some

[Strumelia]

My purpose is including documentation and possibly even the picture in an article on Picayune Butler for Oxford University Press's African American Biography project as a prelude to presentations on this at the Antietam Early Banjo Gathering and a major article in a music history journal, several people have proposed I write a scholarly book about it.   In such contexts, undocumented sources like referencing a link to the play bill above are useless or worse.  CAN ANYONE PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION FOR THE PLAYBILL THAT APPEARS AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE STARTING WITH PICAYUNE BUTLER EVERYTHING ELSE IS USELESS ....

I will be giving a presentation on Pic Butler, antebellum minstrelsy and Black performance at the Antietam Early Banjo Gathering and will also be writing a major journal article on the issue as well.

Well Tony, perhaps then I will be meeting you in person at Antietam, after these many years.  Unless i break an arm or something.

[Tony Thomas]

yes. save the arm as you may need your famous left hook

[Strumelia]

Ah, you remember!   lol...

[Tony Thomas]

always a fan