Minstrel Banjo

For enthusiasts of early banjo

Whiling away a winter afternoon with Rice (1858) and Buckley (1860).

Views: 124

Comment by Strumelia on January 26, 2014 at 4:54pm

Paul, this is lovely!   :)

Comment by Bob Lanham on January 27, 2014 at 7:39am

Beautiful tone and playing!  "Bryant's Jig" sounds so intricate.

Comment by Tim Twiss on January 27, 2014 at 7:52am

Yes. Bryant's has such a crazy sound because of all those rhythmic figures appearing right together....straight eighths, dotted eighths and sixteenths, and then triplets. It appeared first in Rice as "Where's dat Nigger". Seems unique, and I don't know that it has been sourced anywhere. If anything sounds like a link to another  culture, this is it.

Comment by Paul Draper on January 27, 2014 at 9:11am

Clarke Buehling also refers to Bryant's as "Oh, What's the Matter, Suse Ann?" on his "Out Of His Gourd" CD.

Comment by Tim Twiss on January 27, 2014 at 9:16am

Yes....same as the other. Funny how these accompaniments...are actually considered "tunes" in different contexts....especially in the Rice book.

Comment by Paul Draper on January 27, 2014 at 9:22am

And fortunately they can stand up as "tunes" all by themselves.

Comment by Tim Twiss on January 27, 2014 at 9:25am

Yes. I have been thinking about just laying down all the accompaniments from that book. It is harder to discern the melody in there, but you can always hear it. I believe many of the other tunes in Rice are just that...the accompaniment to tunes.

Comment by Paul Draper on January 27, 2014 at 9:27am

Like "Sam Johnson's Reel"  aka "White Cat Black Cat"...

Comment by Tim Twiss on January 27, 2014 at 9:33am

Exactly. Rice is some unique window into a playing style. Another perspective, and different from the one dimensional dactyl rhythms found in Briggs that seemed to have evolved into Clawhammer.

Comment by Tim Twiss on January 27, 2014 at 9:45am

I still think "Whoop Jamboree" is an example of an improvised style. It is Juba...going off the page. It is something we all talk about....the extraction of notes on a page. Somebody was a good transcriber.

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