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Well of souls : uncovering the banjo's hidden history / Kristina R. Gaddy ; foreword by Rhiannon Giddens.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2022]Copyright date: ©2022Edition: First editionDescription: xvii, 284 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780393866803
  • 0393866807
Subject(s):
Contents:
1st Movement. The Atlantic Ocean, 1687 -- Jamaica, 1687 -- Martinique, 1694 -- New York, 1736 -- Maryland, 1758 -- Jamaica, 1750 -- Suriname, 1773 -- South Carolina, 1780s -- Cap François, Saint-Domingue, 1782 -- England, 1787 -- Albany, New York, 1803 -- 2nd Movement. Paramaribo, Suriname, 1816 -- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1819 -- Haiti, 1841 -- Suriname, 1850 -- Paramaribo, Suriname, 1855 -- 3rd Movement. New York City, 1840 -- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1850 -- Washington, DC, 1857.
Summary: "An illuminating history of the banjo, revealing its origins at the crossroads of slavery, religion, and music. In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo's beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood. Gaddy shows how the enslaved carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean, and the colonies that became U.S. states, including Louisiana, South Carolina, Maryland, and New York. African Americans came together at rituals where the banjo played an essential part. White governments, rightfully afraid that the gatherings could instigate revolt, outlawed them without success. In the mid-nineteenth century, Blackface minstrels appropriated the instrument for their bands, spawning a craze. Eventually the banjo became part of jazz, bluegrass, and country, its deepest history forgotten"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 787.8809 G123 Available 33111011012198
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo's beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood. Gaddy shows how the enslaved carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean, and the colonies that became U.S. states, including Louisiana, South Carolina, Maryland, and New York.

African Americans came together at rituals where the banjo played an essential part. White governments, rightfully afraid that the gatherings could instigate revolt, outlawed them without success. In the mid-nineteenth century, Blackface minstrels appropriated the instrument for their bands, spawning a craze. Eventually the banjo became part of jazz, bluegrass, and country, its deepest history forgotten.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"An illuminating history of the banjo, revealing its origins at the crossroads of slavery, religion, and music. In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo's beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood. Gaddy shows how the enslaved carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean, and the colonies that became U.S. states, including Louisiana, South Carolina, Maryland, and New York. African Americans came together at rituals where the banjo played an essential part. White governments, rightfully afraid that the gatherings could instigate revolt, outlawed them without success. In the mid-nineteenth century, Blackface minstrels appropriated the instrument for their bands, spawning a craze. Eventually the banjo became part of jazz, bluegrass, and country, its deepest history forgotten"-- Provided by publisher.

1st Movement. The Atlantic Ocean, 1687 -- Jamaica, 1687 -- Martinique, 1694 -- New York, 1736 -- Maryland, 1758 -- Jamaica, 1750 -- Suriname, 1773 -- South Carolina, 1780s -- Cap François, Saint-Domingue, 1782 -- England, 1787 -- Albany, New York, 1803 -- 2nd Movement. Paramaribo, Suriname, 1816 -- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1819 -- Haiti, 1841 -- Suriname, 1850 -- Paramaribo, Suriname, 1855 -- 3rd Movement. New York City, 1840 -- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1850 -- Washington, DC, 1857.

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