Recapturing the Banjo
Recapturing the Banjo is an important musical event, celebrating the one instrument to survive the Atlantic slave trade – the banjo – and thus become one of the most popular and distinctly American of instruments. Originally played by slaves who built banjos out of scrap materials in an attempt to recreate the West African ngoni – an essential part of part of Malian music – the banjo has gone on to become one of the great American instruments, and played a pivotal role in jazz, blues, country and bluegrass music. But it is still not widely known, today, in the US or in the UK that the banjo has African roots. And while the banjo is still popular in Dixieland jazz and bluegrass ensembles, it has long fallen out of favour with African American musicians: for decades the banjo was associated with degrading stereotypes of African-Americans, and a feeling among young black musicians that the blues was an out-dated musical style.
Over the last decade the pioneering work of the five musicians involved in Recapturing the Banjo has brought the banjo back to a level of prominence in the US – today black American young musicians study the banjo and ambitious musicians and musicologists head to West Africa to trade licks with Malian musicians.
The United Kingdom and Europe once had a strong love affair with the banjo – in the 1920s and 30s there were many dance bands using banjos while folk musicians also adopted the banjo - so popular was the banjo that France’s genius of jazz guitar Django Reinhardt started out as a banjo player. The popularity of swing and then rock’n’roll has seen the banjo fall out of favour for more than half a century. Yet right now there is resurgence in interest in American roots music – bluegrass and mountain music outfits are starting to visit the UK - and thus it is only correct that the African American roots of the banjo are celebrated.
Recapturing the Banjo is a celebration not only of African American musical heritage but of the rich tapestry that is American vernacular music. The UK tour will not only set about re-establishing the banjo as a contemporary instrument in the UK, it will counter decades of distortions and misunderstandings. Each concert will be highly entertaining, featuring superb musicianship and much storytelling. The five musicians are some of biggest names on the blues scene, who have also researched the African and American roots of their music. The album Recapturing the Banjo will be released in March.
