Black
Banjo Songsters of North Carolina & Virginia (Smithsonian/Folkways
SF CD 40079)
Have to say that I’ve been (sadly) disappointed w/the
Smithsonian’s tenure as the owners of Folkways...
Most of their easily available cds merely recycle 60s
urban “folk” stuff...that has never actually
been hard to get ahold of - or follows other labels re
current “world music” trends. Meanwhile, truly
irreplacable back-catalogue material languishes - only
intermittently available on cdr, and w/difficult access
- look: the whole situation is a damnable disgrace, especially
for an institution w/the resources of the Smithsonian...and
we ought to take every opportunity available to attack
them for it...
This one, however, is a marvellous exception. Unfortunately,
w/the eyes & ears of early researchers firmly fixed
upon “the blues”, much of the most fascinating
archaic rural black American music went almost unrecorded,
until most of its key practitioners had died off without
real heirs. In no other area was this trend more marked
than with black banjo players - until the 70s, when Cecelia
Conway (and others) finally started to document this stuff
in real detail.
Because, let’s face it...the history of the banjo
is bloody odd! A black instrument, now viewed as a hallmark
of authentic white rural styles...and played by few blacks
today - the whole situation is very strange, and the material
that was recorded opens up entire stylistic vistas for
that instrument, that no younger players are (yet) exploring...
Now, there’s a wealth of different artists/approaches
on this collection - the companion-piece to Conway’s
(marvellous) book African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia (Tennessee:
1995) - but, like her, I’m entirely fascinated by
the great Dink Roberts...the most unique & archaic
artist she worked with - and whose recordings alone would
make this disc an essential one, even if all the rest
were omitted.
The home-made fretless banjo sounds like no other...it
shuffles/hammers, constantly shifting the angle of attack,
while his gnarled voice delivers gnomic fragments amidst
its outpourings and - underneath - the foot taps on, grounding
all...Dink always refused to deliver “proper”
finished performances - instead, he’d slyly slip
bits in throughout his monologues, like some shaman that
denied even the possibility of de-contextualized learning
- and usually “ended” his music w/a joyous chuckle...having
(once more) denied fixity in favour of life...
Sadly, Dink - and his headrag-adorned dancing partner
Lily - are no longer with us... But, we should remember
them, and their high-living, tricksterish style, for what
they were - a great affirmation of human originality and
spirit, and an eternal reproach to all those who would
seek form/system at the expense of same...
John Henry Calvinist
