This mysterious recording was the missing musical link to an era when racism was

Ultimately, for Gellert and other banjo lovers, the story of Asbury is less compelling than the sound he made.

“Asbury really knew what he was doing,” Gellert says. “Using the back of the fingers and the thumb and using the hand not to pick the strings but to transmit the energy of the arm to the strings, which is a very West African technique. When I heard that, my jaw dropped.”