Last weekend saw a Gathering in Boone, North Carolina, called Black Banjo Then and Now where a bunch of black and white people met to discuss the history of the banjo from it's African origins, the African influences on the playing styles and on the music. With black American banjo players like Tony Thomas, Sule Greg Wilson, Dr Joan Dickerson and Rhiannon Giddens, fiddler Joe Thompson and a superb black Old Time band called the Ebony Hillbillies meeting great white artists like Mike Seeger, George Gibson and Clarke Buehling. African akonting player Daniel Jatta and Swedish expert Ulf Jagfors gave superb demostrations and video of the current, now rare, African playing styles which relate so directly to the American Old Time clawhammer style of playing.
Details of the festival and some very interesting discussions and pictures can be found by joining the Black Banjo Then And Now group on Yahoo.com. This festival on black banjo made history last weekend - I wish I'd been there. I congratulate Tony Thomas of Florida for putting it all together.
Ray