Some academic articles on the history of the banjo and linkages to West African music
(Updated 2/8/2008)
Bob Winans' Abridged Bibliography of Banjo History
Charry, Eric. Plucked Lutes in West Africa: An Historical Overview
Conway, Cecelia. Black Banjo Songsters in Appalachia. Black Music Research Journal, 23 (2003), 149-166.
Coolen, Michael T. Senegambian Archetypes for the American Folk Banjo Western Folklore, Vol. 43, No. 2. (Apr., 1984), pp. 117-132.
Coolen, Michael T. Senegambian Influences on Afro-American Musical Culture Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1. (Spring, 1991), pp. 1-18.
Epstein, Dena J. The Folk Banjo: A Documentary History Ethnomusicology, Vol. 19, No. 3. (Sep., 1975), pp. 347-371.
Winans, Robert B. Black Instrumental Music Traditions in the Ex-Slave Narratives Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1. (Spring, 1990), pp. 43-53.
Winans, Robert B. Black banjo-playing tradition in Viginia and West Virginia Journal of the Virginia Folklore Society, Volume 1, 1979
Winans, Robert B. The Folk, the Stage, and the Five‑String Banjo in Nineteenth‑Century America, Journal of American Folklore, 89, (1976), 407-437.
Winans, Robert, and Elias Kaufman. Minstrel and Classic Banjo: American and English Connections, American Music, 12 (1994), 1-30.
There is not a large body of academic literature on the banjo. If you know of
other articles please contact me (Rob Quinlan) at
enyepa[
AT]yahoo[ DOT]com (Replace [ AT]
with @ and [ DOT] with . I'm trying to avoid auto-spam.)
Books you might want check out
(links to descriptions at retail sites):Conway, Cecelia. African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions 1995.
Ellis, Rex M. With a Banjo on My Knee : A Musical Journey from Slavery to Freedom. Danbury, CT: Scholastic Library Publishing, 2001.
Gura, Philip F., and James F. Bollman. America’s Instrument, The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
Linn, Karen. That Half-Barbaric Twang; The Banjo in American Popular Culture. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991)
Schreyer, Lowell H. The Banjo Entertainers, Roots to Ragtime: A Banjo History. Mankato, MN: Minnesota Heritage, 2007.
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