[Dixielandjazz] Interesting article on new performances of Minstrel Shows

[david richoux]

http://eastbayexpress.com/issues/2003-10-08/music.html/1/index.html

a snip:
> Written off by most mainstream historians and musicologists as nothing 
> more than racist theatrics and overwrought melodrama, minstrelsy 
> hasn't merited serious cultural study since its awkward birth in the 
> 1830s. However, a very small but steadily growing cadre of musicians 
> from across the country intends to resurrect it. They're intently 
> researching yellowing sheet music and sepia-hued photographs to ensure 
> absolute authenticity -- from constructing period instruments and 
> donning near-perfect replicas of clothing from the era, to performing 
> the old minstrel classics exactly as they originally were, sometimes 
> even in blackface. The endeavor is done so faithfully that, as one 
> modern-day minstrel player put it, "If you squint your eyes and your 
> ears a little, you can travel right back to the 1840s."
>
>                   Of course, such a journey would dump you in a briar 
> patch of racial stereotypes repulsive to modern-day Americans, so it's 
> not surprising there's a contentious debate over whether such a 
> project is legitimate at all.

the whole article is very interesting... not exactly OKOM but one of 
the many roots.

Dave Richoux