[Dixielandjazz] Banjo's & Washboards - Was "something substantial"

[Mike Durham]

I think the banjo goes back even beyond that, all the way to the West 
African 'banya', a stringed instrument played by the 'griots' or 
praise-singers of the region and made from the dried out shell of a large 
gourd (Source - blues scholar Paul Oliver). As for the Scots, one sat in 
with my band last night ON BAGPIPES - he played When You And I Were Young, 
Maggie, in the key of E-flat. The audience loved it (no comment).

Mike D.

>From: DWSI at aol.com
>To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Banjo's & Washboards - Was "something substantial" 
>Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 08:46:09 EST
>
>John:
>
>At the risk of sounding too academic on this site (a rare risk taken I
>notice), I recall reading that the banjo is, in fact, the only truly
>American-original instrument. And it gets stranger. The first banjo 
>(Carolinas origin where
>the Scots first settled) was a five string. The tenor four string came much
>later. The fifth string was supposed to mimic the drone of a bagpipe. Is 
>that
>weird or what?
>
>Dan (piano fingers) Spink
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