Why this instrument explains Black American folk music

Jake Blount, a banjo scholar, explains.
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Jake Blount has built a career out of understanding the banjo’s connection to Black American folk music. In this video, he walks us through the instrument’s history - from West Africa to enslaved people in the US to the early record industry - to explain how Black folk music has evolved.
For example: The early record industry confined Black musicians to “race records” and white musicians to “hillbilly records.” Hillbilly music would have been early country and string band music. Race records restricted Black musicians to blues and jazz genres. Which meant Black musicians playing bluegrass-style banjo weren’t recorded - even if they were responsible for teaching white musicians.
Using field recordings, their own banjo and fiddle skills, and a deconstructed version of one of their own songs, Jake explains how Black musicians have long been left out of the current canon of folklore recordings and American folk music history. And what he’s doing to keep the tradition alive, with fresh observations and a musical style that looks both forward and backward.
This video was filmed on location at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Listen to Jake Blount’s music and find his album The New Faith, here: jakeblount.com/
Jake’s website also lists resources for Black string band music. You can find free online resources, discover contemporary black artists, and listen to source recordings here: jakeblount.com...
Gribble, M., Lusk, J., York, A. “Altamont” Black Stringband Music from the Library of Congress
Blount, J. “Once There Was No Sun” The New Faith
Jones, B. “Once There Was No Sun”
Smithsonian Music, “Roots of African American Music”
music.si.edu/s...
Smithsonian Music, “Banjos”
​​music.si.edu/s...
PBS, “Blackface Minstrelsy”
www.pbs.org/wg...
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[@Vox]

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[@raymondtrabulsy7294]

As a kid, I was taught that the banjo is the only quintessential American instrument, and always in the context of white country music. It wasn't until years later that I learned the history of banjo, and my mind was blown.

[@fadhilarahmasabrina7308]

can non American audience asking questions too?

[@haitiancreolewithluciano]

The banjo is a wonderful instrument!!!!

[@sonoftyr4293]

Hey vox what is Baltimore like and is it a good city?

[@ehzAxemuzik]

@@sonoftyr4293 why don't you go visit and find out?..it's a free country!

[@sarahl2502]

I highly recommend the Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City!! They don’t skip the horrific parts of history NOR the credit due to African Americans for bringing this gorgeous instrument and music to add such cultural wealth to the USA. There’s a lot to make you shudder, but there’s also a lot to learn and celebrate! Thank you for playing Old Time music!

[@perfectbeat]

Thanks for the info. I will check it out!

[@polimana]

now i gotta go!! thanks for the rec :)

[@MilleAMillion]

Going to Oklahoma specifically for this. Thank you!

[@-a-l-t-]

yes!!!! ❤❤❤

[@rashiddiabate9527]

Thanks!

[@dan-andreisolomon14]

Great stuff! As a non-American, I've been exposed to urban Black music like Jazz, Blues, Hip-Hop, etc, but I rarely get to see aspects of rural Black American culture.

[@nelliecdha]

You should totally check out Our Native Daughters and other Rhiannon Giddens work!

[@americasmaker]

The origin of Blues is rural.

[@HickoryJ]

I love rural black America. I grew up white in the rural south, and I know our history has been horrendous, but they’ve contributed so much, and we have a lot to thank them for. I’m a banjo musician, and without their contributions, our folk music would be nothing like it is today. I hope they one day get recognized for what they deserve to be. Rhiannon Giddens and the Carolina chocolate drops, as suggested above, are a wonderful place to start diving into this music scene and culture. If you’re ever near Wilkesboro NC, try to go to merlefest, she’s usually there. They’re wonderful people

[@SenseiAishitemasu]

@@americasmaker rock n roll too!

[@Aguirrethewrathofgod]

Blues is rural. Delta Blues is influenced by Country Blues, and Chicago Blues(which may be considered urban because of the use of electric instruments) is heavily influenced by Delta.

[@immaculateconnection]

I've seen Jake Blount teach, play, and lead difficult discussions - and he does them all with grace and excellence. Thanks, Vox, for making this!

[@lastyrsman]

He really is the best! I loved his keynote for NERFA in 2021!

[@ad2040]

Race grift is difficult, yes, none of it graceful or excellent.

[@oldtimetinfoilhatwearer]

Not to mention masterful fiddling on top of that

[@jimhood1202]

So frustrating to find there was an entire catalogue of music that for whatever reason didn't get recorded on wax. Thank goodness for the diligence of historians like this man who are willing and able to put in the work to help fill these gaps in music's story and push it forward.

[@hilariousname6826]

Most entire catalogues of music that humans have produced have not been recorded on wax or anything else ......

[@dbadagna]

There is a 1978 album entitled "Virginia Traditions: Non-Blues Secular Black Music."

[@thomasdupont7186]

"So frustrating to find there was an entire catalogue of music that for whatever reason didn't get recorded on wax. " Well there was no developed recording industry back then, and believe me it is even worst regarding Africa, Asia or Europe of the early 20th century....it was the beginning, and in the end: most music has not been recording... At least, you guys can thanks the Lomax family (and others before them) to have traveled the usa and recording so many greats. And not even for making money ! But to keep a traces of that old traditional music.

[@8028H]

check out Alan Lomax he recorded lots of black folk music in the 50s-80s

[@AlexanderBeaton6]

Thinking about how drums were banned from American black musicians to play for so long its not surprising how emotional it was, and special it was when all black R&B and blues bands could not only begin to play but make a living from doing it in the 1930s-50s. The emotion comes through in those early blues recordings

[@Swimdeep]

Simply gorgeous. This young man has reclaimed and contributed to yet another culturally relevant but overlooked cornerstone of “American Culture.”

[@LordRykard9376]

Overlooked? Hardly. Literally hundreds of documentaries, history books, biographies, museums, movies, eocument this stuff.

[@aubreyyoung4610]

@@LordRykard9376 not from its original, Black perspective. Every single form of American music was created by Black Americans. A lot of y'all are just now figuring that out now.

[@CosmicAnteater]

@@LordRykard9376 it’s like you didn’t even watch the video.

[@wildbilljones6348]

@@LordRykard9376 Seriously. I also love how every news outlet rolls with his self-anointed "scholar" status

[@Swimdeep]

@@LordRykard9376 “…this stuff” as you call it, has been appropriated by and profited on by white America-without credit, due or compensation to the black America that created it.

[@joshuahall3711]

Incredibly interesting and honestly moving stuff. He is both representing tradition and pushing boundaries at the same time, which is a tradition in and of itself for Black musicians. Whether sonically or culturally, Black musicians have always been at the forefront of American music. His statement about wanting to make a field album from the future that lets him go forward and backward at the same time reminded me of this old quote from the legendary saxophonist John Coltrane to the equally accomplished saxophonist Wayne Shorter that what he was attempting musically was "starting a sentence in the middle, and then going to the beginning and the end of it at the same time... both directions at once."

[@JakeWolven]

great connection

[@S4v3_w3st]

American folk music used the banjo from africa yes but blacks did not create American folk music the music is by European immigrants with the fiddle banjo guitar etc black music has always been different

[@HarrysHouseChannel]

When I first started playing music, I very quickly learned that most popular American genres are based in Black tradition and I love it all. I'm glad you're bringing light to this!

[@victorias6250]

Actually, most genres developed in America is a combination of cultures being being mixed together. Like jazz and blues; came from a mixture of African beats and European/American harmonics. All these genres would be nothing without a gradual development from folk music - European classical - American classical - church music - ragtime and so on. It would also be nothing without the traditional beats and rhythm of African music. Although America has a dark history, one good thing that came out of the multiculturalism was music.

[@AlisonCrockett]

@@victorias6250 the cultures did mix together. But it was Africans in America that did the actual mixing. The harmonic and melodic structures are also African based as you can hear literally the same music in Africa like ring shouts and work songs in traditional African music. They had string instruments as well as drums. So while I do agree with there was a lot of mixing of cultures as is normal in multicultural situations, it was black musicians that made the stew. Hence, black music styles throughout the Americas all have very similar sounds and structures.

[@technicscrew83]

Africans didn’t just contribute the “beats” ,they brought pentatonic scale ,call and response,”the blue note”,sliding up into notes,distortion ,repetition as a way of building emotional response ,dancing and trance,sacred secular interplay in lyrics,making joy out of painful stories,swing,funk,improvisation,showmanship,sampling,and much much more

[@thomasdupont7186]

@@AlisonCrockett " The harmonic and melodic structures are also African based as you can hear literally the same music in Africa like ring shouts and work songs in traditional African music." No that is not true man come on. The chords and the progressions you can ear in early folk music are NOT "africans". These are European structures. Do you listen to actual traditional African music ?

[@Grimguapo]

@@thomasdupont7186 you do know traditional African music was influenced by islam and youre talking about a continent full of nations, the reason they're all clumped together is cause there was originally no interest in such. the kora is centuries old older than some classical music. the kora and its system came into being 1300s 100 years before the transition to baroque in european classical music, you need to really educate yourself on these things. of course even I dont know everything but you misunderstand "Traditional African" music if you think it all sounds the same. theres decades of scales that go back thousands of years used in africa, the pentatonic scale found its origins in multiple cultures with no influence on one another.

[@reddeercanoe]

This is the third excellent piece of American history I have learned in as many weeks. First I learned that black men were the original cowboys who along with hispanics were on the cattle drives of the nineteenth century. Next I found out that Elvis was mentored by Black artists and they were influential in his rock / country style. Now this video. I look forward to more videos on the roll of Black people in the development of our modern world.

[@LordRykard9376]

The "original cowboys" hahahahahahaha 🤣🤣

[@MegaHAZE21]

@@LordRykard9376 I don't see what's so funny, he's right, *a whole lot of them were.* I think you might be confusing the reality of that time with the over glamorourised, white washed, Hollywood fantasy that was sold to you and everyone. Some of the very first American settlers in the American West were free black men and women. They went there looking to set themselves up with land, to tend to it (both farming and ranching) and to build community. They had the skills because they were the ones doing that unpaid labour on plantations. In fact entire groups of enslaved people who were on them, were there specifically for their prior agricultural and animal husbandry knowledge. By the 1870s and 1880s, as much as 25 percent of the cowboys in the Old West were black cowboys. And they learned and built on their knowledge (along with white settlers) from information taught to them from Mexican vaqueros. Vaqueros being the ones who were doing the things you commonly associate with the term "cowboy", hundreds of years before the cowboy was a thing. Vaqueros were almost entirely made of Indigenous Mexican men who were trained to wrangle cattle on horseback by Spanish settlers. They were essential to Spains North American expansion prior to modern ranching techniques. They took the teachings of the Spanish and applied their own knowledge of horseback riding, buffalo hunting and how to navigate and survive in the land and the vaqueros technique was born. They became known for their excellent ranching skill, braided rope (which they used for reigning in Cattle and hunting originally called a Lazo), wild horse taming, self made saddles and chaps (originally known as Chaparreras). They took pride in their work, skill and the unique culture they made, they even had displays where they'd show off their intricate lazo tricks, horse riding and other roping techniques. All sounds extremely familiar right?. All of this was passed on to both the black and white settlers of the west. But when it came to making media about the time period, whether embellished fiction or realistic drama. America only let *one type of person* portray the image of the old west, because the others weren't allowed. So again, what's so funny about Black and Hispanic people being the original cowboys. *They literally were.*

[@ff-qf1th]

black people literally made america what it is today

[@LordRykard9376]

@@MegaHAZE21 I'm not reading that idiotic wall of text. African slaves were not the "original cowboys." Documented fact. COPE AND SEETHE progressive

[@LordRykard9376]

@@ff-qf1th the only people who say this stuff are black supremacists and idiotic college kids.

[@The-KP]

African American music has been this country's greatest export. Better than Hollywood, better than weapons. Just about every country has adopted rap and hip-hop into their own languages. Rock persists as the worldwide phenom that it has been for 75 years, and the same for Jazz, Blues, Ragtime, and Boogie-Woogie just to name a few genres that came from Black communities. Over 150 years of the most beautiful, inventive music this planet has heard since Bach, Mozart and Chopin. I expect to hear still more in my remaining days.

[@Faithchickify]

Beautiful song and project

[@fishsing7713]

Major shoutout to whoever visualized music keys into pattern. Help musically inapts folk like me to see part of the composition more clearly

[@turtle_soda]

A shame they didn’t talk about the akonting or kologo which are the ancestors to the banjo which were brought over by the slaves and later adapted to western instrument design, because their way of playing those African rhythms directly leads to claw hammer banjo.

[@OjaysReel]

*enslaved

[@pedrosampaio7349]

Watching this is as a Brazilian is Hella interesting. The ring shout concept and the rhythm reminded me of a capoeira roda, and some other Brazilian rhythms

[@LT25468]

Yes! I've been discussing this with friends for a couple of years. Both traditions look very similar.

[@HaileISela]

Given the title of the ring shout being Angola, it seems plausible that they share common roots with Capoeira Angola. Of course they have had their different pathway yet their kinship remains.

[@vudoomunkyfut]

Because they all come from Kongo cultural traditions shared across the diaspora.

[@k.c.5426]

The African Diaspora Family is diverse yet we are one.❤️🖤💚✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿

[@hacKING623]

Thank you for producing such a fantastic video that reaches far into the past and constructing it that makes it easy for modern people to digest it. Just fantastic

[@donnelson8524]

Nothing I can add to the wonderful content herein that hasn't already been said; I just want to call out the lovely production: the set, the lighting, the camera work, the recording, the editing... All so great!

[@yvonnegonzales6686]

Jake Blount came and spoke to my class at Berkeley a few years great; incredible teacher and musician

[@danigolightly799]

Thank you for this important piece of American music history.

[@metabeard3788]

Bela Fleck did a whole documentary about this a while back and did a tour of Africa playing with traditional musicians

[@alalgomam]

"Throw down your Heart" it's called. The soundtrack is incredible --- basically non-stop performances by world-class musicians

[@metabeard3788]

@@alalgomam Yeah, that's it. I saw him on tour promoting it. Unbelievable musician and wholesomely kind.

[@toongurl]

Ooh man I wish this was avaiable to stream somewhere. Shouldn't it be kept at the Library or something because it's such and important documentary

[@17sazd]

He came to our school and was a guest artist. He was a great performer and teacher!

[@callaloohoek5581]

The Banjo is close to my heart. My grandfather made and played this instrument. We're both from Trinidad and Tobago.

[@Dovid2000]

Excellent documentary! I don't think that anyone was better fit for explaining the evolution of the banjo as played in North America than you. My great, great grandfather, I was told, was one of the finest fiddlers (and/or banjo players) in his section of the state of Alabama. He died in May of 1900, and the town newspaper made-mention of his passing and funeral, a funeral attended by many blacks and whites.

[@wefiddleboy16]

brilliantly done. the animation added so much to the explanations and the breakdown and rebuild of the arrangement. bravo, vox for mastery in storytelling and thank youuuu jake for sharing the things you study and learn so we can understand history and the world we live in a little bit better. ❤️

[@juliaroche4945]

The animations reminded me of shape note music! I wonder if the folks at Vox were inspired by that.

[@TheOneCleanHippy]

The famous white banjo player Bela Fleck did a cool documentary on the African origins of the banjo called "Throw Down Your Heart". It is super interesting.

[@jaxthewolf4572]

I'm glad he gave credit where it's due

[@ashleyhw4388]

As a black American who studied music, this video was amazing! ❤🪕

[@mystuff8579]

Thank you thank you thank you to this brother for being so passionate and bringing such rigor to this work.

[@samsil187]

This. Is. So. KOOL! - Thank you Jake for exploring this topic and educating us all on the true grass of the banjo!

[@QuantumWalnut]

Wow, individually each track feels so simple, but when you overlap them at the same time, they sound so rich and complex.

[@johnblaze8774]

Not too dissimilar now. Beyoncé sings a song, it's R&B. Lady Gaga sings the exact same song, it's pop.

[@Merlincat007]

Really cool! He's touring through my town soon, I'll probably get a ticket!

[@spacewad8745]

jazz, blues, hip-hop, rock and now bluegrass. American music culture is incomplete without Black contribution.

[@phoebeel]

I love the sound of a banjo. It sounds like freedom in nature, like sitting around a campfire, like a starry night, like warm summer nights, like mountains in the twilight. Thank you for teaching me its roots, I didn't know it was an instrument from African diasporas

[@All.Natural.]

Amazing video!!!!

[@manolocorp]

I'm a music teacher from Costa Rica. In 2018 I went to San Francisco, and at a music store, I saw a Banjo, and I was so in love with the sounds that I had to buy it. In the Caribbean region of Costa Rica, the Banjo is used to playing "Calypso" without picks, more like strumming like a guitar and with the reggae feeling. I'm not an expert playing it, but I can find my way around this beautiful instrument. I'm going to continue exploring this fantastic instrument and all its possibilities. Great video!

[@ryanm2648]

Love to see a Vox video on the black culture around the banjo

[@ryanm2648]

@Tee M No

[@GravDrag00n]

@Tee M I understand what you mean but this is specifically a culture unique to the Americas originating from slaves who made a new culture based off various Africa cultures and through slavery it homogenized into “African American/black” culture which is specific to those who have roots to slavery here in the Americas. African culture is specific to Africans and their respective tribes/countries.

[@dbadagna]

@@GravDrag00n Blount based the song he plays in this video on an African song collected in the Caribbean in the late 17th century (you can see the sheet music in the video), and, at that time, it's likely that the performers were fresh off the boat from Africa.

[@angelg.4465]

@Tee M it’s Afro American culture

[@JohnLaudun]

As a folklorist who's done fieldwork in south Louisiana, if you listen to what people say, the cultural boundaries were always more fluid than the social boundaries. Blacks and whites listened to each other's music. That's just a fact. White awareness of black music doesn't rest on black face performances: not that many people could afford to attend such shows. The sheet music and flyers survive, but they don't tell the complete story. I am in no way suggesting that things were great at any level of society. It was awful, and it was often violent, but I doubt the great engine of American folk music, especially its beating African American heart, ran on minstrelsy. Rather, it was music heard from across the way, be it from a church, a dance hall, a house throwing a party, or some other event. This is not to take away from any of Blount's comments about commodification and who profited.

[@tessjuel]

Not only did blacks and whites listen to each other's music, they played together and learned directly from each other. They even recorded together. Musicians tend to be less concerned about superficial stuff like race than other people are and it's not as if your skin color shows up on a record.

[@tarosvan2253]

I always considered American music to just be a mix of European, West African and Latin American music. You can hear elements from all 3 styles in them.

[@angelg.4465]

This is barely true

[@prospektraks]

This fellow is an excellent ambassador for the art and culture. Well done.

[@juanfeh66]

This is amazing. I love the 4 clap beat. It’s just like the afro-cuban 1, 2, 1, 2, 3 but it leaves you waiting for the final beat which gives it a nice sensation of incompleteness but more importantly groovy and fresh.

[@mstuckey311]

My families roots are in appalachia and I'm of Scots-Irish descent. I love bluegrass. I've always known it was a combination of Scots-Irish folk music and African banjo music. They need to do more to recognize the black musicians that helped shape rock music, bluegrass, country, etc. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is a good example.

[@MSILBB]

There is very little European music in Bluegrass. It was simply stolen from its creators, Black people.

[@mstuckey311]

​@MSILBB 😂😂😂 Good one. No, black people did not create bluegrass. There's influence for sure, but not created by.

[@DockingFreidmanRecords]

​@MSILBB there is plenty from both cultures

[@FlyToTheRain]

Had this playing as back ground noise but not even twenty seconds in and I had to put down what I was doing so I could fully engage with the video. Great piece, phenomenal presenter, I could have easily listened to him for another half hour.

[@TIENxSHINHAN]

I appreciate this man for doing what he can to keep our culture alive. Unfortunately we have a bad habit of abandoning different aspects of our culture when it becomes too associated with old people, that's why everyone, including black people, thinks hip hop is as deep as black culture goes and there's nothing beyond that.

[@lulumoon6942]

I enjoy anyone sharing their passions, no matter the subject. ❤️

[@wildwaning9427]

While watching the Ken Burns documentary 'Country Music,' he played early recordings of the Carters music that sounded very much like the Black banjo music of that era and earlier periods. That was not mentioned in the docu however, J. Blount just confirmed it here. 👍

[@delorbb2298]

He has a habit of doing that.

[@elliottcrews4997]

Actually I believe Leslie Riddle and the role of black artists was discussed in the Ken Burns documentary.

[@wildwaning9427]

@@elliottcrews4997 In relation to the Carters.

[@Carl-b1q]

​@@elliottcrews4997Only very quickly, and in passing. Ken Burns whitwashed the country music history. Thats why tge Carter familty is called the Fathers of Country music, its a scam. What else would you think he would do.

[@vancereeds1609]

Jake is such a tremendous talent, and this album reflects that. Can't recommend it enough!

[@fortierma64]

Thank you for that. I know it’s cliché but the truth always comes through and remembering history like you do greatly contributes.

[@icomarv17]

We need more segments like this!!!

[@chuck785]

Jake Blount is awesome

[@toonlyrics]

One of the most fascinating and informative music videos ever. Folkways tried to do some justice to black folk musicians, but there is a lot of work left to do. This video cuts through time and brings out the freshness and everlasting beauty of great music born of oppression. More!

[@EvanMoon]

The difference between Leadbelly and the Rolling Stones is that Lead Belly is barely known by the general public because he’s black. The Rolling Stones are in the Hall of Fame playing a lot of songs that were first played by a black artist But they are white artists. Black artist didn’t have the right to say their songs were theirs whereas a white artist could just seem to sing the same song and then call it their own.

[@nozecone]

"Lead Belly is barely known by the general public because he’s black." Yeah, just like Michael Jackson, James Brown, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Ross, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr, Muddy Waters, Prince, Kanye West, Tupac, etc., etc. - same thing: barely known by the general public because they're black.

[@michaelclark1811]

Please explain all the incredibly famous black people then

[@BBC12oz]

You just can’t learn about and hear this stuff and not want more. I can’t get enough. Thank you!

[@rachelm3171]

great stuff. thank you for highlighting and sharing the work of Jake Blount.

[@TheNortonio]

Have you been to Haiti? There are churches there that still do ring shout. Blocks of wood in hand to supplement clapping. No instruments just clapping and singing. Amazing music.

[@matttatts]

This man has done his homework. A true craftsman.

[@edwardtait4285]

Thank you for all your effort Jake. Well done!

[@VettsClass]

This is phenomenal ✨🙌🏿🎼 the Jola people of Guinea Bissau 🪕🪕🪕 created 🙌🏿✨🇬🇼🇬🇼🇬🇼 bluegrass🎼 country 🎼 rhythm 🎼 jazz 🎼✨🙌🏿🪕 Blues 🪕🙌🏿✨🎼🇬🇼🇬🇼🇬🇼🇬🇼

[@PK_Mega_Awesome]

As someone from the UK who discovered bluegrass in the last few years, I want to thank people like Jake Blount and Rhiannon Giddens for shedding light on the complete and accurate history of American folk music. Over here any american band music that doesn't have electric guitar is generally just thought of as country music, and it isn't really part of the mainstream culture. Once I started getting into bluegrass I then found that anything with a banjo in it was labelled as bluegrass, and virtually ALL of it was white musicians. It took quite a bit of unpacking to get to the point where old-time folk and appalachian mountain music stood out clearly from the fast-paced sctructured bluegrass, and it was only after hearing Rhiannon Giddens on the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack that I found her story and learned about the true history of the banjo and how it had been essentially taken away from black music culture. These are important lessons and I am grateful to all of the musicians of the past who were erased from the history books because of racist ignorance, and grateful to the people who are sharing this information now and helping people to understand where the music they love really comes from.

[@ciro_costa]

Awesome!! Here in brazil, that kick drum pattern can be found in a folk style of the northeastern region called Forró or Baião. And the clapping pattern sounds like what we call here capoeira.

[@russelladams6517]

That's because the is African influence on Brazil from Afro Brazilian culture like Capoeira and Samba

[@RamosFilms]

7:51 - 7:59 Absolutely brilliant.

[@Elizabeth-tq7qw]

I can't say enough wonderful things about this video. Thank you for teaching.

[@thesmileyeffect]

Thank you for this visually stimulating and educational piece.

[@jaspirita]

This is fascinating, thank you for bringing Jake Blount to your channel to teach us about this!

[@impendio]

This was unexpected, thanks for showing me this amazing music and culture.

[@slickrick2420]

Thanks for recognizing how influental and amazing Black music is. Love you Vox

[@kingspriests5361]

amazing video

[@MatthewDLDavidson]

Great micro documentary, love the music and the researcher’s information and presentation. Please post more like this!

[@MPR2]

Wow! EXCELLENT! Thanks for teaching us TRUE American history!

[@TrueNorthMusic]

A fantastic short film showcasing Jake's incredible creativity and his deep and broad knowledge of the subject. Full disclosure: I've been lucky enough to work with Jake on UK tour booking and to host him and his band for a couple of gigs, but that all came out of my existing admiration of this wonderful musician. It is really gratifying to see his star rise but also to see him bringing this (largely) hidden history to light. I have learned so much about folk traditions in the last decade or so from people like Jake and Rhiannon Giddens, who are doing this valuable work.

[@AugustusTitus]

This is an amazing video worthy of NPR and an amazing historical review. I enjoyed it immensely.

[@bodurango]

I have been trying to learn clawhammer banjo for a long time. Now, realizing it's heritage from your video gives me even more incentive. Really informative. Thanks.

[@j.rustage3794]

Fascinating - we need much more like this about the real roots of so much American music.

[@uprightape100]

Thank you so much.......that was beautiful.

[@dustystrings36]

More! I want to learn more on this topic. I’m a bluegrass musician as well as what we call “old time” music. I play both styles…one using the Earl Scruggs style and I play the open back banjo frailing style. Keep making videos! I love to learn!

[@agent_scratch4783]

I would like to thank those black people of the time for giving us such a great instrument and soul music.

[@joyciejd9673]

Love this and love the banjo!

[@NguyenVinhHang]

Thank you Vox for letting me know about Jake and the banjo, an instrument I loved listening to any day and subscribing to Jake’s channel 😉🙏👍🏻

[@gourddrawing]

I saw Jake Blount perform in March 2023. Wonderful show, wonderful music. A very talented young man.

[@juice6494]

Estelle and Team - you've done it again, thank you for this great video. Something that stands out is how Jake tells this story of appropriation and how it is at the heart of American popular music, both through minstrelsy, white folks who benefitted from field recordings of Black musicians, and how larger systems of white supremacy controlled multiple aspects of how Black music moved through the industry and the popular music sphere. He illustrates this particular power dynamic which encourages us to reflect on how these systems manifest in contemporary landscapes - this is a power dynamic most people wish to ignore or pretend doesn't exist. This video is useful in encouraging people to come to terms with the fact that American popular music is formulated on the extraction of Black knowledge and Black traditions; and if extraction wasn't bad enough, musicians were then misrepresented by academics and PR people at the time as Jake says. It is important to make note of how this same pattern manifests in the recent past and how it shows up today. It's crucial that the African American proprietors of these traditions and this knowledge receive their dues in any and all ways possible.

[@AndrewUnruh]

I think it is fascinating that the most mathematical of all arts is also the most emotional.

[@dipsbetweenthelasers]

I learned something new today. Thank you for this.

[@judyroberts6827]

Thanks Jake. Fascinating project. X

[@savagepro9060]

The Caribbean! We are everywhere! Jah Live

[@TheCho5enJuan]

Right out of my home town! Amazing work 🪕

[@PaisleyPatchouli]

A very well conceived re-realization of a tradition long abused and re-created for 'certain purposes'. It's good to bring an open, creative mind to these historic conundrums, with the hope of shedding light on something old/new and of value. Well done!

[@jeffreese4194]

I think what you're doing to preserve this music and educate people is amazing. I'm a scholar of blues but was well aware that the banjo came first before guitars and the harmonicas that German farmers introduced to black people

[@richardfortier]

Beautiful. Please rearrange and rerecord as much of this as you can! Holy cow!

[@itsmimanu2010]

La mejor música fue inventada (o influenciada) por las comunidades negras y afrodescendientes, de allí surge el rock, el blues, el bluegrass, el jazz, me encantó el video, pero más me gusto el contexto y las explicación socio-histórica de todo, aguante el banjo best instrumente ever

[@LoreleiErisis]

I love this so much!!!! As a fan of music and history and an activist as well, I found this video so fascinating!!! Plus, full disclosure, I've met Jake and had the honor of photographing him for NPR, (I know, photographing someone for radio is admittedly dubious...) and he's one of the sweetest and smartest people I know!!

[@sjoncb]

Afrikans in America created all of the US music genres. Wow!

[@realmofthesenses]

Don't forget to check out the musicians in and around Carolina Chocolate Drops, Our Native Sisters (edit: Our Native Daughters), e.g. Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, Amythist Kiah.

[@shom4458]

Wow, this was amazing. I will be sharing this with all of my musical friends and fellow art & music teachers. (Duke Ellington School of the Arts)

[@hilariousname6826]

Of course, this is just some guy's video on youtube - I trust you have done or will do some more research into the subject if you're going to use this as teaching material .....

[@AlisonCrockett]

@@hilariousname6826 as a fellow Duke Ellington alumni, this is not the only video which has this information and respectfully, this isn’t just “some guy” who is speaking but a studied university professor talking about actual history. Doing just a few searches will verify the veracity of this video.

[@hilariousname6826]

@@AlisonCrockett Okay, 'some guy' wasn't fair, and it's not just 'his video'; all that was a little too dismissive. However, the more important point stands, which is this: don't just take one guy's word as gospel, even if he is a 'studied university professor', particularly if you are going to use his material in a pedagogical context. He is (necessarily) speaking in broad generalities; if you have any pretense to scholarship whatsoever, you should do more than "just a few searches" to not only "verify the veracity" of the material, but to gain some understanding of pertinent nuances and ambiguities. I don't mean you need to write your own thesis on it - but you really should read up on the subject - I mean, in serious sources. OTOH, I suppose there's no harm in passing it on to a friend and saying, "What do think of this?"

[@TheJoshSouthy]

Thank you for such a beautiful video on my favorite instrument

[@jay-ki6ie]

thank you for introducing me to the wonderful musicianship of bessie jones

[@caiusiv4616]

Well done. Thank you 😎

[@DavidB.Rockin]

When I was young,I was obsessed with the banjo. I had a toy banjo with no strings,only batteries included.

[@WindwardToEden]

Incredible! We never knew..Thanks so much for this video. Where can we get more information on Jake Blount and his work?

[@A_few_words]

Great work, Estelle. Extremely interesting. Brilliantly visualised. Fascinating character. A gem of the video. And I don't even listen to music all that much.

[@starsinmyeyes]

Really interesting. Nice one.

[@brandonf.8360]

Strummin on the ole banjo 🪕

[@allermenchenaufder]

Yup, the gentle, beautiful banjo.

[@DWF_GRIND]

That rhythm shown in 5:08 is coming back in the Hip-hop scene and is now named "Jersey Drill", sadly it is usually portrayed with sensual and sometimes violent lyrics. Luckily genres like these have potential for wonderful expressions and powerful messages. It is one of my favorite rhythms.