African Gourd Banjo

My research into the roots of the blues has lead me into the pre-blues era of African American music. Slavers brought over musicians on slave ships to keep the slaves active on their middle passage to limit fatalities of their "precious cargo."

Most people don't associate the banjo with African Americans but it comes directly from Africa.

I have added an African gourd banjo built by the preservationist instrument builder Pete Ross (his site) whose accurate period instruments are found in many museum exhibits.

He describes my instrument on his site this way:

"Made with African woods–Bubinga neck, Paduk fingerboard–and a head and soundhole configuration based on instruments now made by the Mande people of West Africa. The banjo's origins may lay with this ethnic group."

It has natural gut strings and a goat skin head over the gourd. Playing it is giving me a deeper understanding of the deepest roots of African American music. Thanks to Pete Ross for his amazing attention to the details that make this instrument more than a curiosity to show people, but a living link with the past that I play every day!

African Banjo built by Pete Ross

"The Old Plantation" Painted in the late 1800's