Bman's Blues Report

It is not widely known in this day that the fiddle and banjo were commonly played by African Americans from slavery times to well into this century. The two instruments in combination once provided much of the dance music for the balls and frolics of both white and black Southerners. And thousands of dance tunes--waltzes, schottisches, and reels--were adapted and composed for the fiddle and banjo. Scholars have long established the African origins of the banjo, the prototype of which was made of hollow gourds and animal hides. The fiddle, of course, is the familiar name for the European violin, which was brought by early settlers from the British Isles and Germany. No one knows exactly when or how the instruments were first played together, but it was a marriage of two radically different cultural traditions, giving rise to one of America's first truly indigenous musical forms. Joe and Odell Thompson were among the few "old-time" stringband musicians who remained act...

Carolina Chocolate Drops mentor, Joe Thompson, passes away Music Maker was sad to learn yesterday of the passing of Joe Thompson of Mebane, N.C. In recent years the revered African-American fiddler mentored the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops , who in their early days as a group spent time playing with him at his home and various festivals. Said Dom Flemons, "Joe Thompson changed my life. When I first met him in 2005, I had no idea that I would be so heavily involved in making music with him and then making a group that has helped get his name out there further than he might have by himself. One thing for sure is that from my end it has been a constantly humbling journey to be able to have said I worked with him and that my music has forever been affected by his guidance and willingness to share his mus...