James A. Bland
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James Alan Bland was an African American musician, songwriter, and minstrel performer. He is considered the first popular Black composer in the United States, and is best known for the song "Carry Me
Sheet music cover for "James Bland's 3 Great Songs", 1879.
Banjo
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The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of BOPET, where ea
James A. Bland
…New York, to a free family. His father Allen was one of the first African Americans to graduate college (Wilberforce University). Beginning with an $8 banjo purchased by his father, he began performing professionally by age 14. Bland was educated in Washington, DC. He attended Howard University, but was…
The Old Plantation, c. 1785–1795, the earliest known American painting to picture a banjo-like instrument, which shows a four-string instrument with its 4th (thumb) string shorter than the others; thought to depict a plantation in Beaufort County, South Carolina
Sheet music cover for "Dandy Jim from Caroline", featuring Dan Emmett (center) and the other Virginia Minstrels, c. 1844
The Briggs' Banjo Instructor was the first method for the banjo. It taught the stroke style and had notated music. Publication date - 1855
Banjo, from the Musical Instruments series (N82) for Duke brand cigarettes, 1888