{"id":378,"date":"2011-02-09T17:07:35","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T22:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/2011\/02\/black_history_monthpost-racial\/"},"modified":"2011-02-09T17:07:35","modified_gmt":"2011-02-09T22:07:35","slug":"black_history_monthpost-racial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/02\/black_history_monthpost-racial.html","title":{"rendered":"Black History Month Post-?-Racial String Bands"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The Carolina Chocolate Drops are at least as entertaining as the 19th minstrel shows they cop songs and style from &#8212; and just as confounding to any strict analysis of American attitudes about what&#8217;s called &#8220;race&#8221; &#8212; as noted in my new column in <a href=\"http:\/\/cityarts.info\/2011\/02\/08\/post-modern-post-racial-roots-revival\/\">City Arts &#8211; New York<\/a>.<\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4_u0ofLDMYQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div>At an <a href=\"http:\/\/new.lincolncenter.org\/live\/index.php\/as-2011-home\">American Songbook series<\/a> concert in the elegant Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the three smart and casually stylish young Drops (this was the last tour date for member Justin Robinson though &#8212; he leaves the band to continue his education) proved that old-timey string band music played by fiddlers, guitarists, bones thwackers and banjo pickers well before, during and long after America&#8217;s Civil War, can still be relevant and rousing. Also, that despite its propagation by&nbsp;enormously popular but derogatorally blackfaced touring white&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Early-Minstrel-Show\/dp\/B0043VQDVM\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">minstrel troupes<\/a> from the 1840s into the Roaring &#8217;20s, this music had origins in a social milieu that countenanced more integration based on musical merit than has often been acknowledged. Sort of the way Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Your-Love-Keeps-Lifting-Higher\/dp\/B001A7HBZO\/?tag=howardmacom-20\">Jackie Wilson<\/a> get downplayed in histories of rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Since this is a key point of investigation in the class &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.scps.nyu.edu\/course-detail\/Y20.5421\/20111\/the-arts-roots-of-american-music\">Roots of American Music<\/a>&#8221; I&#8217;m teaching at New York University again this semester, and that I like tracing evidence of such miscegenation in blues, pop and jazz, it&#8217;s heartening to see a band that seems to be growing in reputation among middle-aged and older patrons of Lincoln Center-type as well as younger roots music fans and alt.rockers by trading in on that truth. What&#8217;s also interesting is whether a somewhat older and arguably grittier ensemble, a quartet of black New Yorkers known as the Ebony Hillbillies, can win similar attentions as they perform in the subways and odd venues of New York. After a week in Sofia, Bulgaria, they&#8217;re booked for the Amtrack area at Penn Station, 4 pm &#8211; 7 pm, on February 15 and 22 as part of the celebration of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.farmlib.org\/bhm\/bhmsites.html\">Black History Month<\/a>.&nbsp;I&#8217;ll be attending with my class on the 22nd, and hope to see everybody there.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hdwPCiMOWtQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.howardmandel.com\" target=\"blank\">howardmandel.com<\/a> <br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/JazzBeyondJazz\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe by Email or  RSS<\/a> <br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/archives.html\" target=\"_blank\"> All JBJ posts <\/a><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/w.sharethis.com\/widget\/?tabs=web%2Cpost%2Cemail&amp;charset=utf-8&amp;style=default&amp;publisher=6ed88875-2235-4b29-aaa3-60183b0bcbcc\"><\/script> \n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Carolina Chocolate Drops are at least as entertaining as the 19th minstrel shows they cop songs and style from &#8212; and just as confounding to any strict analysis of American attitudes about what&#8217;s called &#8220;race&#8221; &#8212; as noted in my new column in City Arts &#8211; New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1153,1154,1151,1149,1156,1132,410,1150,1155,1152],"class_list":{"0":"post-378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"tag-allen-room","8":"tag-american-songbook-series","9":"tag-amtrak","10":"tag-black-history-month","11":"tag-blackface","12":"tag-carolina-chocolate-drops","13":"tag-city-arts-new-york","14":"tag-ebony-hillbillies","15":"tag-minstrel-music","16":"tag-penn-station","17":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-66","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":375,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/01\/prince_plays_the_blues_-_choco.html","url_meta":{"origin":378,"position":0},"title":"Prince plays the blues &#8211;  Chocolate Drops, Wynton, Clapton, too","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The blues is big-time pop again -- processed to a triumphant apotheosis by Prince at Madison Square Garden\u00a0as I detail in my new City Arts column\u00a0-- (but did it ever go away? Here's the Artist with James Brown and Michael Jackson in 1983)\u00a0 \u00a0-- reinvigorated in acoustic revivalist and hybrid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/10\/live_from_new_york_its_fill_in.html","url_meta":{"origin":378,"position":1},"title":"Live in New York, it&#8217;s jazz beyond jazz","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"October 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Presentations of jazz that break all sorts of bounds, pushing far beyond stale conventions -- jazz beyond jazz -- are so prevalent in Manhattan that the energy expended just being on the scene can leave me too drained to report on the good stuff. Five shows in the past month\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":183,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/04\/manhattan_jazz_residencies_my.html","url_meta":{"origin":378,"position":2},"title":"Manhattan jazz residencies (my new City Arts column)","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra\u00c2\u00a0at the Village Vanguard on Monday night since 1967\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The Mingus Big Band, Orchestra and Dynasty ensemble in regular rotation on Mondays at the Jazz StandardGuitarist Les Paul, at age 94 a genuine hipster, the Ben Franklin of American popular music, Monday nights at Iridium forever.These are a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":875,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/04\/rhymin-simon-swings-3-6-mil-wyntons-way.html","url_meta":{"origin":378,"position":3},"title":"Rhymin&#8217; Simon swings $3.6 mil Wynton&#8217;s way","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Jazz at Lincoln Center has released a \"Post Gala Report\" on the April 18 concert debut of Paul Simon performing his career songbook with both his band and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, plus special guest vocalist Aaron Neville. \u00c2\u00a0$3.6 million was raised at the black tie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Paul-Simon-Wynton-Marsalis-300x213.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":274,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/11\/best_beyond_jazz_recordings_of.html","url_meta":{"origin":378,"position":4},"title":"Best beyond &#8220;jazz&#8221; CDs of 2009","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"November 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My 10 top CDs of 2009 blow past conventions to enrich jazz, blues, new and unusual music. They're chosen from almost 1000 I received for review -- an abundance of fine releases since November 2008, the full year following Barack Obama's election to president.Maybe it's coincidence that fresh thinking, spirited\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/04\/nycs_surviving_summer_jazz_fes.html","url_meta":{"origin":378,"position":5},"title":"Vision Festival, NYC&#8217;s sole surviving summer jazz big bang","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"With no news confirming -- or denying -- that there will be a mainstream New York City jazz festival next summer like those produced by George Wein since the late '60s and for the past 25 years supported by the JVC Corporation of America, the artist-organized \"avant-jazz\"\u00c2\u00a0Vision Festival stands as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}