Ulf certainly it is as inaccurate to deny significant Griot influence as it is to say no other African musical agencys influenced the music of the slaves but the Griots. There are no reliable statistics on the percentage of Griots who were transported. And taking your point about the absence of power structures in the new world, then those griots who were transported could have disseminated their music and instruments to their peers irrespective if the latter were not in a griot genealogical line of succession since all such genealogical familial structures would have been broken up anyway.

So I agree no exclusive influence of griot but I think you take this griot issue too literally, non griots could have preserved and transmitted griot traditions if they had been exposed to griot performance, We have a parallel example with the bards and harpers of 16th century Ireland, who were exiled, end and banned by the Cromwellian forces as part of the destruction of the Gaelic aristocratic clan order who were the patrons of the bards and harpers. There is no question that the fragmented survivors of this repression fled for sanctuary to the peasentry in the remote parts of the west of Ireland and then disseminated their musical traditions among this population, traditions that were once exclusively reserved for clan nobility. Thus historians are not surprised that the late 17th century and 18 th century witnessed an explosion in rural Irish music composition, dancing, and instrument innovation. The instrumental innovation is particularly of interest to the hybridization process happening to banjo proto-types in roughly the same period in the new world. In Ireland between the 17th and 18th century new instruments based on European court culture, the violin, the transverse flute and the musette were Celtized by the Irish farmers and the descendents of the bardic and harping tradition ( travelling musicians and dancing master-musicians) who adapted these instruments to indigenous Irish music.

"...have been accused that the Jola Akonting music we have found has been influenced by modern Western music. But the same people then accept the..."

I think you may be citing me but here you miss my point. No contemporary African music forms currently being practiced griot or not can escape the influence of colonial and post-colonial cultural influences, so as I pointed out to you, banjos based on the American design were circulating in English colonial Africa as early as the late 19th century. American Minstrel shows toured what is now South Africa, throughout the last third of the 19th century. The Fisk Jubilee singers who toured South Africa in the late 19h century influenced current Zulu choral style singing. In what is now Zimbawe vocal dance music was influenced by the records of Jimmy Rodger's yodeling. The point of this is that you cannot use ethnomusicological evidence from present day Africa as if it was unmediated expression of 17th century Africa whether one is talking about the Griots or others. Tradition are both perserved and are altered in significant fashion over three hundred years of colonial intrusion.

On Friday, November 28, 2003, at 02:08 PM, Ulf JŠgfors

Lyle Thanks I appreciate that you like the article and the sound clip.

I will come back with a more scientific report in a another magazine next year. The most important thing is to get rid of the general believe that it was the Griots who were the main carrier of the Afro-American music to the New World. They were according to what I have found so far, not so at all. Different folk lute instruments and the folk tradition in different ethnic groups had a much more important impact on the common music life in the New World than the very few bards, Griots, that by accident could have been brought over from Africa.

Another side of the coin is that some Africans in the New World took up part of the Griot traditions. Things like that is something that always happened when there is an sudden empty field old traditional power structures. The main problem for me is to get rid of this misconception that had been cemented over the last fifty years of historical music writings. Everyday of work with this topic have given me more and more proof that the banjo history written by Michael Coolen and others are not based on correct facts. Sam Charters has been my guest in my hose this fall and admits that he perhaps took a hasten wrong standpoint in his book Roots of the Blues about the Griot music as the forefather of the banjo music. Time will give me right in this matter

I have been accused that the Jola Akonting music we have found has been influenced by modern Western music. But the same people then accept the Griot music as genuine African folk music and roots of the Banjo music when we now that the Griots took up Western influenced music as early as in the 1920s i.e. when they made the six string guitar a Griot instrument. Most musicologist both on the white and black side don«t care, but they should, as this concerns all contemporary music of the last 150 years in the western world.

Akontings supplied by me can now be seen in all temporary banjo exhibitions in Kentucky, Katonah N.Y, Stone brook of Long Island and in MIM, Brussels.

i