Ethiopian carnival of melody

Minstrelsy

Title

Ethiopian carnival of melody

Date

1902

Genre

Performer

Minstrels

Writer

various

Location

Philadelphia, PA

Recording Technology

disk

Description

This 1902 record, part 1 of a series, tries to capture the feeling of a minstrel show. It begins with an "overture" in which the band is accompanied by Mr. Bones clacking a pair of rib bones together in syncopated time with the music, then moves to a vocal performance of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home," a minstrel show standard, then back to the bones. A quartet version of "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," written by African American composer James Bland, follows, and then a comic song. It ends with a version of Will Cook's "Darktown is Out Tonight," from "Clorindy" of 1898, the first Broadway show with an all-black cast.

Type

Minstrelsy
This 1902 record, part 1 of a series, tries to capture the feeling of a minstrel show. It begins with an "overture" in which the band is accompanied by Mr. Bones clacking a pair of rib bones together in syncopated time with the music, then moves to a vocal performance of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home," a minstrel show standard, then back to the bones. A quartet version of "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," written by African American composer James Bland, follows, and then a comic song. It ends with a version of Will Cook's "Darktown is Out Tonight," from "Clorindy" of 1898, the first Broadway show with an all-black cast.