Instruments that originated among the black population had to be cheap. They used the body: patting juba, whistling, singing. Or they could be made out of materials in the woods, like making banjos from gourds and pipes out of split bark; both of these instruments came from Africa.
This kind of pipe was called “quills.”
I was thinking about black American wind playing influenced by quills, so I made a playlist:
Otha Turner’s fife and drum style is mid- 19th century.
Henry Thomas’ blues quills are early 20th century.
Yusef Lateef’s jazz flute is late 20th century.
Otha Turner -> Everybody Hollerin’ Goat -> Shimmy She Wobble
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