Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson – What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (CD)
Product Details
Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson first came up together in the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the groundbreaking string band that did as much as any group in recent memory to restore Black string band tradition to its rightful place in American roots music. This album finds them returning to the source, honoring the late Joe Thompson, the North Carolina Piedmont fiddler who taught them both and whose music represents a direct, living link to pre-blues African American vernacular tradition.
Justin Robinson and Rhiannon Giddens are two of the few
people from the Black community caretaking Joe Thompson’s
family tradition of fiddle and banjo music. For both, their Black
banjo bodylands are primarily rooted in the North Carolina
Piedmont, where Joe mentored them. The term “Black banjo
bodylands” describes the deep connection between banjos,
land, and the Black musicians who breathe life into them.
Intimate engagements with place, nature, and community
around this musical practice are essential to the tradition’s
continuation. These bodylands constitute not just the individual
player but the traditions, knowledge, and spirit handed down
from their musical ancestors.
On What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, Rhiannon
Giddens and Justin Robinson simply chose to bring the places
and people—even the season—with them. Heralded by the
cawing of American crows, shot through with the round
thrumming of periodical cicadas, these recordings represent
the music exactly as it is: a particularly engaging piece of a
particular place’s rich sonic ecosystem. Giddens and Robinson
emphasize place, communication and collaboration in these
sound offerings from the North Carolina Piedmont homes of
Joe Thompson and Etta Baker and the historic Mill Prong
House. This record is not about flashy arrangements, or
displays of virtuosity for its own sake. It’s about the relaxed,understated flow that arises at the junction of long friendship, a
sense of belonging, and monstrous technical proficiency. We
make this music, we make it together, and we make it here.
This record refuses to be removed.
Tracklist
UPC: 075597896763
Label: Nonesuch
Release Date: 4.18.25
Format: CD