Dinwiddie Colored Quartet

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The Dinwiddie Colored Quartet , also known as the Dinwiddie Quartet or Dinwiddie Quartets , was an African American vocal quartet.

history

The group was founded in 1898 as a so-called "Jubilee Quartet", a vocal ensemble specializing in the harmonious performance of spirituals . Under the original name "Dinwiddie Quartet" the group raised money for the "Dinwiddie Normal and Industrial School" in Dinwiddie County , Virginia . Around 1902 the group broke away from school and went on tour with a vaudeville revue.

On October 29 and 31, 1902, they recorded six tracks for the Victor Talking Machine Company as "Dinwiddie Colored Quartet" : Down On The Old Camp Ground , Poor Mourner , Gabriel's Trumpet , My Way Is Cloudy , We'll Anchor Bye- And-Bye and Steal Away . All six recordings have been preserved to this day.

The Dinwiddie Quartet was probably the first black vocal quartet to make recordings . However, there were earlier recordings (December 1890) of another black vocal quartet, the "Unique Quartette", on wax cylinders .

The Dinwiddie Colored Quartet probably disbanded in 1904.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Tim Brooks, Richard Keith Spottswood: Lost sounds: blacks and the birth of the recording industry, 1880-1919 . University of Illinois Press 2005, pages 155 ff.
  2. ↑ a b c The Dinwiddie Quartet - First Black Vocal Group to Make A Record on classicurbanharmony.net in the Internet Archive (English)