Sound of Banjo in Salt Lake City Mountains

Banjo has always been my favorite musical instrument, in Pakistan it is only played in Baloch culture along with Surod ‘another Balochi folk musical instruments’.

During my recent US visit, I was invited over a home hospitality dinner by Michael & Tammy in a three story beautiful wooden house surrounded by icy Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City, UTAH. I loved the food and discussion with Michael, Tammy, Ron & Jennifer. Michael served us Broccoli Mascarpone soup and in entrée, saltimbocca chicken was served along with creamy arugula over sweet potato pasta orange cranberry sauce with Brazil nuts, it was so yummy, I still do not forget the taste.

After meal, light instrumental music was played; it was so familiar and captivating to my ears that I could not resist asking Michael about the music, he told me that it was Banjo. I was surprised ‘big time surprise’; I thought Banjo is a folk authentic Balochi musical instrument.

I went to hotel room to research about the origin of Banjo, I found that “The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by enslaved Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments.The name banjo is commonly thought to be derived from the Kimbundu term mbanza. Some etymologists derive it from a dialectal pronunciation of "bandore", though recent research suggests that it may come from a Senegambian term for a bamboo stick formerly used for the instrument's neck.

However tune was familiar but the shape of Banjo in Balochi music is different from the one used in US. It is fascinating to know that how historically human interaction resulted in exchange and enrichment of global culture and music.