minstrel

These would influence the American musical, but also shaping the genre were homegrown entertainments—the minstrel show, the revues of Florenz Ziegfeld, vaudeville and burlesque.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

The screams wouldn’t have reached the Hollywood Hills, where Bill Whitten wound down after a typical Sunday cooking Southern-style collard greens and cornbread in his eclectic home filled with African and Black American minstrel art.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025

However, the banjo's creation eventually became a blending between West African and European traditions mostly due to minstrel shows in the 1800s.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2024

It was there that he began to imbibe the crazy quilt music of the South, with blues and jazz filtered through snatches of country and the minstrel and medicine shows that traveled through town.

From New York Times ● May 29, 2022

They were joined by a minstrel, who was glad to share their bread and cheese and pay for his entertainment by singing a lay which John-go-in-the-Wynd picked out on the harp.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli

NM: It’s such a complicated dance, to try to dismiss them as minstrels while also understanding the quality of their work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024

During the Middle Ages, minstrels were retained by royal courts to provide pleasant atmosphere.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022

We are the last wandering minstrels, racing town to town, big clubs and small, piano player to piano player.

From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2022

The composer and songwriter Stephen Foster, a white Pittsburgher, wrote the 1853 melody, which blackface minstrels made into a hit.

From Salon ● May 5, 2022

He lifted his tail off the ground and held it at an angle and marched in time to the music the minstrels were playing on their guitars.

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo