FIDDLE NOIR
African American Fiddlers
On Early Phonograph Records 1925-1949

OLD HAT LP 5001 
12-inch Vinyl Disk, 180-gram, monaural sound

Old Hat Records is pleased to release its first LP vinyl record, an anthology of vintage fiddle music entitled Fiddle Noir. The album showcases the work of African American fiddlers who recorded in the second quarter of the 2oth century, 1925-1949. Many black musicians active during that era came from a string band tradition rooted in the previous century, when the violin was “king of instruments.” Even so, African American fiddlers were seldom documented on early phonograph records, due to industry marketing strategies that generally excluded them. Those few who did record created a compelling body of work - soulful blues, country dance tunes, folk songs, ballads, rags, breakdowns, and sacred numbers.

Fiddle Noir gathers 14 examples of this rare music, each remastered directly from the original 78 rpm shellac disks. Artists include Andrew Baxter, Eddie Anthony, Edward Lee Coleman, Charlie Pierce, Will Batts, Jim Booker, and other masters of the instrument. The album comes with an 8-page full-color booklet with history, photographs, and discography.