The first banjo ever documented in New Orleans was in 1819. British-American architect Benjamin Latrobe illustrated the instrument as he witnessed it during a performance in Congo Square. It was a Haitian Banja, a masterpiece of beauty and craftsmanship, and closely related to its African ancestors.

In the decades following came a scattering of banjo references in New Orleans. A witness to a voodoo ceremony in 1825 noted: “… A banjo-player, too, sprang up, and pandemonium was unloosed.” A ...