Yet Christy also added innovations — and a level of polish — that broadened the audience for the minstrel show. In the realm of musicality, Christy's band clearly outclassed the competition.

The fire still burns in Randy Sparks, whose Grammy Award-winning group the New Christy Minstrels is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The band will perform in a benefit concert at 3 p.m ...

Randy Sparks, a creative impresario whose musical ensemble, the New Christy Minstrels, helped jump-start the folk revival of the early 1960s and launched the careers of performers like John Denver ...

American musician Randy Sparks, best known as the founder and driving force behind the beloved New Christy Minstrels, passed away at the age of 90 on February 11 in San Diego. His son, Kevin ...

Randy Sparks, who founded the New Christy Minstrels during the 1960s and co-wrote the folk group’s biggest hit, “Green, Green,” died on Feb. 11. He was 90.

Tavis Smiley and music critic Stephen Ivory discuss the claim by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis that rap is "a modern day minstrel show." They also take a look at some of the songs on the Billboard rap ...

I've lived here a long time and have learned and heard about a lot of things, but a couple of weeks ago I heard about something that really threw me.

Randy Sparks, whose group the New Christy Minstrels was a huge part of the folk revival of the early 1960s, died February 11 at an assisted-living facility in San Diego. He was 90. His son, Kevin ...