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In 1877, the African American musical ensemble known as the Fisk Jubilee Singers traveled to Germany to raise money for their university. The choir's ten-month tour provided German listeners with one of their first significant and sustained encounters with African Americans and African American culture in the nineteenth century. As listeners throughout Germany heard the ensemble perform, they began to debate the Fisk Jubilee Singer's musical, cultural, and ethnic origins. At the heart of their growing ethnomusicological and anthropological interest in the Jubilee Singer's music was the question of whether or not African Americans were fulfilling the powerful promise of the civilizing mission: Were they proof that people of the black diaspora were capable of accepting "Western" art music and cultural values? This article illustrates how African American music contributed to global conversations on the civilizing mission in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document examines the concept of liturgy in a divided world and the role it plays in either perpetuating or bridging divisions. It presents two case studies to illustrate how worship can be used to break barriers and promote unity. The first case study explores the cross-cultural influence of Black music on American popular music, while the second case study focuses on the works of Donald Lawrence, who merges gospel and music theater to create cross-cultural experiences. The document emphasizes the importance of critically examining liturgies and using transcultural elements to foster justice and unity in a divided world. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a compilation of recently published books in the field of music. It includes a variety of topics such as saxophone playing and teaching, the world of Vaughan Williams, psychodynamic music psychotherapy, the banjo in southern Appalachia, musical variation, and the underground metal scene in the 1980s. Other topics covered include the history of record stores, Pro Tools music production, jazz collaboration, the friendship between a musician and a senator, and the impact of Billy Graham crusades on modern worship. The document also includes books on Mahler's songs, Kool & the Gang, music therapy assessment, and the Tiwi Islands singing traditions. Other subjects covered include Texas bluegrass legacies, the birth of acid rock, saxophonist Pepper Adams, pianist Josef Hofmann, and the life and music of Graham Jackson. The document also includes books on Mariah Carey, transformational music teaching, performing arts in Uganda, hip hop and race, and the story of the B-52s. Other topics covered include reggae music in Jamaica, music in twentieth-century Oxford, the importance of Willie Mae Thornton, youth culture and the music industry in Cambodia, and community engagement in orchestras and opera companies. The document also includes books on queer approaches in musical theatre, queering punk media history, applied musicology, Rod Stewart, the music of remembrance during World War II, and the music of Egypt. Other subjects covered include sample-based hip hop, Boston's musical transcend [Extracted from the article]

United States music history has for years privileged whiteness and largely ignored or disregarded the contributions of African Americans. The Stuart R. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, houses over thirty collections (and growing) related to African American musicians that could be used to both uncover and recover the critical role African Americans played in the music culture of the United States. This article presents a brief overview of these holdings to date, including the papers of composers (such as William Dawson, George Walker, and Undine Smith Moore), entertainers (such as Victoria Spivey, Bricktop, and Geoffrey Holder), and researchers (such as Rae Linda Brown, Geneva Southall, and Delilah Jackson). Types of materials held include manuscript letters and scores, photographs, and published music (both print and recorded) by and about African Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whichever way you spin the record, rap music and courtrooms don’t mix. On one side, rap records are well known for their unapologetic lyrical composition, often expressing a blatant disregard for legal institutions and authorities. On the other, court records reflect a Van Gogh’s ear for rap music, frequently allowing rap lyrics—but not similar lyrics from other genres—to be used as criminal evidence against the defendants who authored them. Over the last thirty years, this immiscibility has engendered a legal landscape where prosecutors wield rap lyrics as potent instruments for criminal prosecution. In such cases, color-blind courts neglect that rap is a genre originating from and predominantly performed by Black musicians, hence becoming complicit in catalyzing this targeted weaponization of rap music, chilling Black artistic expression, and effectively stripping the genre of its creative license. Though hardly a novel challenge for rap artists, the pending criminal conspiracy case against Jeffrey Williams, professionally known as Young Thug, prompts a renewed sense of urgency in drawing a bright line between fictional rap lyrics and probative criminal evidence. Building from notable scholarship in this field, this Note situates the law’s disproportionate maltreatment of rap music within the broader canvas of systemic racism to propose avenues for how the law may evolve to accommodate the persistent intersections between rap music and the judicial system. By delineating clear parameters for the admissibility of rap lyrics as evidence to address troubling bias in juror perceptions, this framework seeks to find a balance between protecting Black artistic expression and preserving the integrity of criminal proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between music theory, musicology, and racism. It argues that musicology has been racist in its exclusion of American Black idioms and its failure to acknowledge the dominance of these genres in Western music history. The article also examines the racist ideologies embedded in the concepts of tonality and its development by figures like François-Joseph Fétis and Heinrich Schenker. It suggests that tonality's hierarchical orientation and demands for eradicating dissonant elements resonate with a racist agenda. The author advocates for a reevaluation of tonality and the adoption of approaches that consider other aspects of music, such as time, affect, and bodily experience. [Extracted from the article]

This article argues that the term "tonality" should be abandoned as a concept for musical phenomena due to its problematic nature. The author acknowledges its historical significance but believes that abandoning it would not mean losing the theoretical insights gained. Instead, it presents an opportunity to create a more inclusive and socially diverse musical space. The article discusses the Eurocentric biases associated with tonality and suggests that changing our theoretical language may help address these biases. It proposes six categories that contribute to a sense of tonalness and raises questions about the Eurocentric bias in the concept of key. The text also highlights the importance of considering parameters beyond pitch in analyzing tonal music and emphasizes the social aspect of tonality. [Extracted from the article]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses the articles in the issue on topics including the examination of subcultural identities in music scenes, the interrogation of narratives in hip hop, and the exploration of marginalized voices and representation in popular music studies.

The article focuses on the expanded Timeline of African American Music, which offers detailed entries on over fifty music genres, thematic stories in music history, and a comprehensive bibliography of web resources. Topics include the site's design to mimic scrolling through a historical timeline, its accessibility for both scholars and newcomers to African American music history, and its integration of multimedia elements such as sound examples and archival images.

The article explores Black students' views about Black music education in the U.S. Topics discussed include the role of the Black Arts movement in urban schooling and in reshaping aesthetic education, music scholars and educators' recommendations of Amiri Baraka's books 'Blues People" and "Black Music" as important pedagogical resources, and strategies used by Black students to shift the balance of power in the classroom.

An interview with American poet and writer Amiri Baraka is presented. Topics discussed include Baraka's use and definition of the word digging in his book "Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music," comedian Bill Cosby's devotion to music and the music in Baraka's household and childhood. Also discussed are Baraka's schoolmates at Howard University and his encounter with professor, poet, folklorist and literary critic Sterling Allen Brown.

A literary criticism of the book "Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music That Developed From It" by Amiri Baraka is presented. It discusses Baraka's image as a social theorist, his presentation of the history of African American music, and his views about the path the Negro slave took to citizenship and the transformation of Africans into African Americans.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experiences learning and reading the book "Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music That Developed From It" by Amiri Baraka, as part of his African American music history college course.

A literary criticism of the book "Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music That Developed From It" by LeRoi Jones, also called Amiri Baraka, is presented. Topics discussed include the book's lack of robust discussion about gospel music, the origin and evolution of gospel music, and Jones' views about Christianity as expressed in African American worship. Also discussed is the book's exploration of the evolution of Black music as a mirror of African American history.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experiences within a Filipino Christian community in Southern Ontario during the mid-2000s, particularly the annual Jesus Camp.

Summary: This article explores joy, identity, and belonging at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival through an ethnographic project inviting festgoers and staff members to draw, sketch, or map their experiences and journeys through festival landscapes. Building on scholarship in visual, humanistic, and post‐humanist anthropology, we view map‐making as an emergent strategy for performative epistemology, a way of making and thinking together. In a festival with a strong visual culture that centers African American music and cultural heritage, drawings often reflect racialized landscapes and subjectivities. Maps reveal the centrality of affect in festival experiences while affording insights into what makes joy complicated. For some, festival sociality brings those tensions to the fore while making it possible for others to imagine a world otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the underrepresentation of composers of color in classical music and the efforts being made to address this issue. It discusses the increase in performances of works by composers of color, but notes that they are still greatly outnumbered by works of white European composers. The article also examines the barriers to performing music by composers of color, such as limited access to scores and concerns about cultural appropriation. The authors conducted a survey to understand attitudes towards music performance by composers of color and provide resources for teachers and students interested in exploring this music. The article emphasizes the importance of inclusive education and cross-cultural understanding in music. [Extracted from the article]

This article delves into the production and marketing of African-themed jazz albums during the civil rights era of the late 1950s and early 1960s. It explores the challenges faced by African diasporic musicians in a predominantly white recording industry, as well as the commodification of African jazz for white audiences. The article examines the political and cultural context in which these albums were created, highlighting the trade-offs musicians had to make between expressing their political and artistic positions and meeting commercial demands. It also discusses the intersections of spirituality, politics, and sexuality in African jazz, and the ways in which white perceptions shaped the production and sale of these albums. The article concludes by examining the overlapping and contradictory images of Africa presented in these recordings. Additionally, it discusses a specific series of recordings by Art Blakey and Sabu Martinez that incorporated African and Latin percussion, and raises questions about the commodification and exoticization of African and African American culture in the entertainment industry. The article also explores the different approaches taken by record labels in supporting explicit political messages in jazz music, and the role of Caribbean and African immigrant musicians in the production of pan-African recordings. Overall, it emphasizes the complex and contradictory nature of these albums as both political statements and commercial products. [Extracted from the article]

A literary criticism of the book "Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music That Developed From It" by Amiri Baraka is presented. Topics discussed include Baraka's writing of the book as a theory of culture building, the history of African American music, and the views of White and Black jazz critics about the book.

A literary criticism of the book "Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music That Developed From It" by Amiri Baraka is presented. Topics discussed include the historical importance of the book which focuses on African American music and culture, its relevance to blues and jazz aficionados, and Baraka's prophetic tone and pro-left sympathies in the book.

Zachary Wallmark's book, "Nothing but Noise: Timbre and Musical Meaning at the Edge," explores the field of timbre studies and its challenges. The book discusses the lack of clear definitions and technical vocabulary surrounding timbre, as well as the debate over its empirical nature or subjective experience. Wallmark introduces the "ASPECS" model to bridge the gap between empirical and cultural approaches to timbre. The book includes case studies on free jazz, Shakuhachi performance, and heavy metal, examining the role of noisy timbres and their impact on the listener. Wallmark also explores the ethical implications of timbre, particularly in relation to racial difference. Overall, the book offers a comprehensive exploration of timbre and its significance in music, considering diverse perspectives and cultural contexts. [Extracted from the article]

Nicholas Stoia's book, "Sweet Thing: The History and Musical Structure of a Shared American Vernacular Form," explores the concept of the "Sweet Thing" scheme in American music. Stoia argues that this scheme, which can be traced back to the 16th century, is a shared musical structure utilized by a wide range of American songs. The book delves into the historical and stylistic aspects of this scheme, drawing from both printed music and audio recordings. Stoia's research challenges the notion of racially separated music cultures and highlights the interconnectedness of Black and white musical traditions. The book also examines the relationship between secular and sacred music and provides examples and transcriptions to illustrate the "Sweet Thing" scheme. Overall, "Sweet Thing" offers a fresh perspective on American vernacular music and its historical and cultural significance. [Extracted from the article]

The author discusses the development of jazz music before and alongside the 1960s Black Arts Movement that showcase the African American experience and aesthetic. Topics covered include its seeds from the African blues-strain that expanded into the Negro spiritual and gospel music by way of Christian hymns, and into the blues and jazz music genres. Also noted are jazz music's practice of improvisation that reflects freedom, and its styles of Dixieland, swing, bebop, and post-bop.

The first decades of the 20th century, particularly the post-war era, brought about numerous philosophical and cultural changes. Exoticism and orientalism were concepts that still governed arts and music, however the philosophical concepts that lay beyond the use of exotic or oriental themes was gradually altered. Exoticism represented more than the possibility for artists to create an idealized elsewhere, inspired by the contact with foreign cultures and their artistic products. It also offered artists the opportunity to express the complex meaning of various symbols associated with exoticism. In this context, Western society gradually turned toward a new aesthetic that could provide artists with an apparent connection to the roots of mankind. Primitivism, associated with folk art and mythology, represented a utopic state, prior to civilization or colonialism, but at the same time, it offered the possibility to explore certain archetypal symbols and express their possible meaning through art. Art nègre, represented by African and African American art and music, was most often associated with this aesthetic of primitivism, and influenced the works of Western artists. French composer Darius Milhaud returns to the theme of origins and creation in the work La création du monde, which combines elements associated with the concept of primitivism, with jazz music and Western compositional techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia y Sociedad (01218417) is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Economicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Procesos Historicos is the property of Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on the intersection of selfies and ethnography, exploring the parallels between the act of taking selfies and the work of ethnographers in documenting and presenting aspects of culture. It discussion highlights the challenges and complexities involved in taking a good selfie, drawing parallels to the complexities of capturing cultural phenomena through ethnographic research.

Ginger Smock (1920–95), an African American jazz and classical violinist, was a popular Los Angeles entertainer and one of the first African American women bandleaders on television. This article traces her career from Los Angeles' Central Avenue to Las Vegas showroom orchestras, drawing on archival materials from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Through a close reading of a 1951 DownBeat profile of Smock, I interrogate racialized constructions of gender in that magazine and frame mid-century jazz reporting on women instrumentalists via a "narrative of perpetual discovery" that positions these women as waiting for a career break that never comes. As an antidote to the effacement implicit in such narratives, I propose close documentation of sustained artistic practice: That is, the day-to-day facts of a working musician's life. This article reads Smock's professional trajectory through an intersectional lens to offer a critical perspective on the ways in which social identities, especially race and gender, may shape both musical careers and our historicization of those careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

But with the introduction of radio and records, Lasser argues, Americans became "music consumers" rather than "music makers" as they purchased sentimental songs, songs about cuddling, and, still later, music about missing loved ones away at war. This made the slack key guitar, during its renaissance in the 1970s, both "impure" and, ultimately, native, and its working-class performers not commercial artists but authentic performers who did not sell their music. [Extracted from the article]