Author's posts
Soundtrack to the Struggle – Nina Simone
Nina Simone’s career in activism began in 1964, when her songs openly addressed racial inequality prevalent in the United States. She recorded the still-controversial “Mississippi Goddam,” her respon se to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. That song, and others like “Old Jim Crow,” she said, were …
Soundtrack to the Struggle “Work Song”
The work song has existed since the dawn of recorded history. Field hands, boatmen, railroad gangs, and even cowboys used the work song to lift spirits and maintain the pace of labor. During the American era of slavery, the work song evolved into something far greater. It became a powerful means of communication, resistance, and …
Soundtrack to the Struggle “Same Old South”
Sometimes the truth is difficult to hear … or dangerous to tell. Sometimes, you have to serve it up with a helping of irony. And sometimes, you really DO have to use a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Such is the case with Count Basie’s classic 1940 record, “It’s The Same …
Soundtrack to the Struggle 6 “Black, Brown and Beige”
January 23, 1943. Carnegie Hall. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra make their debut at the legendary venue. On the program is the premiere of Ellington’s new magnum opus – his three movement jazz symphony, “Black, Brown & Beige.” It is Ellington’s longest and most ambitious composition to date. Admittedly, the piece as a whole is …
Culture Crawl 687 “All Voices Deserve to be Heard”
The Iowa City Community Theatre returns to live, in-person performance with “The Triangle Factory Fire Project,” opening Feb. 11. Director Michelle Payne-Hinz says the play is drawn from the actual news stories and court testimony after the devastating 1911 fire in a New York City clothing factory, which resulted in increased safety standards for workers, …
Culture Crawl 691 “Presentation In My Basement”
Ernie Schiller’s Rebuild Nepal Foundation makes its first trip in years to bring money and school supplies to children in Nepal at the end of April. Nepal has never fully recovered from a devastating 2015 earthquake, and the pandemic pushed recovery efforts back even further. Joining Ernie on the trip are several students and families …
Culture Crawl 685 “Cool Kids of Iowa City”
Adam Knight and Mat Smart have been friends and collaborators since college, and now they’re working together on simultaneous world premieres: the first performance of Mat’s new play, “Eden Prairie, 1971” and the debut of Riverside Theatre’s brand new performance space, in the Crescent building on the Iowa City Ped Mall. “Eden Prairie, 1971” runs …
Soundtrack to the Struggle 5: Miles “You’re Under Arrest”
It’s 1984, and Miles Davis is changing his musical course yet again. He’d exhausted his exploration of jazz fusion and now looked for a fresh perspective. The result was “You’re Under Arrest.” This album was intentionally controversial – from its garish cover art, to its confounding mix of in-your-face statements and sugary pop ballads. It …