It’s 1906 in Harlem. The first sparks of a cultural explosion have just ignited. Artists, writers, musicians, and composers are flocking to this city-in-a-city. One of them is Carl Van Vechten. Who could have predicted that the Harlem Renaissance’s greatest advocate and chronicler would be a young white man from Cedar Rapids, Iowa? Carl Van …
Cab Calloway’s subtle but indelible influence on American culture began the moment he forgot the chorus to his own signature song. Picture the scene: The club is packed. Dancers fill the floor. Calloway steps to the mic and begins that new song he’s been dying to sing. He reaches the chorus. Something catches his eye. …
It’s 1951 Los Angeles, and photographer Bob Willoughby works in his darkroom, listening to the radio. The disc jockey promotes a jazz concert that night at the Olympic arena. The concert starts at midnight. Intrigued, Willoughby packs his camera and heads for the show. What he finds there, and what he captures on film, become …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
