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. …
Category: Soundtrack to The Struggle
Soundtrack to the Struggle: Nina Simone and Old Jim Crow
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 response 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 her …
Soundtrack to the Struggle: Nate Adderly — the Work Continues
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: Count Basie’s “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: Duke Ellington’s Grand Statement
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 …
Soundtrack to the Struggle: “You’re Under Arrest” – Miles Davis Gets Political
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 …
Soundtrack to the Struggle: Ella and Marilyn’s Unlikely Friendship
Rumor has it that Marilyn Monroe’s vocal coach, very early in Monroe’s career, ordered her to buy all of Ella Fitzgerald’s records, and to listen to them 100 times in a row. This deep study of Fitzgerald’s singing made Monroe not only a pretty solid singer herself, but it brought about the beginning of a …
Soundtrack to the Struggle: Charles Mingus and the “Fables of Faubus”
It’s 1957, and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus defies a presidential order and blocks the integration of the Little Rock school district. Bassist Charles Mingus, an outspoken civil rights advocate, immediately writes one of the greatest jazz protest songs of all time. “Fables of Faubus” was intended for his 1959 landmark album, “Mingus Ah Um.” Columbia …