Click on the picture to play a clip of the music.
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"I Got Rhythm," Fats Waller, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down…The Early Years, Part 2, Bluebird 07863-66640-2, |
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"Dizzy Atmosphere," Charlie Parker, The Gold Collection, Retro R2CD40-16 |
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PART I Unknown cantor at Auschwitz commemoration, Oswiecim, Poland, recorded by Michael Goldfarb. |
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"Levee Camp Holler," Johnny Lee Moore, recorded at Camp B, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Lambert, Mississippi, 1959,from Songs Of The South - A Musical Journey From The Georgia Sea Islands To The Mississippi Delta Recorded In The Field By Alan Lomax, Atlantic 82496 box set. |
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Unknown artist, Rumanian Taksim and Hasapiko, courtesy of Hankus Netsky |
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"Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground," Blind Willie Johnson, 1927, from Blues Masters, Vol. 15, Slide Guitar Classics, Rhino 71126 |
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"Trombone Cholly," Bessie Smith 1928, The Essential Bessie Smith, Legacy 64922 (no music clip available) |
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PART II "Weeping Willow Rag," Scott Joplin [piano roll] 1916, The Entertainer, Biograph 101 |
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"A Real Slow Drag," Marcus Roberts, 1998, The Joy Of Joplin, Sony Classical 60554 |
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"Alexander's Ragtime Band," Royal
Military Band, 1912, [78 rpm disc] Coliseum 136a, audio and photo
from Dismuke's Virtual Talking Machine: http://www.dismuke.org/ (no music clip available) |
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Unknown artist, "Nokh A Bisl," courtesy of Hankus Netsky |
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"(Lena From) Palesteena," Original Dixieland Jazz Band, 1920, The Complete Original Dixieland Jazz Band 1917-1936, RCA 66608 |
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"The Chant," Artie Shaw & His Orchestra, Artie Shaw Vol. III Live In 1938-1939, Phontastic 7639 |
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"Utt Da Zay (Sings the Tailor)," Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, 1938, Cab Calloway-Featuring Chu Berry, Legacy 48901 |
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"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen," The Andrews Sisters, 1937, The Best Of The Andrews Sisters, MCA 088 112 230-2 |
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"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen," Ella Fitzgerald, The Early Years-Part I: with Chick Webb & His Orchestra, 1938, GRP 618 |
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"Stormy Weather," Ethel Waters, 1932, Am I Blue?, ASV 5290 (no music clip available) |
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PART III "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy," Al Jolson, 1946 [orig. 1930], The Singing Fool, The Entertainers [Promo Sound AG] 276 "The promise of these musical Jews in American life is that they would gladly contribute cultural capital to the American scene without making demands for political power. Irving Berlin put some of this into "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy...." In an age when...many white people [felt] that the closeness of African Americans and Jews held many dangers, the work done by the Jews of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley was especially comforting." Jeffrey Melnick, A Right To Sing The Blues: African Americans, Jews, and American Popular Song (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999) |
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"Rhapsody In Blue," Paul Whiteman, 1924, 16 Classic Performances, Crown Collection 2030 (no music clip available) |
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"Get Happy," Art Tatum 1940, The Art Of Tatum, ASV 5164 "Have an idol? Yeah. You can see how difficult it is, because [now] you have so many records. When I was comin' up, I had three records. I had Prez' Sometimes I'm Happy, Art Tatum's Get Happy, Duke's J.B. Blues. And my mother loved Louis Jordan. Billy Eckstine and Dizzy. Coleman Hawkins playin' Woody 'N' You. And that was about it." Miles Davis, interviewed by Howard Mandel, DownBeat Magazine, December 1984. |
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"Harlem Air Shaft," Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, 1940, Classics 805 "...And take my Harlem Air Shaft. So much goes on in a
Harlem air shaft. You get the full essence of Harlem in an air shaft.
You hear fights, you smell dinner, you hear the radio. An air shaft
is one great big loudspeaker. You see your neighbor's laundry. You
hear the janitor's dogs. The man upstairs' aerial falls down and
breaks your window. You smell coffee. A wonderful thing, that smell.
An air shaft has got every contrast. One guy is cooking dried fish
and rice, and another guy's got a great big turkey. Guy-with-fish's
wife is a terrific cooker, but the guy's wife with the turkey is
doing a sad job. You hear people praying, fighting, snoring. Jitterbugs
are jumping up and down always over you, never below you. That's
a funny thing about jitterbugs. They're always above you. I tried
to put that in Air Shaft...." Duke Ellington, quoted by
Dr. R. Pen of the University of Kentucky: |
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"Strange Fruit," Billie Holiday, 1946 [orig. 1938], Lady In Autumn-The Best Of The Verve Years, Verve 849 434-2 |