Prologue – An Introduction to Afrocentric Music
Afrocentric Origins of “Jazz”
Eurocentric Documentation and Control of African-American Music
The Impact of Racism and Sexism
Summary
I. Traditional African Music
Formulating an Approach to Understanding African Music
Africa Before the European Slave Trade
Early African Contact with Europe
Women, Music, and Religion in Africa
Stylistic Regions of African Music
Northern Africa
Ancient Egyptian music
Ancient Nubian written music
Moroccan music
North African women musicians
Stylistic Regions of Sub-Saharan African Music
II. East Cattle Area
III. Congo Area
Central African Republic
Cameroon
Republic of the Congo
The Pygmy
IV. Guinea Coast Area
Liberia
Nigeria
V. Khoisan Area
VI. Sudan
Northern Sudan
Western Sudan
The Function of African Music in African Culture
An Overview of Musical Style
Characteristics of African Music
Musical Instruments
Structures of African Rhythms
Classes of African Musicians
European Methods of Examining African Culture
Summary
A Survey of African Kingdoms
Kush (Nubia)
Ancient Ghana
Mali (not the Republic of Mali)
Songhay
Kanem-Bornu
Benin
II. The Sociocultural Context in Which African-American Music Emerged
The Natives of America
Africans’ Limited Access to Musical Instruments and Performance Venues in America
Slave Era Music and Cultural Cross-Fertilization
African-American Music Convergence Affected by Sex and Marriage
Sociocultural Influences on Seventeenth Century African-American Music
Eighteenth-Century Sociocultural Changes
Witch Craze
III. Traditional African-American Music
Music Evolves During the Struggle for Independence and Equal Rights
American Folksongs and the Blues: Pre-Civil War
Juba
The Cakewalk and Children’s Game Songs
American Folksongs and the Blues: Post-Civil War
Marches
Minstrel Shows
The Dawn of Ragtime
The Term “Jazz”
Musical Influence on Religion, Racism, and Revolution
Voodoo
Jim Crow Segregation Perpetuates Segregated Musical Styles
Summary
IV. Innovators Emerging Between 1900 and 1910
Ecumenical Music Retention
The Continuation of Double Entendre and Other Modes of Communication
Afrocentric Dance and Musical Cross-Fertilization
Early Blues
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey – “Mother of the Blues”
William Christopher Handy – “Father of the Blues”
From Vaudeville to Ragtime
Scott Joplin
James Scott
Thomas Million Turpin
James Reese Europe
New Orleans – Dixieland “Jazz” (“Traditional Jazz”)
“Buddy” Bolden
William Gary “Bunk” Johnson
“Jelly Roll” Morton
“Papa” Celestin, “King” Oliver, and Freddie Keppard
Other New Orleans Instrumentalists
Turn-of-the-Century Women Musicians
New York– Tin Pan Alley
African Musical Influences in the Americas
The Evolution of the Drum Set
The Double Bass Evolution
V. Innovators Emerging Between 1910 and 1920
The Blues Continues to Evolve
Two Influential Rural Blues Musicians
Classic Blues
Bessie Smith
Ida Cox and Migrations to Northern Cities
Mamie Smith
Other Women Instrumentalists
Sidney Bechet and the Early Transition from Clarinet to Saxophone
Evolution of the Early Piano
Politics and the Twentieth-Century African American Church on the Eve of the Harlem Renaissance
VI. Innovators Emerging between 1920 and 1930
Snapshots of American Society
The Effects of Changing American Demographics on Music
New Orleans and the Movement East
Swing and Its Precursors
Fats Waller
New York During the Harlem Renaissance
Chicago Dixieland
The Jelly Roll Morton Documentary
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong and His Associates
Joe “King” Oliver
Lil Hardin Armstrong
Bix Beiderbecke
Big Bands and the Approaching Swing Era
African-American “Jazz” Bands
Commercial and Middle-of-the-Road Bands
Big Bands Swing
Fletcher Henderson
Duke Ellington
Jimmie Lunceford
Bennie Moten
Count Basie
Glenn Miller
Paul Whiteman
The Media Continues to Burgeon
VII. Innovators Emerging Between 1930 and 1940
The New “Swing” Bands
Women’s Bands during the Early Twentieth Century
Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears
International Sweethearts of Rhythm
Other Women’s Bands
Emma Barrett
Other Women Artists
Toward Greater Individual Expression
Art Tatum
Mary Lou Williams
The “Age of Sax Masters” Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young
Coleman Hawkins
Lester Young
Ben Webster and the Influence of Hawkins and Young
The Voice Continues to Be a Strong Influence
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Ellington’s Afrocentricity and the European “Mirage”
The European Image of “Jazz”
European “Mirage” and “Jazz” Politics
Benny Goodman
Other African-American Dance Bands
A Glance at the Development of the Guitar in Early “Jazz”
VIII. Innovators Emerging Between 1940 and 1950
Basic Blues and Early Precursors of Modern “Jazz”
Bebop Ties to Past and Present Cultures
Bebop Begins to Evolve
Progenitors of the Bebop Revolution
Charlie “Bird” Parker and “Black” Music Downtown
Misfortune, Drugs, and Alcohol Enter the Bop Scene
Bop Brass Instrumentalists
Dizzy Gillespie
Melba Doretta Liston
Howard McGee and Others
Bebop Pianists
Earl “Bud” Powell
Thelonious Monk
Women Bop Pianists
Other Bop Era Pianists
Dorothy Donegan
Lennie Tristano
Women Vocalists and Instrumentalists during the 1940s
Sarah Vaughn
Carmen McRae
Pauline Braddy (Williams)
Mary Osborne
“Progressive Jazz”
Summary
IX. Innovators Emerging Between 1950 and 1960
Continued Resistance to African-American Freedom
Changes
Miles David and “Cool Jazz”
Louis Jordan and Sonny Rollins
John Coltrane and Other New Approaches to Spontaneous Composition
Ornette Coleman
Cecil Taylor
Sun Ra
Charles Mingus
Two “Jazz” Harpists in the 1950s
Dorothy Ashby
Corky Hale
Art Blakely
Phineas Newborn
Summary
X. Innovators Emerging Between 1960 and 1970
Evolution of Innovative Music for 1960s Audiences
Restructuring Musical Approaches
Artistic Expression or Entertainment
Betty Carter
Alice Coltrane
Eric Dolphy and the “Jazz” Critics
Albert Ayler
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
The Emergence of the Art Ensemble of Chicago
Dewey Redmen, Art David, and the New York Scene
Amina Claudine Myers
Pharaoh Sanders
Archie Shepp
Joanne Brackeen
Charles Tolliver
Toshiko Akiyoshi
“Traditional Jazz” Continues
1960s Music Outside African-American Culture
Summary: The American Society That 1960s Music Reflected
XI. Innovators Emerging Between 1970 and 1980
Changes Around the World
Spiritual “Jazz” and New Musical Settings
Changing Attitudes in Europe
Connecting Fusion, Miles David, and Jimi Hendrix
Jazz-Funk Fusion
Jazz-Rock Fusion
Donald Byrd
The Crossroads of Stylistic Evolution
More Conceptual Expansion
Charles Mingus Reemerges during the 1970s
Anthony Braxton
The World Saxophone Quartet
Joe Henderson
McCoy Tyner
Instrumental Style Continues to Evolve
The Evolution of the Flute
Classical-“Jazz” Fusion and Other New Approaches
Santeria and Musical Freedom
A Historical Summary
XII. Innovators Emerging Between 1980 and 2000
African-American Music in American Marketplace
Emphasis Moves from Innovations to Youthful Image
Families of Musicians
The Age of the Freelance Musician
Snapshot: Bay Area “Jazz” in the Early 1980s
The Contemporary Midwestern “Jazz” Scene
Rap and Hip-Hop Culture
Contemporary Politics & Labeling African-American Culture
Summary: Afrocentric Snapshots of a Shrinking Society
