African American Jazz and Rap: Social and Philosophical Examinations of Black Expressive Behavior

by James L. Conyers Jr. (Editor)

Overview

Music is an expressive voice of a culture, often more so than literature. While jazz and rap are musical genres popular among people of numerous racial and social backgrounds, they are truly important historically for their representation of and impact upon African American culture and traditions. Essays offer interdisciplinary study of jazz and rap as they relate to black culture in America. The essays are grouped under sections. One examines an Afrocentric approach to understanding jazz and rap; another, the history, culture, performers, instruments, and political role of jazz and rap. There are sections on the expressions of jazz in dance and literature; rap music as art, social commentary, and commodity; and the future. Each essay offers insight and thoughtful discourse on these popular musical styles and their roles within the black community and in American culture as a whole. References are included for each essay.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786462384
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	11/03/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late James L. Conyers, Jr., winner of the Cheikh Anta Diop Ankh Award for Distinguished Research in the Discipline of African American Studies, was the director of the African American Studies Program and university professor of African American Studies at the University of Houston.
The late James L. Conyers, Jr., winner of the Cheikh Anta Diop Ankh Award for Distinguished Research in the Discipline of African American Studies, was the director of the African American Studies Program and university professor of African American Studies at the University of Houston.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction (by James B. Stewart)     

I. Toward an Afrocentric Approach to the Study of Jazz and Rap Music
1. Metatheory and Methodology: Appraising the Black Experience
James L. Conyers, Jr.     
2. The Role of Criticism in Black Popular Culture
Warren C. Swindell     

II. “All That Jazz”: History, Culture, Performers, Instruments, and Political Functionality
3. “And All That Jazz” Has African Roots!
Learthen Dorsey     
4. Jazz Antecedents
Eddie S. Meadows     
5. The Life and Jazz Style of Blue Mitchell
Charles I. Miller     
6. Jazz Guitar: Ain’t No Jazz
George Walker and Mondo Eyen we Langa     
7. The Social Roots of African American Music: 1950-1970
Thomas J. Porter     
8. Jazz Musicians in Postwar Europe and Japan
Larry Ross     

III. Jazz Expressions in Dance and Literature
9. African American Dance and Music
Samuel A. Floyd, Jr.     
10. Lady Sings the Blues: Toni Morrison and the Jazz/Blues Aesthetic
Gloria T. Randle     
11. Al Young: Jazz Griot
Michael Carroll     

IV. Rap Music as Art Form, Social-Political Commentary, and Economic Commodity
12. The Rhythm of Rhyme: A Look at Rap Music as an Art Form from a Jazz Perspective
Reginald Thomas     
13. At the Vanguard: African American Life as Seen Through the Music of Selected Rap and Jazz Artists
Andrew P. Smallwood     
14. Africana Cosmology, Ethos, and Rap: A Social Study of Black Popular Culture
James L. Conyers, Jr.     

V. Toward the Future: Educating Future Generations and Preserving Cultural Traditions
15. Can You Sing Jazz? Perception and Appreciation of Jazz Music Among African American Young Adults
Nancy J. Dawson     
16. Hip-Hop and the Rap Music Industry
Tshombe Walker     
17. Ethnomusicology and the African American Tradition
George L. Starks, Jr.     
18. Reflections on Sterling Stuckey’s Slave Culture: Understanding Pan Afrikan Nationalism as a Cultural Force
Ahati N. N. Touré     

About the Contributors     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

Conyers (Black studies, U. of Nebraska, Omaha) provides a chapter on criticism which introduces the theme of the book: that an Afrocentric approach is the most appropriate one for understanding African American culture and tradition. Contributors (all but two are academics, in Black studies, music, musicology, and ethnomusicology) of the remaining 17 papers consider jazz and rap from this standpoint, with topics including jazz antecedents, the jazz style of Blue Mitchell, jazz guitar, the social roots of jazz, jazz musicians in postwar Europe and Japan, jazz expressions in dance and literature, rap from a jazz perspective, and African American life as seen in jazz and rap. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Provide[s] challenging and informative accounts of the amorphous musical culture called jazz”—Booklist.

From the Publisher