Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music (African American History (Rowman & Littlefield))

241 Pages·2009·1.99 MB·English

by  Burton Peretti

E v e r y Voice S

t
BURTON W. PERETTI is professor AMERICAN HISTORY (cid:129) AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY PERETTI L i f ince their enslavement in West
Africa and transport to planta-
of history at Western Connecticut State
University and author of Jazz in American tions in the New World, black
Culture. people have made music that has been
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SERIES
deeply entwined with their religious, com-
Series Editors: Jacqueline M. Moore and Nina Mjagkij
T H E H I S T O R Y O F munity, and individual identities. Music
A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N M U S I C was one of the most important constant
elements of African American culture in
the centuries-long journey from slavery to
L
freedom. It also continued to play this role
“A well-researched and well-written introduction to the riches of African
i in blacks’ postemancipation odyssey from
American music and its cultural context. An excellent book for the under- f
t second-class citizenship to full equality.
graduate classroom or the general reader.”
E
Gerald Early
— , Washington University in St. Louis; Lift Every Voice traces the roots of black
v
editor, Miles Davis and American Culture e music in Africa and slavery and its evolu-
r
y tion in the United States from the end of
V
slavery to the present day. The music’s
“This is an impressive and highly readable short narrative history of Afri-
o creators, consumers, and distributors are
can American music. Burton W. Peretti’s treatment of the social and cultural
i
c all part of the story. Musical genres such
dimensions of the music is especially compelling.” e
as spirituals, ragtime, the blues, jazz, gos-
Waldo E. Martin Jr
.
— , University of California, Berkeley; pel, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, and hip
THE
author of No Coward Soldiers: Black Cultural Politics in Postwar America hop—as well as black contributions to clas-
HISTORY
sical, country, and other American music
OF
For orders and information please forms—depict the continuities and innova-
contact the publisher AFRICAN tions that mark both the music and the his-
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
AMERICAN tory of African Americans. A rich selection
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishing Group, Inc. MUSIC of documents helps to defi ne the place of
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 music within African American communi-
Lanham, Maryland 20706
ties and the nation as a whole.
1-800-462-6420
B U R T O N W. P E R E T T I
www.rowmanlittlefi eld.com
L R
Jazz drummer Sonny Greer (1895–1982), composer ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5811-3 IT O
Duke Ellington (1899–1974), and guitarist ISBN-10: 0-7425-5811-8 TL W
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Lift Every Voice
The African American History Series
Series Editors:
Jacqueline M. Moore, Austin College
Nina Mjagkij, Ball State University
Traditionally, history books tend to fall into two categories: books academics write for
each other, and books written for popular audiences. Historians often claim that many
of the popular authors do not have the proper training to interpret and evaluate the his-
torical evidence. Yet, popular audiences complain that most historical monographs are
inaccessible because they are too narrow in scope or lack an engaging style. This series,
which will take both chronological and thematic approaches to topics and individuals
crucial to an understanding of the African American experience, is an attempt to ad-
dress that problem. The books in this series, written in lively prose by established schol-
ars, are aimed primarily at nonspecialists. They focus on topics in African American his-
tory that have broad significance and place them in their historical context. While
presenting sophisticated interpretations based on primary sources and the latest schol-
arship, the authors tell their stories in a succinct manner, avoiding jargon and obscure
language. They include selected documents that allow readers to judge the evidence for
themselves and to evaluate the authors’ conclusions. Bridging the gap between popular
and academic history, these books bring the African American story to life.
Volumes Published
Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and the Struggle for Racial Uplift
Jacqueline M. Moore
Slavery in Colonial America, 1619-1776
Betty Wood
African Americans in the Jazz Age
ADecade of Struggle and Promise
Mark Robert Schneider
A. Philip Randolph
ALife in the Vanguard
Andrew E. Kersten
The African American Experience in Vietnam
Brothers in Arms
James Westheider
Bayard Rustin
American Dreamer
Jerald Podair
African Americans Confront Lynching
Strategies of Resistance
Christopher Waldrep
Lift Every Voice
The History of African American Music
Burton W. Peretti
Lift Every Voice
The History of
African American Music
Burton W. Peretti
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham •Boulder •New York •Toronto •Plymouth, UK
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Awholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2009 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peretti, Burton W. (Burton William), 1961–
Lift every voice : the history of African American music / Burton W. Peretti.
p. cm. — (The African American history series)
Includes bibliographical references and discography.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5811-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7425-5811-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
eISBN-13: 978-0-7425-6469-5
eISBN-10: 0-7425-6469-X
1. African Americans—Music—History and criticism. I. Title.
ML3556.P45 2009
780.89'96073—dc22 2008025181
Printed in the United States of America
(cid:2)
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
For Catherine and Elizabeth

Contents
Glossary of Musical Terms ix
Chronology of Selected Dates xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 From West Africa to Slavery 7
2 Jubilee and Tin Pan Alley: Contrasting Sounds of Freedom 33
3 The Rise of Ragtime and the Blues 57
4 The Emergence of Jazz 79
5 Jazz at the Philharmonic: The Jazz Avant-Garde
and Black Classical Expression 101
6 Gospel, Freedom Songs, and the Struggle for Equality 125
7 Black Popular Music as Big Business 149
Documents 171
Selected Bibliography and Discography 207
Index 213
About the Author 223
vii

Glossary of Musical Terms
The following terms might be unfamiliar to readers. They are highlighted
in boldtype on the pages on which they first appear.
antiphony—European musical term for the effect in which one singing
group repeats or responds to the phrase of another group. It is roughly
similar to call and response (see below).
atonality—The quality of music that is not in a standard key or does not
use a standard harmonic system.
call and response—Acommon practice in African and African American
music, as well as in oratory and religious services, in which a lead mu-
sician or other leader calls out words, and the group repeats them.
close harmony—The practice of playing or singing the notes in a chord
(such as C, E, G, and B flat in a C major seventh chord) in their closest
proximity to each other. Barbershop quartets, for example, gain their
distinctive sound by almost always singing in close harmony.
field holler—Akind of agricultural work song, originating in slavery, of-
ten sung in call and response fashion, loud enough to be heard across
distances and often sung in rhythm with the repetitive work being
done.
griot—often also called djeli—A member of a West African community
who wanders from village to village and sings or speaks the news and
history of the community.
heterophonic, heterophony—The quality, notable in much African mu-
sic, produced by a melodic line and variations when they are sung or
played simultaneously. Differs from polyphony, more commonly heard
ix