15 Songs for the Uninitiated

Oh, hello, Blogosphere,

Posting has been light for a while, but I'm still here. I'm still writing about gospel, but lately it's been in a more scholarly tone (I just finished a paper on Praise & Worship). Still, I hope to resume light posting soon. I'm thinking through what that might look like.

Today, I faced the challenge of choosing 15 songs for a friend who is totally unfamiliar with gospel music. I had mentioned that I am often moved to tears when I listen to gospel music, and so I have to be careful what I listen to during my commute. She responded by sharing that gospel also makes her cry, but it's because she's only heard gospel music when she's attended funerals.

So I decided to make a list of 15 songs for her to download. But I wasn't sure what should go in this playlist: Should I try to cover the history of gospel music in 15 songs? Should I focus on contemporary gospel music? Should I try to pull a song from each of the various sub-genres of gospel? Maybe I should choose 15 songs that changed gospel music. Should I highlight the famous families? Should I choose the deep theological stuff, or the lighter fare?

Well, here's the list I gave her:

1. Oh, Happy Day—Edwin Hawkins Singers
2. Going Up Yonder—Walter Hawkins
3. Magnify—Byron Cage
4. I Believe—Darlene McCoy
5. Trust Him—Vickie Winans
6. Friend of God—Israel and New Breed
7. L.O.U.D. L.O.U.D.—Fred Hammond
8. Anthem of Praise—Richard Smallwood
9. Available to You—Rev. Milton Brunson & The Thompson Community Singers
10. The Question Is–The Winans
11. Dare to Believe—Commissioned
12. You Brought the Sunshine—The Clark Sisters
13. Power Belongs to God—Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir
14. Believer—Mary Mary
15. Wings of Your Prayer—Take 6

Let's critique this list. What did I leave out? What genres are not represented here? What gospel classics should really be on this list? My observation is that most of this is fairly contemporary--the oldest song here is "Oh, Happy Day." I'm missing holy hip hop, and, aside from Take 6, there's not much jazz.

What do you think? Let's get this discussion going, and see how this playlist evolves.

Quick, to the TV! A Take 6 Sighting!

Here's a photo of Take 6 doing a soundcheck for tonight's performance with Stevie Wonder at the Democratic National Convention.

Two Diverse Articles on Classical Music and Jazz

Lately, I've been enjoying a lot of classical and jazz music. Right now my favorite classical piece is William Banfield's "Essay for Orchestra." Snag yourself a copy of African Heritage Symphony, Vol. 3, and see if Banfield's composition doesn't make you feel like you can fly. Works of The Chicago Sinfonietta and Imani Winds are also among my current classical favorites, and a couple of months ago I found an album of Arias performed by Leontyne Price that I've been playing a lot.

When it comes to jazz, I'm familiarizing myself with the works of Sir Duke, and looking forward to Take 6's upcoming release of jazz standards. (By "looking," I mean "checking the mail every day for my review copy." But my faithful readers knew that.)

I have a longtime interest in issues of diversity related to higher education. The last couple of issues of Diverse Issues In Higher Education featured articles that combine those issues with significant developments in classical music and jazz:

Bringing Diversity to the World of Classical Music
The Sphinx Organization provides opportunities for young musicians of color to showcase their talents.

This article highlights violinist Aaron Dworkin's efforts to found and cultivate the Sphinx Organization, which provides music education and competitions to encourage young minority musicians to pursue classical music.

Keeping the Tradition Alive
The relatively low percentage of Black students in jazz studies programs remains a topic of interest as scholars want to ensure that the musical culture of an earlier generation of African Americans lives on.

Garry Boulard's report includes this particularly interesting quote from Carl Allen, the artistic director of jazz studies at the Juilliard School:

"A good deal of jazz came up from gospel music and playing in the church. Now
we are seeing another shift where jazz is influencing other genres of music that
may not be readily apparent to the ear or to those who are not musicians."

If I were interviewing Allen, I would not have been able to resist the desire to ask for some examples. Although I'm sure the response wouldn't necessarily fit into this story, I bet it would become a fascinating tangent that could lead to a different piece altogether.

Boulard also interviewed Bobby Watson, the saxophonist/composer who is director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri's Conservatory of Music. Watson offered some intriguing thoughts about the importance of band music courses in urban schools:

"It's no wonder so many of the younger kids, both African-American and
White, got away from this kind of music. Hip-hop became popular because many
students in urban areas like Kansas City didn't have any instruments to
play. And without an instrument, it's hard to play jazz."

Watson's theory would make for a challenging cultural studies-related essay or paper. In the meantime, Blogosphere, I'm interested in hearing your responses to Watson's specific thought as well as to this more general question: How are people's cultural tastes shaped by socioeconomic status?

Mary Williams: Preserving Traditional Gospel

Last week, on my way to the UNITY Journalists of Color conference, I heard a snippet of this story on Mary Williams, who works to preserve traditional black gospel music not only through her performances, but also through a class she teaches at Duke University. Click this link to hear the whole thing.

Image Credit: thestory.org

Meme, Myself and I

Caryn of Mama's Got a Fake I.D. tagged me with a meme. Here are the rules of the meme:

Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK. Here goes:

1. I really love gospel music, even the stuff that predates the term gospel. In fact, I rock out to Goodbye Babylon sometimes while I'm working. But--except for her version of "Come Sunday" (performed with Duke Ellington)--I don't enjoy Mahalia Jackson's music. Weird, I know. But I bought a box set of her work a few years ago, and haven't yet made it through. I. Just. Can't. Don't Know. Why.

2. I keep a list of songs in my head that I'd love to sing some time. And a lot, a lot, a lot of them were featured on Ron Winans' Family & Friends Choir albums. For example, "I Have a Father," led by CeCe Winans; "Now Are We," performed by Kayla Parker on Ron Winans Family & Friends Choir 2; "Salvation is Free," led by Vanessa Bell Armstrong on Ron Winans Family & Friends 5. Other favorites include "Going Up Yonder," as performed by Tramaine Hawkins; "There Is No Way," the Tommies' classic; and "Let the Glory," from Hezekiah Walker's Focus on Glory. But I don't actually belong to a choir right now.

3. I attended seminary a couple of years ago. Although I didn't stay long--I realized that although I liked it, I didn't want to continue--I made a great friend and got one of my best pieces of writing ever out of my short stay.

4. Speaking of writing, I am blogging right now from the Best Writing Chair Ever: It's a leather armchair in a soft yellow color called "Buttercream," with a storage ottoman. I am a compact individual (read: short girl), and it fits me perfectly. I hadn't planned on buying a chair the day I saw it, but it's a leather armchair in a soft yellow color called "Buttercream," with a storage ottoman. I mean, I'm a writer, so it's practically a tool.

5. I love neologisms, and coin them frequently in everyday conversation. Some of them have even made it past editors into my music reviews.

6. When I'm not blogging/writing, my other hobbies include baking, crafty but not kitschy sorts of things, photography, collecting items that represent African-Americans in interesting ways, reading about the Civil Rights Movement, and Learning About Stuff.

7. I love coffee table books. My current favorites are Jackie Ormes: the First African-American Woman Cartoonist, Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders, and Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition.

OK. Now, I'm tagging:

Rod

Holly

Lisa

Lisa the Other

Bob Marovich

Laura

and one other person, To Be Determined.