Synopses & Reviews
andquot;Ronnie Gilbertand#39;s life and new book are brilliant, inspirational, exuberant. She has brought me hope for fifty-five years now with no end in sight.andquot;and#160;andmdash;Anne Lamott, author of
Help, Thanks, Wow andldquo;A passionate life,and#160;boldly lived by a social and artistic rebel. Brava!andrdquo;and#160;andmdash;Joan Steinau Lester, author ofand#160;Fire in My Soul: Eleanor Holmes Norton
andquot;Ronnie Gilbert was living history, and Iand#39;m so grateful she wrote this book. My only regret is that she didnand#39;t live to see it published, but knowing her, the journey was the thing.andquot;and#160;andmdash;Janis Ian, Grammy Award winner and writer of andldquo;Societyandrsquo;s Childandrdquo;
andquot;What an extraordinary, well-lived, lefty/Jewish life, complicated and engaged, a glorious weaving of art and politics:and#160;hootenannies to Red-haters, Carnegie Hall to Mother Jones, womenand#39;s music and love for a woman to the bombing of Gaza.and#160;Sing now to the heavens, dear Ronnie!andquot;and#160;andmdash;Penny Rosenwasser, author ofand#160;Hope into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears
andquot;A Radical Life in Songand#160;is an uplifting, bold, and adventurous journey with the resilient Ronnie Gilbert as she goes from challenge to challenge, from strength to strength, with gusto and heart.andquot;and#160;andmdash;Clare Coss,and#160;playwright and author of Emmett, Down in My Heart and Dr. Du Bois and Miss Ovington
andquot;Ronnie Gilbert approached her memoir as she lived her life: with love, compassion, and forthright courage. Vividly written, this splendid book presents a life of stunning surprises, harmony and struggle, and the enduring realities of political and personal activism, from the Weavers to Women in Black.andquot;and#160;andmdash;Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of Eleanor Roosevelt, vols. 1andndash;2
and#160;
Review
and#8220;As lively and compelling as his strongest work of the past.and#8221;
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and#8220;Meditations on black music, primarily jazz, that American classical music, that will satisfy anyone who desires intelligent thought on the genre.and#8221;
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"Digging will prove an important book. . . . Enjoy the liveliness of Baraka's writing."--Cadence Magazine (2)
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"There is much to recommend in this excellent volume of essays."--Magill's Literary Annual / Salem Press
Review
and#8220;Offers up history, musical analyses and a political commentary as they relate to African-American music and culture.and#8221;
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and#8220;A major contribution to both African American literature and American music criticism.and#8221;
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“As lively and compelling as his strongest work of the past.” Beat Scene Magazine
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“There is much to recommend in this excellent volume of essays.” Richard Meltzer - The Oregonian
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“Digging will prove an important book. . . . Enjoy the liveliness of Barakas writing.” Magill's Literary Annual / Salem Press
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and#8220;There is much to recommend in this excellent volume of essays.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Digging will prove an important book. . . . Enjoy the liveliness of Barakaand#8217;s writing.and#8221;
Synopsis
For almost half a century, Amiri Baraka has ranked among the most important commentators on African American music and culture. In this brilliant assemblage of his writings on music, the first such collection in nearly twenty years, Baraka blends autobiography, history, musical analysis, and political commentary to recall the sounds, people, times, and places he's encountered. As in his earlier classics, Blues People and Black Music, Baraka offers essays on the famousand#151;Max Roach, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltraneand#151;and on those whose names are known mainly by jazz aficionadosand#151;Alan Shorter, Jon Jang, and Malachi Thompson. Baraka's literary style, with its deep roots in poetry, makes palpable his love and respect for his jazz musician friends. His energy and enthusiasm show us again how much Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and the others he lovingly considers mattered. He brings home to us how music itself matters, and how musicians carry and extend that knowledge from generation to generation, providing us, their listeners, with a sense of meaning and belonging.
Synopsis
"As a commentator on American music, and African American music in particular, Baraka occupies a unique niche. His intelligence, critical sense, passion, strong political stances, involvement with musicians and in the musical world, as well as in his community, give his work a quality unlike any other. As a reviewer and as someone inside the movement, he writes powerfully about music as few others can or do."and#151;Steven L. Isoardi, author of
Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles"Every jazz musician who has endured beyond changing fashions and warring cultures has had a signature sound. Amiri Barakaand#151;from the very beginning of his challenging, fiery presence on the jazz sceneand#151;has brought probing light, between his off-putting thunderclaps, on what is indeed America's classical music. I sometimes disagree insistently with Amiri, and it's mutual; but when he gets past his parochial pyrotechnics, as in choruses in this book, he brings you into the life force of this music."and#151;Nat Hentoff, author of The Jazz Life
Synopsis
Ronnie Gilbert had a long and colorful career as a singer, actor, playwright, therapist, and independent woman. Her lifelong work for political and social change was central to her role as a performer. Raised in Depression-era New York City by leftist, working-class, secular Jewish parents, Gilbert is best known as a member of the Weavers, the quartet of the 1950s and and#39;60s that survived the blacklist and helped popularize folk music in America. Her joyous contralto and vibrant stage presence enriched the celebrated group and propelled Gilbert into a second singing career with Holly Near in the 1980s and and#39;90s. As an actor, Gilbert explored developmental theater with Joseph Chaikin and Peter Brook and wrote and performed in ensemble and solo productions across the United States and Canada.
Ronnie Gilbert brings the political, artistic, and social issues of the era alive through song lyrics and personal stories, traversing sixty years of collaborations in life and art that span the folk revival, the Cold War blacklist, primal therapy, the back-to-the-land movement, and a rich, multigenerational family story. Much more than a memoir, Ronnie Gilbert is a unique and engaging historical document for readers interested in music, theater, American politics, the womenandrsquo;s movement, and left-wing activism.
About the Author
Ronnie Gilbert was a founding member of the Weavers, along with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Fred Hellerman. She became a performer and an activist on behalf of social change in the late 1940s. Her credits include the book and stage presentation Face to Face with the Most Dangerous Woman in America, detailing the life and work of Mother Jones; Legacy, a play based on the writings of Studs Terkel; and many recordings with the Weavers, Holly Near, and others.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part One: Essays
1. Griot/Djali: Poetry, Music, History, Message
2. Miles Later
3. The and#147;Blues Aestheticand#8221; and the and#147;Black Aestheticand#8221;: Aesthetics as the Continuing Political History of a Culture
4. Blues People: Looking Both Ways
5. Rhythm
6. The American Popular Song: and#147;The Great American Song Bookand#8221;
7. Blues Line
8. Cosby and the Music
9. Nina Returns
10. Jazz Criticism and Its Effect on the Music
11. Not and#147;the Bossand#8221;: Bruce Springsteen
12. Wynton Marsalis: Black Codes (from the Underground)
13. and#147;The International Business of Jazzand#8221; and the Need for the Cooperative and Collective Self-Development of an International Peopleand#8217;s Culture
14. Newarkand#8217;sand#8217; and#147;Coastand#8221; and the Hidden Legacy of Urban Culture
15. Black Music as a Force for Social Change
16. What You Mean, DuWop?
17. Classical American Music
18. Singers and the Music (A Theater Piece)
19. Newarkand#8217;s Influence on American Music
20. Black Music in Newark: A Proposal
21. Bopera Theory
22. and#147;Jazz and the White Criticand#8221;: Thirty Years Later
23. Random Notes on the Last Decade
Part Two: Great Musicians
24. Panthalassa: Miles Davis
25. When Miles Split!
26. David Murray, Mingand#8217;s Samba
27. David Murray, Fo Deuk Revue
28. David Murray, Addenda to a Concert
29. On Reissuing Trane
30. John Coltrane: Why His Legacy Continues
31. Some Memories of Alan Shorter: Interview with Wayne Shorter
32. High Art: Art Tatum
33. Max Roach at the Iridium
34. Paris Max
35. The Great Max Roach
36. Billie Holiday
37. The High Priest of Be Bop
38. Eric Dolphy: A Note
39. Jackie Mc
40. It Ainand#8217;t about You
41. You Ever Hear Albert Ayler?
42. Albertand#8217;s Will
43. Sassy Was Definitely Not the Avon Lady
44. Fred
45. Fred Hopkinsand#8217;s Memorial
46. Duke Ellington: The Musicand#8217;s and#147;Great Spiritand#8221;
47. Duke Was a Very Great Pianist!
48. Blind Tom: The Continuity of Americana
49. Don Pullen Leaves Us
50. Black History Month Rediscovers and#147;the Musicand#8221; in New York City
51. Black History Month Rediscovers and#147;the Music,and#8221; Part 2: The Charles Tolliver Big Band at the Jazz Standard
52. Wonderful Stevie
53. Abbey Lincoln
54. Four Tough Good-byes: Jackie McLean, John Hicks, Hilton Ruiz, Halim Suliman
Part Three: Notes, Reviews, and Observations
55. Impulse Sampler, Act on Impulse
56. Ralph Peterson
57. Andrew Cyrille, Good to Go
58. Odean Pope Saxophone Choir, Epitome
59. Ravi Coltrane, Moving Pictures
60. Donal Fox and David Murray, Ugly Beauty
61. Tyrone Jefferson, Connections
62. James Moody
63. Barry Harris: In the Tradition
64. Pharoah Sanders, Shukuru
65. Don Pullenand#150;George Adams Quartet, Breakthrough
66. Von and Chico Freeman, Freeman and Freeman
67. Alan Shorter, Orgasm
68. The Work Man: Reggie Workman
69. Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory
70. Jimmy Scott, But Beautiful
71. Malachi Thompson, Talking Horns
72. The Nexus Orchestra, Seize the Time
73. Three Fresh Ticklers
74. Rodney Kendrick, Last Chance for Common Sense
75. Jazz Times Review, Multiple Artists
76. More Young Bloods to the Rescue!
77. Vijay Iyer, Memorophilia
78. TriFactor, If You Believe
79. Live Lessons
80. New York Art Quintet
81. Peter Brand#246;tzmann, Nipples, and Joe McPhee, Nation Time
82. Jon Jang and David Murray, River of Life
83. Trio Three, Encounter
84. Jackie Mcand#151;Coming and Going