Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music

by Amiri Baraka

Overview

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 famous—Max Roach, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane—and on those whose names are known mainly by jazz aficionados—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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520265820
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	05/26/2009
Series:	Music of the African Diaspora , #13
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	426
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) is a writer and critic, the poet laureate of New Jersey, and Professor Emeritus of the State University of New York, Stony Brook. His many books include Blues People, Black Music, and The Music.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Essays

1 Griot/Djali: Poetry, Music, History, Message 5

2 Miles Later 9

3 The "Blues Aesthetic" and the "Black Aesthetic": Aesthetics as the Continuing Political History of a Culture 19

4 Blues People: Looking Both Ways 28

5 Rhythm 33

6 The American Popular Song: "The Great American Song Book" 38

7 Blues Line 47

8 Cosby and the Music 49

9 Nina Returns 56

10 Jazz Criticism and Its Effect on the Music 72

11 Not "the Boss": Bruce Springsteen 86

12 Wynton Marsalis: Black Codes (from the Underground) 88

13 "The International Business of Jazz" and the Need for the Cooperative and Collective Self-Development of an International People's Culture 91

14 Newark's "Coast" and the Hidden Legacy of Urban Culture 101

15 Black Music as a Force for Social Change 106

16 What You Mean, Du Wop? 110

17 Classical American Music 117

18 Singers and the Music: A Theater Piece 119

19 Newark's Influence on American Music 124

20 Ritual and Performance 133

21 Bopera Theory 140

22 "Jazz and the White Critic": Thirty Years Later 145

23 Random Notes on the Last Decade 155

Part 2 Great Musicians

24 Panthalassa: Miles Davis 159

25 When Miles Split! 166

26 David Murray, Ming's Samba 170

27 David Murray, Fo Deuk Revue 173

28 David Murray, Addenda to a Concert 176

29 On Reissuing Trane 178

30 John Coltrane: Why His Legacy Continues 192

31 Some Memories of Alan Shorter: Interview with Wayne Shorter 195

32 High Art: Art Tatum 198

33 Max Roach at the Iridium 208

34 Paris Max 210

35 The Great Max Roach 214

36 Billie Holiday 219

37 The High Priest of BeBop 222

38 Eric Dolphy: A Note 236

39 Jackie Mc 237

40 It Ain't about You 240

41 You Ever Hear Albert Ayler? 242

42 Albert's Will 259

43 Sassy Was Definitely Not the Avon Lady 261

44 Fred 265

45 Fred Hopkins's Memorial 267

46 Duke Ellington: The Music's "Great Spirit" 270

47 Duke Was a Very Great Pianist! 276

48 Blind Tom: The Continuity of Americana 277

49 Don Pullen Leaves Us 280

50 Black History Month Rediscovers "the Music" in New York City 286

51 Black History Month Rediscovers "the Music," Part 2: The Charles Tolliver Big Band at the Jazz Standard 289

52 Wonderful Stevie 292

53 Abbey Lincoln 295

54 Four Tough Good-byes Jackie McLean John Hicks Hilton Ruiz Halim Suliman 304

Part 3 Notes, Reviews, and Observations

55 Impulse Sampler, Act on Impulse 313

56 Ralph Peterson 316

57 Good to Go Andrew Cyrille 318

58 Epitome Odean Pope Saxophone Choir 321

59 Moving Pictures Ravi Coltrane 323

60 Ugly Beauty Donal Fox David Murray 326

61 Connections Tyrone Jefferson 331

62 James Moody 334

63 Barry Harris: In the Tradition 338

64 Shukuru Pharoah Sanders 340

65 Breakthrough Don Pullen-George Adams Quartet 344

66 Freeman and Freeman Von Chico Freeman 349

67 Orgasm Alan Shorter 352

68 The Work Man: Reggie Workman 356

69 Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory 360

70 But Beautiful Jimmy Scott 364

71 Talking Horns Malachi Thompson 366

72 The Nexus Orchestra, Seize the Time 368

73 Three Fresh Ticklers 370

74 Last Chance for Common Sense Rodney Kendrick 373

75 Multiple Artists Jazz Times Review 375

76 More Young Bloods to the Rescue! 378

77 Memorophilia Vijay Iyer 381

78 TriFactor, If You Believe 384

79 Live Lessons 387

80 New York Art Quintet 394

81 Nation Time Peter Brötzmann Nipples Joe McPhee 398

82 River of Life Jon Jang David Murray 401

83 Encounter Trio Three 404

84 Coming and Going Jackie Mc 407

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A major contribution to both African American literature and American music criticism."—African American Review

"Meditations on black music, primarily jazz, that American classical music, that will satisfy anyone who desires intelligent thought on the genre."—Beat Scene Magazine

"As lively and compelling as his strongest work of the past."—The Oregonian

"There is much to recommend in this excellent volume of essays."—Magill's Literary Annual / Salem Press

"Offers up history, musical analyses and a political commentary as they relate to African-American music and culture."—Goldmine Magazine

Editorial Reviews

There is much to recommend in this excellent volume of essays.

Magill's Literary Annual

Through essays, observations and a focus on great musicians, Amiri Baraka offers up history, musical analyses and a political commentary as they relate to African-American music and culture.

Goldmine

Virtually everything here is as lively and compelling as his strongest work of the past, and a trio of takes on Albert Ayler are together, I would argue, the most incisive, definitive, magical, true portrait of a jazzman and his music—of any era—ever writ. (Believe it.)

Oregonian

Meditations on black music, primarily jazz, that American classical music, that will satisfy anyone who desires intelligent thought on the genre.

Beat Scene

Digging will prove an important book. But while the usual tastemakers get around to acknowledging as much, . . . enjoy the liveliness of Baraka’s writing and the life demonstrated in its mixings of Black and White, high and low, American and global cultures.

Cadence Magazine

What sets Digging apart from similar treatises are the rhythms and textures of Baraka's prose, which render audible the thrill of listening to and engaging with black musical sounds. Over the course of Digging, we hear Baraka extolling the virtues of Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (one of the most universally derided songs in the recent history of popular music), providing an intimate portrait of Nina Simone in the 1980s, disparaging mainstream jazz criticism, writing lyrically about John Coltrane and Miles Davis, and exploring Bill Cosby's jazz hipster roots. These seemingly disparate subjects are held together by Baraka's lyrical imagination as well as his critical incisiveness. . . . Digging, like Blues People and Black Music before it, is a major contribution to both African American literature and American music criticism.

African American Review

Baraka's 1963 book Blues People (written as Leroi Jones) is a landmark work of criticism on American music, and Digging offers a generous selection of recent writing undertaken in the same spirit of intellectual engagement, political advocacy, and ardent fandom.

Foreword Reviews

“Offers up history, musical analyses and a political commentary as they relate to African-American music and culture.

Goldmine Magazine

“Digging will prove an important book. . . . Enjoy the liveliness of Baraka’s writing.

Cadence Magazine (2)

“There is much to recommend in this excellent volume of essays.

Magill's Literary Annual / Salem Press

“As lively and compelling as his strongest work of the past.

The Oregonian - Richard Meltzer

“Meditations on black music, primarily jazz, that American classical music, that will satisfy anyone who desires intelligent thought on the genre.

Beat Scene Magazine - Colin Cooper

Poet, playwright, and music critic Baraka (Blues People: Negro Music in White America) delivers another critical work on America's classical music, jazz, in his almost lyrical style of writing. Through previously published essays, reviews, and liner notes, he explores the cultural development of jazz music with respect to African American artists, the minstrel treatment of African American music, and the charged environment of its creation. His encounters with music greats, such as Nina Simone, and actor Bill Cosby pave a road of exploration to how some artists were affected by this treatment. Charged interpretations of how the music evolves into other forms are packaged with artist biographies and trees illustrating how these artists influenced others. Coltrane and Monk are among those discussed, and even Springsteen is found on the fringes of Baraka's commentary. Music lovers as well as anyone interested in African American culture will dig this book; academic libraries will find it suitable for history, music, and sociology programs.
—Brian Sherman

Library Journal