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 E M S©te Rrluineg d Ceso Anarcwhaivye (s1 /9 T0h0e– 1G9r7a3n)g. ePrh Cotoolglercatpiohne,d N inew 1 9Yo2r0k. FIEL AN D & LLiifftt__DDJJ..iinndddd 11 99//3300//0088 33::3333::0066 PPMM 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