Reviews
"An important contribution to scholarship on African-American music....Byexamining the ways in which a concern with the vernacular was reflected indiverse forms of African-American musical expression, from classicalcompositions to gospel music and blues, Floyd offers fresh readings of creativecultural production in its broadest reaches during the period....Floyd deployshis sophisticated theoretical framework in fruitful ways....The range of thisbook...is impressive....Floyd makes deft use of the tools of critical theory,yet his lucid writing style avoids the dense jargon often associated with thisapproach. As a result, The Power of Black Music is an exceptionally erudite andthoroughly readable work."--I.S.A.M. Newsletter, "Floyd's work shows an uncanny coordination of ear, heart, and intellect. The author brings his subject into the realm of ideas while manifesting a love for the music and respect for the people who have made it. His grasp of the continuity of ring-shout values, and of what it means to Signifymusically, uncovers and explains the vital core of African-American music making more convincingly than any other account I have read."--Richard Crawford, Professor of Music, University of Michigan, "A deeply personal and passionate book that dares to take on the whole span of black musical history, from ancient Africa to modern America....Striking....Bold....Never before has a black musical history drawn such sweeping links between centuries past and present, and Floyd is one of the fewwriters with the scholarly techniques, the musical training and the personal passion to make them persuasive."--The Chicago Tribune, "Samuel A. Floyd Jr...illuminates the connections between the music,myths, and rituals of Africa and the continuing evolution of African-Americanmusic."--The Washington Post Book World, "Offers a new way of listening to the music of Black America and appreciating its profound contribution to all American music."--National Black Employment Directory, "The most scholarly and imaginative exploration yet of the origins and development of black music....An invaluable contribution."--Sterling Stuckey, Professor of History and Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, "A sweeping, selective overview of black music in the US, beginning withthe role of music in African society."--Choice, "Floyd's theories give him a solid basis by which to make judgments about black music, and also to describe that music."--Fanfare, "Floyd...diligently traces the history of Black music in America (the jazzof New Orleans funeral parades, blues, bebop, 1960s concert hall composers,rock)--its African influences and evolution."--Emerge, "A deeply personal and passionate book that dares to take on the wholespan of black musical history, from ancient Africa to modernAmerica....Striking....Bold....Never before has a black musical history drawnsuch sweeping links between centuries past and present, and Floyd is one of thefew writers with the scholarly techniques, the musical training and the personalpassion to make them persuasive."--The Chicago Tribune, "In this singularly focused and highly articulate study, [Floyd] is attempting to place in proper perspective the true foundation of all forms of African-American music, a complex of several related core-culture practices generally ignored in previous histories. His work can only be judgedfairly by its adherence to his intentions, and on that score he succeeds beyond measure."--The Mississippi Rag, "A classic study inspired by pioneering monographs, it advocates a fresh critical account founded in the forms and traditions of the music itself."--Come-All-Ye of Legacy Books, "Floyd's work shows an uncanny coordination of ear, heart, and intellect.The author brings his subject into the realm of ideas while manifesting a lovefor the music and respect for the people who have made it. His grasp of thecontinuity of ring-shout values, and of what it means to Signify musically,uncovers and explains the vital core of African-American music making moreconvincingly than any other account I have read."--Richard Crawford, Professorof Music, University of Michigan, "Diligently traces the history of Black music--its African influences and evolution."--Emerge"Dares to take on the whole span of black musical history."--Chicago Tribune"Important...An exceptionally erudite and thoroughly readable work."--I.S.A.M. Newsletter"Impressive."--Booklist, "Diligently traces the history of Black music--its African influences and evolution."-- Emerge "Dares to take on the whole span of black musical history."-- Chicago Tribune "Important...An exceptionally erudite and thoroughly readable work."-- I.S.A.M. Newsletter "Impressive."-- Booklist, "Diligently traces the history of Black music--its African influences and evolution."--Emerge "Dares to take on the whole span of black musical history."--Chicago Tribune "Important...An exceptionally erudite and thoroughly readable work."--I.S.A.M. Newsletter "Impressive."--Booklist, "Samuel A. Floyd Jr...illuminates the connections between the music, myths, and rituals of Africa and the continuing evolution of African-American music."--The Washington Post Book World, "African American music deserves but seldom gets as much attention fromacademics as from music critics. Floyd takes a rare scholarly approach to it andsets a standard for subsequent studies. The range of genres he discusses iscomprehensive...and the connections he makes are particularlyperceptive....Academics, critics, scholars, and fans alike stand to gain muchfrom carefully reading this impressive work."--Booklist, "Floyd...diligently traces the history of Black music in America (the jazz of New Orleans funeral parades, blues, bebop, 1960s concert hall composers, rock)--its African influences and evolution."--Emerge, "Scholarly but never stuffy...a lively historical overview of all stylesof African-American music....Contributing mightily to the book's excitement isFloyd's willingness to interpret music through folklore, literary criticism andsoulful personal memories."--Pulse (Tower Records publication) the, "[I]t brilliantly illuminates the centuries-old linkage between the music, myths, and rituals of Africa and the continuing evolution and enduring vitality of African-American music....Floyd clearly shows that black folk culture remains a driving force in the black music of America, a forcewith the power to enrich cultures the world over."--Black Media News, "The most scholarly and imaginative exploration yet ofthe origins anddevelopment of black music....An invaluable contribution."--Sterling Stuckey,Professor of History and Religious Studies, University of California,Riverside, "An important contribution to scholarship on African-American music....By examining the ways in which a concern with the vernacular was reflected in diverse forms of African-American musical expression, from classical compositions to gospel music and blues, Floyd offers fresh readings ofcreative cultural production in its broadest reaches during the period....Floyd deploys his sophisticated theoretical framework in fruitful ways....The range of this book...is impressive....Floyd makes deft use of the tools of critical theory, yet his lucid writing style avoids the dense jargonoften associated with this approach. As a result, The Power of Black Music is an exceptionally erudite and thoroughly readable work."--I.S.A.M. Newsletter
Synopsis
When Jimi Hendrix transfixed the crowds of Woodstock with his gripping version of "The Star Spangled Banner," he was building on a foundation reaching back, in part, to the revolutionary guitar playing of Howlin' Wolf and the other great Chicago bluesmen, and to the Delta blues tradition before him. But in its unforgettable introduction, followed by his unaccompanied "talking" guitar passage and inserted calls and responses at key points in the musical narrative, Hendrix's performance of the national anthem also hearkened back to a tradition even older than the blues, a tradition rooted in the rings of dance, drum, and song shared by peoples across Africa. Bold and original, The Power of Black Music offers a new way of listening to the music of black America, and appreciating its profound contribution to all American music. Striving to break down the barriers that remain between high art and low art, it brilliantly illuminates the centuries-old linkage between the music, myths and rituals of Africa and the continuing evolution and enduring vitality of African-American music. Inspired by the pioneering work of Sterling Stuckey and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author Samuel A. Floyd, Jr, advocates a new critical approach grounded in the forms and traditions of the music itself. He accompanies readers on a fascinating journey from the African ring, through the ring shout's powerful merging of music and dance in the slave culture, to the funeral parade practices of the early new Orleans jazzmen, the bluesmen in the twenties, the beboppers in the forties, and the free jazz, rock, Motown, and concert hall composers of the sixties and beyond. Floyd dismisses the assumption that Africans brought to the United States as slaves took the music of whites in the New World and transformed it through their own performance practices. Instead, he recognizes European influences, while demonstrating how much black music has continued to share with its African counterparts. Floyd maintains that while African Americans may not have direct knowledge of African traditions and myths, they can intuitively recognize links to an authentic African cultural memory. For example, in speaking of his grandfather Omar, who died a slave as a young man, the jazz clarinetist Sidney Bechet said, "Inside him he'd got the memory of all the wrong that's been done to my people. That's what the memory is....When a blues is good, that kind of memory just grows up inside it." Grounding his scholarship and meticulous research in his childhood memories of black folk culture and his own experiences as a musician and listener, Floyd maintains that the memory of Omar and all those who came before and after him remains a driving force in the black music of America, a force with the power to enrich cultures the world over., Bold and original, The Power of Black Music offers a new way of listening to the music of black America, and appreciating its profound contribution to all American music. Striving to break down the barriers that remain between high art and low art, it brilliantly illuminates the centuries-old linkage between the music, myths, and rituals of Africa and the continuing evolution and enduring vitality of African-American music. Inspired by the pioneering work of Sterling Stuckey and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. advocates a new critical approach grounded in the forms and traditions of the music itself. He accompanies readers on a fascinating journey from the original rings of dance, drum, and song shared by people across Africa, through the ring shout's powerful merging of music and dance in the slave culture, to the funeral parade practices of the early new Orleans jazzmen, the bluesmen in the twenties, the beboppers in the forties, and the free jazz, rock, Motown, and concert hall composers of the sixties and beyond. In The Power of Black Music , Floyd clearly shows that black folk culture remains a driving force in the black music of America, a force with the power to enrich cultures the world over., The Power of Black Music offers a new way of listening to the music of black America, and appreciating its profound contribution to all American music. Striving to break down the barriers that remain between high art and low art, it illuminates the centuries-old linkage between the music, myths and rituals of Africa and the continuing evolution and enduring vitality of African-American music. Inspired by the pioneering work of Sterling Stuckey and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the author, advocates a new critical approach grounded in the forms and traditions of the music itself.
