In this book, Jon Michael Spencer argues that African rhythm, particularly African rhythm in the New World, gives rise to the distinctive qualities of black cultures. These rhythms especially undergird and distinguish black music, dance and religion, each of which is a means by which Afro-peoples absorb these rhythms and concretize them in other aesthetic ways. Since black music has been the primary carrier of African rhythms (both black religion and dance are dependent on black music), Spencer contends that it is from black music that black people glean what he calls "rhythmic confidence", a phenomenon he describes as essentially equivalent to "soul". He explains how this rhythmic confidence is sometimes casual and calm and at other times explicit and insurgent, such as in rap music. Spencer's intent for reading the cultural history of Afro-peoples through this rhythmic lens is to clarify the cultural relationship people of African descent have to one another.
Scholars, teachers, and students of American studies and African American studies will find this collection an essential overview of a book that changed the course of American intellectual history.
For the African - American tradition of “ playing the dozens ' , see Abrahams , " Joking ' , p . 217 , and Roger Abrahams , ' Playing the Dozens ' , Journal of American Folklore , LXXV ( 1962 ) , pp . 209-20 , reprinted in Mother wit ...
Readers will learn how Afro-Peruvian music and dance genres, although recreated in the revival to symbolize the ancient and forgotten past, express competing modern beliefs regarding what constitutes "Black Rhythms of Peru."
... rituals and ceremonies have taken place in secret societies, many of which are derived from their counterparts in Africa. The Cuban Abakuá secret society is one such example. Ivor Miller (2009) traces and recounts the history of ...
Charlie Gaines. Williams heard of the song and went to Philadelphia, where Gaines and his band were appearing at the Club Dixie, to buy the rights. He got “I Can't Dance” for $100 plus transportation for Gaines andhis sax player, ...
This classic work is being reissued with a new author's preface on the silver anniversary of its original publication.
. An accompanying compact disk enables the reader to work closely with the sound of African speech and song discussed in the book.
This book explores not only the meaning of dance in African American life but also the ways in which music, song, and dance are interrelated in African American culture.
Neal guides us through the work of classic and contemporary artists ranging from Marvin Gaye to Macy Gray.
The book contains several essays on race, some of which the magazine Atlantic Monthly had previously published. To develop this work, Du Bois drew from his own experiences as an African American in American society.