by William “Duke” Smither “Love the life you live. Live the life you love.” – Bob Marley (a.k.a., Robert Nesta Marley, 1945–1981, Jamaican singer-songwriter, proud Rastafarian and Reggae musician extraordinaire) Gone Too Soon… Proponents of Pan-Africanism, Ethnomusicology, and Black Music in general– but Jazz, our especially expressive music with African roots, in particular— […]
Category: Jazz, Blues, Gospel and Songs of Resistance
The “‘First Lady’ of Soul” (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) “Every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine… Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our […]
“My version of ‘Georgia’ became the state song of Georgia. That was a big thing for me, man. It really touched me. Here is a state that used to lynch people like me suddenly declaring my version of a song as its state song. That is touching… What makes my approach special is that I […]
“The riverbank makes a very good road The dead trees show you the way Left foot, peg foot, traveling on Follow the drinking gourd…” (From “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” a Negro Spiritual) The Slave Trade– Politicized The current flaps, flaunts and flip-flops regarding whether or not it’s politically prudent to raise […]
Ne-gro (n) – Refers to a person of Black ancestry prior to the shift in the lexicon of American and worldwide classification of race and ethnicity in the late 1960s. The appellation was accepted as a normal and was used by those of Black African descent as well as those of non-African black descent during […]
P-r-e-c-i-o-u-s Lord, t-a-k-e my hand L-e-a-d me on, Let me stand I am tired, I am weak, I am w-o-r-n Through the storm, through the night Lead me on to the light Take my hand precious Lord, l-e-a-d me h-o-m-e… (Thomas A. Dorsey) As with many of us, those lyrics began placing a song […]
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see…” (John Newton, 1725-1807) Growing up mostly in the segregated south, on the cusp of the tense and often violent school integration years, I thought I knew for certain what […]
"Talking Drum Dialogues" (formerly 'Backstreet Djeli's Blog') 
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