Langston Hughes R3 next Sunday. USA civil rights, jazz et al, 1964.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Next Sunday evening R3....looks very good.


"Langston Hughes at the Third
Sunday

In 1964 - a presidential election year in the United States - the Third Programme broadcast an epic series about African-American life called 'The Negro in America'. In a coup for the BBC, it was co-produced by the great poet of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes. His series brought to the airwaves a range of sounds and voices of the Civil Rights struggle, of jazz music and black literature: sounds and voices that had rarely been heard in Britain. 'The Negro in America' is also the tale of an unlikely relationship.

'The BBC,' Hughes said, 'I love it!'. But behind this affection for an institution lies a close friendship between the American poet and his British co-producer, Geoffrey Bridson. The media historian Professor David Hendy has spent many years studying the original series and how the two men came to make it together. Now, he pieces together, for the first time, the story of 'Langston Hughes at the Third'.

David travelled to New York to record interviews with jazz pianist Randy Weston, family friend MaryLouise Patterson, cultural historian Professor Michele Hilmes, and curator Steven Fullwood from the Schomburg Center.

The programme includes highlights from the original series:
Remarkable on-location recordings of riots in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963;
writers James Baldwin and LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka); jazz musicians Cannonball Adderley and Cecil Taylor

Much has changed in America since 1964, but it is surprising how much of the discourse from the original series remains relevant today."

[Lat-Literal]

Next Sunday evening R3....looks very good.


"Langston Hughes at the Third
Sunday

In 1964 - a presidential election year in the United States - the Third Programme broadcast an epic series about African-American life called 'The Negro in America'. In a coup for the BBC, it was co-produced by the great poet of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes. His series brought to the airwaves a range of sounds and voices of the Civil Rights struggle, of jazz music and black literature: sounds and voices that had rarely been heard in Britain. 'The Negro in America' is also the tale of an unlikely relationship.

'The BBC,' Hughes said, 'I love it!'. But behind this affection for an institution lies a close friendship between the American poet and his British co-producer, Geoffrey Bridson. The media historian Professor David Hendy has spent many years studying the original series and how the two men came to make it together. Now, he pieces together, for the first time, the story of 'Langston Hughes at the Third'.

David travelled to New York to record interviews with jazz pianist Randy Weston, family friend MaryLouise Patterson, cultural historian Professor Michele Hilmes, and curator Steven Fullwood from the Schomburg Center.

The programme includes highlights from the original series:
Remarkable on-location recordings of riots in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963;
writers James Baldwin and LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka); jazz musicians Cannonball Adderley and Cecil Taylor

Much has changed in America since 1964, but it is surprising how much of the discourse from the original series remains relevant today."

Thanks very much for this trailer.

It is likely to be a very interesting programme.

Hughes/Mingus - Same In Blues/Comment On Curb - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3lI6Offi8M

..."if you can write then write some books" (8-44) :

Gary Byrd and the G.B Experience - The Crown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3mOHkPbQvI

(the first rap song I taught myself to "sing" without referring to notes)

[Ian Thumwood]

The whole "Harlem Renaissance" movement is really interesting and effectively coincided with a lot of early jazz. I believe that this can probably be traced right back to artists like James Reece Europe who pre-dated jazz. Whilst Langston Hughes seems to get a lot of the attention, I think people like W E B Du Bois probably get overlooked in this country and, even from a jazz perspective alone he is of interest as I believe he was Jimmie Lunceford's father in law. Looking at the matter from a purely musical perspective, record labels like "Black Swan" seem long forgotten but it is really important to remember that Black identity was being promoted through music in the early 1920s as well as through literature. Although largely associated with jazz, the label also recorded more "serious" works by black artists with the likes of William Grant Still and Fletcher Henderson involved in the more academic aspects of the label, Oddly, one book I read about Henderson offered the intriguing suggestion that his understanding of jazz commenced with his work for the label having hitherto little knowledge of the music beforehand. You can read a bit more about this label and the jazz and blues artists associated with it here:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swan_Records

It is intriguing to see Creamer & Layton on the roster of artists as they composed the standard "After you've gone" which was immortalised by Benny Goodman. Both of them were black and they were one of the first great songwriting partnerships on Broadway. Creamer also had involvement with Europe's Clef Club. This side of music is always over-looked and I think that the total aspect of black musical culture prior to the jazz age probably needs to be re-appraised and maybe taken in a broader context than jazz / blues because a lot of the music produced would have equally fallen under the umbrella of musical theatre. I find this era hugely interesting and it is fortunate that there are advocates such as Marin Alsopp and Richard Rosenberg have sought to salvage repertoire which was in danger of being forgotten.

It is good that the works of writers like Hughes have , if you like, become "establishment" with poems like "I've known rivers" entering the mainstream. I think that it is a shame that the pioneering musicians of his generation and before have slid in to obscurity largely due to the fact that the music it spawned evolved at such an alarming rate that the kind of repertoire a label like Black Swan put out in 1922 was probably very dated within about 5-6 years. It is all well and good citing a later generation of individuals like Baldwin, Mingus, Baraka, Taylor and Adderley but they would have been nothing without the pioneering contributions of the individuals of the first twenty or so years of the 20th century. The likes of Mingus, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach may have been important voices in the civil rights movement of the 1960's but, for me, the lack of recorded evidence and the shear absence of mentions within most mainstream histories of jazz makes the era of the early 1920's hugely fascinating for me.

[Alyn_Shipton]

Those with long memories will remember my Sunday feature from 2002 called "Home to Harlem" which explored the HR in detail. We drew on this Langstone Series for it, but also a range of other voices. C120, Bluesnik?

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Those with long memories will remember my Sunday feature from 2002 called "Home to Harlem" which explored the HR in detail. We drew on this Langstone Series for it, but also a range of other voices. C120, Bluesnik?

I missed that Alyn, so the upcoming program's clips will be new to me. I've just found out that Randy Weston, Ed Blackwell etc played at LH's funeral, at his specific request, he even made sure we got paid scale, as Randy put it!

BN.

*Just caught the start of the "Jazz Now" David Murray, Geri A, TL Carrington set, sounds v. good, will go back to hear it in full.

[Jazzrook]

Next Sunday evening R3....looks very good.


"Langston Hughes at the Third
Sunday

In 1964 - a presidential election year in the United States - the Third Programme broadcast an epic series about African-American life called 'The Negro in America'. In a coup for the BBC, it was co-produced by the great poet of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes. His series brought to the airwaves a range of sounds and voices of the Civil Rights struggle, of jazz music and black literature: sounds and voices that had rarely been heard in Britain. 'The Negro in America' is also the tale of an unlikely relationship.

'The BBC,' Hughes said, 'I love it!'. But behind this affection for an institution lies a close friendship between the American poet and his British co-producer, Geoffrey Bridson. The media historian Professor David Hendy has spent many years studying the original series and how the two men came to make it together. Now, he pieces together, for the first time, the story of 'Langston Hughes at the Third'.

David travelled to New York to record interviews with jazz pianist Randy Weston, family friend MaryLouise Patterson, cultural historian Professor Michele Hilmes, and curator Steven Fullwood from the Schomburg Center.

The programme includes highlights from the original series:
Remarkable on-location recordings of riots in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963;
writers James Baldwin and LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka); jazz musicians Cannonball Adderley and Cecil Taylor

Much has changed in America since 1964, but it is surprising how much of the discourse from the original series remains relevant today."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq2z98YAajg

JR