Musical Crossroads: Stories Behind The Objects Of African American Music

A vibrantly illustrated exploration of 400 years of African American musical culture Music is the great equalizer around the world. No matter where it originates or what form it takes, it has had a profound role in shaping the human experience and preserving the history of that experience for centuries. African American music originated out of a heritage shaped by the Transatlantic Slave Trade and forced enslavement. The music born out of this shared identity was a means of survival, a treatise on the struggle for freedom, and an agent of social change, and generated a vast array of musical styles and performance traditions that have defined American music. Drawing upon objects in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture's permanent collection, Musical Crossroads explores how objects can expand our understanding of the ways African American music-making continues to shape and influence society. Five thematic chapters are introduced with an essay by Dwandalyn R. Reece, and accompanied by shorter features written by museum staff. Illustrated with wonderful images of close to 200 objects in the museum's music and performing arts collection including the obvious---instruments (Charlie Parker's King Alto Sax), clothing (Janet Jackson's piano recital dress), archival documents (Shirley Verrett's Julliard Notebook)---to the less obvious (Chuck Berry's Red Cadillac Eldorado, Rakim's microphone, and a 45 rpm version of Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" recorded in Norwegian) along with a wealth of additional objects that trace the history of African American music and the history of the United States.

• | Author: Dwandalyn R. Reece
• | Publisher: Giles
• | Publication Date: Mar 07, 2023
• | Number of Pages: 224 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 1911282875
• | ISBN-13: 9781911282877