Podcasts about black spirituals

As we celebrate JUNETEENTH, we must understand how Folklore and the Blues Narrative relate to this celebration. In this episode, I will discuss the celebration, what the celebration is actually about, and its connection to and significance of African American Folklore and traditional Black Music. Juneteenth should always be mentioned with “African American Traditional Music and Folklore!” Juneteenth is the celebration of the releasing of the last remaining slaves after the emancipation proclamation and civil war. In 1865, June 19 Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger shared the news that the war is over and the slaves were now free, in Galveston, Texas. Ironically, this freedom came after the actual date of 1863, when Lincoln made his declaration. Though, the first documented celebration of emancipation dates back to March 2, 1807, when Congress passed a bill to halt the importation of “slaves” into the United States, effective January 1, 1808, which prompted Absalom Jones, a pastor at St. Thomas's African Episcopal Church in Philadelphia to call for a special commemoration of the ban. “Let January 1, the day of the abolition of the slave trade in our country, be set apart every year, as a day of public thanksgiving for that mercy,” he declared. The 1808 ban fueled annual public observances, primarily religious gatherings in northern cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, called Emancipation Day. Though the initial celebration of January 1, 1808, was the first recording of Emancipation Day, June 19 then took on the name Emancipation Day, as well as Jubilee Day, now known as Juneteenth. In 1866, during the first celebration of “Jubilee Day” aka Juneteenth, newly freed African Americans sang Black Spirituals such as “Go Down Moses,” and “Many Thousands Gone.” In resemblance to Independence Day, they released a barrage of fireworks. The fact is, Texas was the last to free the slaves... Read More Here: Get Merch here: --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jackdappabluesradio/message

Black Spirituals, Field Hollers, and Slave Seculars celebrate Black American Traditional Music and Experience. This show is dedicated to sharing and raising awareness of folklife, songs, dance, scripture, lyrics, and everything related to black Spirituals, Field Hollers, and Slave secular expressions, as well as the coded songs of Black Spirituals that were maps and landmarks for escaping bondage. June 5th, I will be speaking with Eric Crawford, Associate Professor of Musicology, and Peter K. Siegal, Producer and American roots music archivist, about the June 14, 2024, Smithsonian Folkways release “The Complete Friends of Old-Time Music Concert” by Bessie Jones, John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers with Mississippi Fred McDowell and Ed Young. The album is a live recording of a 1965 concert that captured the intersection of Black folk traditions and civil rights activism, produced and hosted by Folklorist Alan Lomax and recorded by Peter K. Siegal. The Liner notes, and essay are written by Eric Crawford, whose research focuses on the rich tradition of Gullah music. Crawford has also written books titled Gullah Spirituals: The Sound of Freedom and Protest in the South Carolina Sea Islands (2021) and Gullah Culture in America (March 2023). Together with Smithsonian Folkways, they have collaborated on presenting a significant album that conserves black expression while introducing these outstanding performances to new audiences. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jackdappabluesradio/message

This Friday - Bandcamp has announced that they are waiving their fees to help support artists impacted by the pandemic. This means that if you buy music on Friday this week the artist actually gets all the money (minus paypal or credit card processing fees, etc). Learn more: https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-fridays-2021 We thought this was a good opportunity to share some of our favorite albums, since you might be wanting recommendations to fill up your bandcamp shopping cart on friday. Here are the links to the albums we talk about: Rocketship Sings Standards Vol. 3 by Michael Rocketship https://michaelcolemanmusic.bandcamp.com/album/rocketship-sings-standards-vol-3 Momentum 2 [The Return Of Ghetto] by Ghetts https://ghetts.bandcamp.com/album/momentum-2-the-return-of-ghetto Ronald's Rhythm by RJ Miller https://rjmiller.bandcamp.com/album/ronalds-rhythm PIKI by Sam Ospovat https://piki.bandcamp.com/album/piki From It Pours What Some Call Emptiness by Antipsychocircumseptemsomambulation https://antipsychocircumseptemsomambulation.bandcamp.com/album/from-it-pours-what-some-call-emptiness Simultonality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society https://eremiterecords.bandcamp.com/album/simultonality Black Treatment by BLACK SPIRITUALS https://sigerecords.bandcamp.com/album/black-treatment Red River by Sonya Cotton https://sonyacotton.bandcamp.com/album/red-river Melodies In Silence by Raffi Garabedian https://raffigarabedian.bandcamp.com/album/melodies-in-silence Sélébéyone by Sélébéyone https://stevelehman.bandcamp.com/album/s-l-b-yone SOS Forks AI REM by MrDougDoug https://hausumountain.bandcamp.com/album/sos-forks-ai-rem Greek Myth Fundamentalist by Jean Chalant https://jeanchalant.bandcamp.com/album/greek-myth-fundamentalist In Bloom by Kalia Vandever https://kaliavandever.bandcamp.com/album/in-bloom Kwintessens by Dodecahedron https://dodecahedronsom.bandcamp.com/album/kwintessens Visions by Sun Ra and Walt Dickerson https://sunramusic.bandcamp.com/album/visions Hidden Voices by ARUAN ORTIZ TRIO with Eric Revis & Gerald Cleaver https://aruanortiz.bandcamp.com/album/hidden-voices Artlessly Falling by Mary Halvorson's Code Girl https://maryhalvorson.bandcamp.com/album/artlessly-falling Old New by Tomeka Reid Quartet https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/old-new

Lament as Agency A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, February 21, 2021, Lent 1, “Learning to Sing the Blues” series.             Text: Jeremiah 12:1-4 For some cultures, lament is simply part of life. This shows up sometimes in the personal and communal rituals of people’s faith traditions. Sometimes, lament emerges as music rising from a people’s soul, art formed from the lived reality of their lives. The Black Spirituals that many of us know well in the church and their cousin, the blues, are examples of this. The late, venerable Black Liberation Theologian James Cone says plainly, “I am the blues and my life is a spiritual. Without them, I cannot be.”  However, for many people, there is a natural aversion to the idea of lament. This arises from a variety of influences, religious and cultural.  In many churches, it is communicated mostly through un-written rules that tension, anger, and really any emotion identified as “negative” are not appropriate or welcome. I’ve heard often over the years that someone stayed away from church when they were suffering—because they might cry or because they felt they couldn’t be the way they thought they needed to be in church. And in an effort to  balance what was (and still is in some places) an overwhelming focus in the church on sin and guilt, the tendency is to avoid the “downer” topics of failure and fear or the practice of confession. Stadiums and sanctuaries fill up where the “power of positive thinking theology” and “happy, clappy” worship downplays, denies, or distracts from the deep pain, loss, struggle, injustice, and feelings of confusion and powerlessness that many experience every day. One author writes, “It seems safe to say that within American culture there are deeply conflicting attitudes toward expressions of grief, rage, and other negative emotions. On the one hand, there is the oft-noted tendency in our culture to cover up experiences of loss and failure in both personal and public life and to uphold what has been called official American optimism. On the other hand, there is a strong counterpressure in therapeutic American society, often encouraged by the mass media, to ‘let it all hang out,’ to demand that all emotions be immediately and publicly vented.”  The “let it all hang out” impulse, without any safe or guided channel, simply spews painful emotions in every direction in ways that don’t lead to healing, but rather do more damage. This is not what the spiritual practice of Judeo-Christian lament is. I was tempted to pre-empt a variety of concerns by sharing a whole list of things lament is not. However, I have chosen to simply say that over the course of this Lenten season, we will explore some of what the spiritual practice of Christian lament is. As I said this past week in our Ash Wednesday service, if ever a time called for lament, this is it. // Over the years in pastoral conversations, I have discovered that often, the key question, the question that loosens knots of confusion and stuckness is this: Who is God to you? How do you think about God? What is God like in your experience? The answer affects how we feel and act in relationship with God. If we think of God as remote and “hands-off”—a benevolent but uninvolved creator, that will affect our engagement. If God is understood as controlling all things in a micro-managing kind of way, that will evoke a different kind of relationship. If our conception is that God fixates on our mistakes or is mostly about punishment, well, you can imagine that makes a difference in how we feel about God and about ourselves.  In these common ways of thinking about God we are left in a pretty crummy place. We are on our own and left to our own devices, powerless and manipulated on the gameboard of “God’s plan,” or fearful, never feeling we measure up, and weighed down with guilt. And these feelings may hit closer to home than we care to admit. None are appealing or helpful, especially when we are faced with suffering, persecution, anxiety, injustice, and death.  Thankfully, we are not left with only these conceptions of God. As feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson highlights, the tendency has been to think about the God-human relationship in a “power-over” or “powerlessness” paradigm. She invites a shift to a “power with” image. This invokes a different kind of relationship altogether.  I remember years ago, a member of my then congregation noted that she felt really solid about the words I say at the beginning of worship every Sunday except for when I get to God “knows you by name, loves you, and wants to have an ever-closer relationship with you.” She said, “The relationship part is where I need work.” This is where I want to ground our understanding of lament—in all the various ways we will explore it through this Lenten season.  God doesn’t just want to be around you or to observe you or to be a vague “energy” in your life. God wants to have an ever-closer relationship with you. A relationship. As Jewish theologian Martin Buber described it, God wants to be in an “I-Thou” relationship, subject to subject, free agent to free agent. This is understood as a relationship that is mutual, that is respectful of the others’ freedom, that honors the uniqueness and dignity of the other. It is a sharing of two selves, a “power with” kind of meeting.  Perhaps this sounds obvious or simple. But do keep in mind that scripture and particular images of God have been used to justify subjugation of women, people of color, and minoritized groups—to make us feel that we don’t have agency or voice of power. Some of you will have watched the PBS series The Black Church this past week and been reminded how slave masters feared enslaved persons learning to read because once they could read the Bible for themselves, they would understand even more clearly both who God is—a God of justice and liberation—and who they are to God—beloved children of dignity and worth. The Spirituals were, according to Howard Thurman, “an expression of the slaves’ determination to be in a society that seeks to destroy their personhood. It is an affirmation of the dignity of the black slaves, the essential humanity of their spirits.”  Likewise, feminist and womanist theologians highlight the ways that biblical prayers of lament provide a model for women’s resistance to domination and abuse. “Women who have been taught (like children) to be ‘seen and not heard’ in relation to faith and religion should notice that the very act of putting anger, impatience, and frustration into words often enables the speakers in the Psalms to come to a renewed sense of assurance in God’s continuing care.” My friend and teacher, the Rev. Jesse Jackson gave voice to all of this with his famous call and response lament and affirmation… “I may be poor, but I am somebody! I may be on welfare, I may be uneducated, but I am somebody! I may have made mistakes, but I am somebody! I must be, I’m God’s child.” The core affirmation is that you are a person. You are somebody. You have agency. Your voice, your experience, your perspective matters—and not only if or when you are successful in the world’s eyes, but also when you’ve hit rock bottom. You can cry out from that place and be met there by a God who knows you by name, loves you, and wants to have an ever-closer relationship with you.  And in that relationship, you don’t have to clean it all up or have “the right answer.” I’ve observed over the years, particularly when teaching about prayer, that there is a strong tendency to feel that being angry at God, talking back to God, or accusing God is off-limits—that it’s wrong or breaks the “good, faithful Christian” rules. Our scriptures contradict this over and again, as persons reveal faith in God’s steadfast presence precisely through their anger at God, their arguing with God, their accusations against God. This, you see, is a sign that they know themselves to be in the kind of relationship with God that allows them to be somebody with God, to be free to speak, to act, to feel. Our text from Jeremiah is a good example. In this lament, the prophet brings formal charges against God saying, “let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (v.1) Jeremiah implies that the wicked continue in their destructive ways because God “is blind” to their ways. (v. 4) Jeremiah speaks of how the treacherous have God in their mouths but not their hearts. And then he cries out, “my heart is with You and look at what I’m going through! This is unfair! Give the guilty their due, God!” // Our focus today is not to try to answer Jeremiah’s perennially valid question of why so often the guilty not only get away with their crimes, but prosper. Our focus is on the fact that Jeremiah lifts his voice with this complaint and request to God. Notice that Jeremiah didn’t just spew his anger and complaint all over society. He brought it to God in relationship. This is what we are talking about when we speak of Judeo-Christian lament. I can already hear some sweet Church People responding to Jeremiah. Can you imagine what some would say in the presence of Jeremiah’s outcry? “Now, now. I know it’s hard. It’s not fair. But God has a plan. God is in control.” And I then imagine Jeremiah firing back: “If God is in control, then I don’t want anything to do with that God or to be anywhere near that God because none of this is OK…” One teacher writes, “A lament is a passionate expression of distress. To lament is to wail and to complain and to ‘sing the blues’—of loneliness, hopelessness, helplessness, grief, exhaustion and absence of meaning. It is the voice…of a person in turmoil. Finding this voice for ourselves and learning a vocabulary with which we can honestly engage…in a way that does not deny or dishonour…very real anguish, is vital…Availing ourselves of the language of lament is the alternative to disengagement.”  If we aren’t given permission to lift our own voice, to name what is real for us in our lives, to lament, then we may very well disengage—from other people, from the church, from life, from God. I distinctly remember a woman in one of my prayer courses explaining how she felt that God had abandoned her in her time of greatest need, the suffering and death of her loved one. As we engaged in some conversation, it became clear that she had never felt she could name how angry she was at God for all that had happened. She realized that she didn’t believe she had permission to bring that anger directly to God. She lost her voice…she denied her true feelings and experience…and, as a result, put distance between herself and God. She said, “I wandered away. Maybe God has been waiting for me all along…”  You have permission to lament. You have permission to bring your charges against God. You have permission to come into God’s presence as the somebody you are. God is there. Waiting.  https://foundryumc.org/

In this episode, I speak with Randy Jones. She breaks down the black Spirituals and the many misconceptions about them. Randye Jones is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Bennett College in Greensboro. While there, Randye's academic achievements included being named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. She earned a Masters’ degree in Vocal Performance from Florida State University, Tallahassee, where she studied with Barbara Ford and Enrico Di Giuseppe. Some of the greats she studied with are Mary Jane Crawford, Judith Howle, Timothy Hoekman, and Millicent Scarlett. Charlotte Alston and Dominque-René de Lerma encouraged her growth as a musician and researcher. Randye's professional affiliations have included: Phi Beta Delta International Honor Society, the National Association of Negro Musicians, Society of American Music, Music Library Association, the Association of Black Women Historians, the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, the Recording Academy, and the Washington Area Music Association. http://randyejones.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/support

on this premiere episode of Black Spirituals, Field Hollers, and Slave Seculars series, David Evans ( tenured ethnomusicologist, folklorist, and Grammy Winner) and I discuss and listen to some of the songs from his 1966 recording of Reverand Rubin Lacy and Congregation. He gives us the story of the legendary Rube Lacy, which most enthusiasts and fans know from his days as a bluesman from the Mississippi and entire delta region. Rev. Rubin Lacy - Vocals Mrs. Rubin Lacy - 2nd Vocals David Evans - Guitar John Fahey - Guitar Alan Wilson - Guitar Mr. & Mrs. Idella Booth - Vocals Mr. McCoy - Vocals Mrs. Johnson - Vocals Congregation Union Baptist Church of Ridgecrest, CA Recording produced by David Evan and John Fahey Purchase David's book here https://www.amazon.com/Big-Road-Blues-Tradition-Creativity/dp/0306803003 If you want to sponsor content contact - lamontjackpearley@jackdappabluesradio.tv denisepearley@jackdappabluesradio.tv --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/support

Fill the Vacuum is a show dedicated to exploring the intersection between art, politics, and action. Through activism artists have the power to boycott culture, promote equality, and modernize traditions. This segment explores the implications of the Brown University choir singing a Black Spiritual for their upcoming tour to Ireland.

The African American Folklorist Podcast Series - Charlotte Forten Grimke - The First series of the African American Folklorist will be covering the works, journals, and lineage of Charlotte Forten Grimke. Documented as the first person to record Black Spirituals on her excursion to Sea Island in 1864, Charlotte, a teacher, anti-slavery activist, and poet comes from four generations of successful, free abolitionists African Americans. The series will raise awareness and discuss the people and experiences she's had during a turbulent time in America for Black people that shaped her views and propelled her to achieve many feats. Not taking away from her story, we delve into the achievements and mindset of her elder relatives that not only molded Charlotte but formulated the way free blacks and abolitionists attacked slavery with ferocity. From funding abolitionist publications to being major participants in the Underground Railroad system, The Forten family and their in-laws were trailblazers in the contributions to African American history, liberation and freedom. From what can be considered the home base of abolition, Philadelphia. This is the description of the pilot episode. This episode, Episode one, focus on the beginning of Charlotte's legacy, and the places and experiences that lead her grandfather, James Forten, to begin work and plant a seed that would harvest in Charlotte and the rest of the Forten family, and extended family. Follow us @JackDappaBlues Jack Dappa Blues FB Group Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation Page Black Spirituals, Field Hollers and Slave Seculars --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/support

On this episode, I speak with Reverend, Dr. Derrick McQueen, New Testament Scholar and Black Spirituals Historian about the history of the Black Spirituals, it's importance and it's truly the songs and expressions of revolution. http://www.derrickmcqueen.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/support

Episode 385: June 12, 2018 playlist: Matmos, "Rainbow Flag" (Supreme Balloon) 2008 Matador Marisa Anderson, "Cloud Corner" (Cloud Corner) 2017 Thrill Jockey Coil, "blue excerpt" (Blue: A Film By Derek Jarman) 1993 Mute Black Spirituals, "Reconciliation" (Black Access Black Axes) 2018 Sige Baby Dee, "Three Men" (Made For Love) 2005 Durtro Meat Beat Manifesto, "Bass Playa" (Impossible Star) 2018 Flexidisc Thalia Zedek, "Candy Says" (You're a Big Girl Now) 2002 Kimchee Ian William Craig, "Red Gate with Starling" (A Turn of Breath) 2014 Recital Program Mark Eitzel, "My Pet Rat St Michael" (Candy Ass) 2005 Cooking Vinyl Abul Mogard, "Half Light of Dawn" (Circular Forms) 2015 Ecstatic Richard Chartier, "Unquiet (for M. Vainio)" (Central (for M. Vainio)) 2018 Line Antony and the Johnsons, "For Today I Am A Boy" (I Am A Bird Now) 2005 Secretly Canadian Email podcast at brainwashed dot com to say who you are; what you like; what you want to hear; share pictures for the podcast of where you're from, your computer or MP3 player with or without the Brainwashed Podcast Playing; and win free music! We have no tracking information, no idea who's listening to these things so the more feedback that comes in, the more frequent podcasts will come. You will not be put on any spam list and your information will remain completely private and not farmed out to a third party. Thanks for your attention and thanks for listening.

High vibration resonance, nostalgia in dub, ecstatic dancing. The Oakland-based composer discusses three important albums.