BLACK MUSIC OF TWO WORLDS

by John Storm Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 21, 1972

There are really four worlds of black music, each with a unique idiom expressing a particular cultural experience, but united by a common debt to the music of pre-colonial Africa. Roberts surveys the music of all four worlds, enumerating the threads that lead back to the source and convincingly establishing the existence of an aesthetic dialectic -- the tradition of African music vibrates in the new worlds as well as the old. By breaking down ancient African music into local elements he is able to trace the particular influence of each important tribe as it is enslaved and brought to the new world. Which tribe was first where provides clues to the origin of idioms that have survived wave after wave of forced migrations. All areas where black music is vital are examined -- the black coastal belt of Latin America, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, North America and finally, the ""new"" post-colonial Africa with its hybrid ""pop culture"" music. Roberts dismisses the claim of certain musical historians who minimize the African contribution but he is careful not to exaggerate evidence supporting his own view. He tries to clarify the process of interaction between black and white music but is limited by the give-credit-where-credit-is-due attitude of much modern musical scholarship which has started its own race war. Still this is the first serious study of black music in its entirety in any language which gives it a certain cultural shock value of its own.

Pub Date: Aug. 21, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Praeger

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION