Notes taken from CARAVAN: a revolution on the road:

“transcend racial and social boundaries and breathe new artistic life into conversations on personal and collective identity in relation to social
and political structures.”

“encourage audience to take another step toward positive social change.”

“The skeleton of the work will examine these larger societal issues, while the individual nuances of the stories will reflect the life experiences of
each artist and their thoughts and feelings about black lives in the 21st century.”

Damian J Project presents

Society Jazz: Past reflections of America through music

The evolution of this country and the rest of the world has always been archived in a sense by its music.
Particularly in America, Jazz has provided the canvas to preserve all historical events, good and bad. The focus of
this presentation will be to illustrate how jazz, its composers and performers, have all reacted to social changes
occurring around them. The music written is a direct result of what is going on, a reaction to external forces
seemingly beyond control. While others in society reacted in both violent and non-violent ways; the actions
musicians took was to compose and perform what they were witnessing and how it made them feel. The resulting
compositions were very powerful and riveting. These meaningful pieces of music will forever preserve those
moments in history and the lives they touched. Thus, in listening to this music and hearing the many stories
intertwined with their origin, individuals can feel empowered to build a better, more knowledgeable society that
collectively is capable of understanding the past and go forth into building a brighter, more positive world for all
future generations. It is in understanding this that we can all together learn, modify and adapt to living a better
existence on this planet.

1. Take Five, written by Paul Desmond, recorded by Dave Brubeck Quartet on July 1st, 1959.
Leader and pianist Dave Brubeck would not play a gig if his bassist, Gene Wright was not allowed on stage. He was
one of the first to fight Jim Crow laws having an integrated ensemble.
*https://www.citylab.com/equity/2012/12/dave-brubecks-real-legacy-integration/4080/

2. Sing, Sing, Sing, written by Louis Prima, February 28, 1936, recorded and made famous by Benny Goodman,
July 6, 1937.

Benny broke the color barrier featuring musicians like Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton on vibes as well as Charlie
Christian on guitar. He had the first integrated band to play at Carnegie Hall. The fact that Benny was Jewish made
him feel he could relate more to the racial issues occurring. It was in his opinion that the cultural mixing of the
races contributed to better music, jazz.

*https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104713445

3. Singin’ the Blues, written by J. Russel Robinson, Con Conrad, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young in 1920. Bix
Beiderbecke recorded it in 1927.

Bix Beiderbecke is regarded as second to only Louis Armstrong on the trumpet and detested the fact that during
this period of early American society, the different races were not allowed to play together. Bix loved Louie and
vice versa. They were allied forces in making jazz a universal voice of the people.

*https://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu/program/bix-louis-pioneers-jazz
4. Stardust, written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927, lyrics added by Mitchell Parish in 1929. Recorded by Louis
Armstrong on November 1, 1931.

Louis Armstrong is known to many as the father of jazz for his development of this style of music from the very
beginning until much later in its evolution. More than that he was a public figure and spoke out many times against
racism and the great divide it caused in America. He was present in movies, television and was the central focus of
countless news articles and books written about jazz and his contributions. He was given a Star of David as a young
boy by a Jewish family he used to work for which treated him like one of their own. He never forgot their acts of
kindness and loved all people as a result of this.

*https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/louisiana/articles/a-brief-history-of-louis-armstrong-
new-orleans-musical-icon/

5. Fables of Faubus, written and recorded by Charles Mingus in 1959.

Charles Mingus is perhaps one of the most intense jazz musicians in regards to societal changes occurring at the
time. He was a bassist and composer and wrote this song in direct protest of Arkansas Governor Orval E. Faubus,
who is 1957 sent the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the integration of Little Rock Central High School. The
lyrics are essential to this song’s impact:
“Oh, Lord, don't let 'em shoot us!
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em stab us!
Oh, Lord, no more swastikas!
Oh, Lord, no more Ku Klux Klan!

Name me someone who's ridiculous, Dannie.

Governor Faubus!
Why is he so sick and ridiculous?
He won't permit integrated schools.

Then he's a fool! Boo! Nazi Fascist supremisists!

Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your Jim Crow plan)

Name me a handful that's ridiculous, Dannie Richmond.

Faubus, Rockefeller, Eisenhower
Why are they so sick and ridiculous?

Two, four, six, eight:

They brainwash and teach you hate.
H-E-L-L-O, Hello.”

*https://musicaficionado.blog/2016/12/14/fables-of-faubus-by-charles-mingus/

6. Alabama, written and recorded by John Coltrane on November 18, 1963.

John Coltrane was a jazz musician from Hamlet, North Carolina. He played alto, tenor and soprano saxophones in
addition to the flute. John was an innovator of music, he was spiritually empowered after defeating serious drug
addiction. He composed this elegy, Alabama as a direct response to a church that was bombed, 16th Street Baptist
Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The melody for the saxophone is an adaptation of words from Martin Luther King
Jr.’s speech at the church just a few days before the bombing.

*https://www.jazziz.com/nov-18-1963-john-coltrane-records-alabama/
7. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, written by Joe Zawinul and recorded by Cannonball Adderley and his Quartet on
October 20, 1966.

Julian “Cannonball” Adderley was from Tampa, Florida. He played the alto saxophone and was a graduate of
Florida A&M University. He was also the band director of Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 1948
until 1950. Josef Erich Zawinul was from Vienna, Austria. He played the piano in addition to composing several of
the songs Cannonball made famous. Together these two men would reflect on the growing tension of the 1960s
through their music. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy is in their opinion, “what people should have in the face of adversity”.

*https://www.wbgo.org/post/swingin-seattle-finds-cannonball-adderley-crossroads-reaching-out-and-
speaking#stream/0

8. I Say A Little Prayer, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1966. Recorded by Rashaan Roland
Kirk on Volunteered Slavery in 1969.

Roland Kirk is perhaps one of the most unknown musical geniuses of our time. Blind and growing up in
Ohio during the most turbulent times, he managed to learn to play not just one but multiple
instruments at a time including Manzello, Stritch and Tenor Saxophones all simultaneously. There has
never been anyone like Roland Kirk in jazz history. A live recording of this song illustrates his sentiments
on the shooting of Martin Luther King Jr. April 4th, 1968. He was a musical revolutionary and a fighter
against all social injustice through his tense musical style.
“We just want to put it on your mind that the man was shot down…” “Whatcha’ gonna say about it….gonna say a
little prayer…” –Rashaan Roland Kirk, Volunteered Slavery, 1969.

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq2axgs2BSQ

*https://dlib.bc.edu/islandora/object/bc-ir:102071/datastream/PDF/view

9. Desafinado, written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and recorded along with Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz on March
18-19, 1963.

The civil rights movement was definitely a focal point for much of the history of America, however the growing
concern for widespread communism in the United States also contributed to a tense society. This 1963 recording
between Brazilian musicians Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto alongside American tenor saxophonist Stan Getz sought
to ease that tension and brake all political barriers while providing listeners with a new and singular sound
presenting a relaxing Latin American collaboration with rhythms from Brazil and jazz from the US. This experiment
eased those stressful times and provided a much needed distraction with soothing vocal artistry by Gilberto as well
as the lush playing by Getz. It was a quiet musical revolution that sought to separate politics from music leading to
immense popularity to this day.

*https://notevenpast.org/getzgilberto-fifty-years-later-a-retrospective/
10. Earth Dance, written by Jerry Gonzalez and recorded by the Fort Apache Band in 1990.
Jerry Gonzalez was a trumpeter and conguero who along with his brother Andy Gonzalez (who played bass) grew
up in the area of the Bronx, New York known as “Fort Apache”. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, the Fort Apache
Band arose from the ongoing struggle by the Puerto Ricans in New York battling racial profiling by police and local
officials. Puerto Ricans and all Latinos living in the Bronx at that time were seen as a destitute people, unwanted
due to the growing crime rate in their area. But not all Puerto Ricans and ethnic groups can be labeled as being
completely bad or good. The Fort Apache Band played off of their Afro-Caribbean roots and presented a mixture of
all cultures in their unique blend of Latin Jazz thus unifying the races and creating a more peaceful society through
their music for generations to come. Earth Dance is a beautiful example of the sounds of resolution in music as in
life and seeks to unite the diverse musical cultures, foreshadowing of the social changes to come…

* https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/arts-culture/fort-apache-lives-memoriam-jerry-
gonz%C3%A1lez-1949-2018

And the story continues in 2020…

What are some of the sounds of social change today?

What are your thoughts on how we can bring about new changes in society now?

What problems do you see currently and how can we impact society through music and art?

Question & Answer Interaction