Lena Horne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCG3kJtQBKo

Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time, the time
Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather, just can't get my poor self together
It's raining all the time, the time

When you went, you went away, the blues walked in and met me
If he stays away, ol' rocking chair will get me
All I do is pray, the Lord above will let me walk in the sun once more

Can't go on, everything I had is gone
Stormy weather since my man and I ain't together
It's raining all the time

I walk around, heavy-hearted and sad
Night comes around and I'm still feeling bad
Rain's pouring down, blinding every hope I had
This pitterin pattering, beating and spattering drives Me Mad
Love, Love, Love, this misery's just too much for me

Can't go on, everything I have is gone
Stormy weather since my man and I ain't together
It's raining all the time, keeps raining all the time

Lena Horne born June 30, 1917, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. and died May 9, 2010, New York City. Horne left school at age 16 to help support her mother and Independently become a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City. Surprisingly, in two years at the Cotton Club she appeared with such entertainers as Cab Calloway where eventually she starred in her own shows. And her carear began from there.
This song came from her role in the film Stormy Weather, in 1943 which included her rendition of the title song, where it became her trademark. She became one of the most popular singers of her time.  Her first featured performance on Broadway, the musical Jamaica, (1957) won her a New York Drama Critics' Poll Award in 1958.
Many of her songs are about love and how she either is up or down. This song called stormy weather is about a low feeling towards her old companion. For example, she says, "Can't go on, everything I had is gone/ stormy weather since my man and I ain't together." Therefore, this states why she is feeling blue. But because her feelings are said to be a strom she knows her feelings will pass.

Why i chose to talk about Horne is because of her wide talent for a performer she also  worked with civil rights and political organizations. Moreover, as an actress, she refused to play roles that stereotyped African American women.

Louis Armstrong - Hello, Dolly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp4PbwqNdwo
Hello, Dolly,......this is Louis, Dolly
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, Dolly.......I can tell, Dolly
You're still growin'...you're still crowin'...you're still goin' strong
I feel the room swayin'......while the band's playin'
One of our old favourite songs from way back when,
So..... take her wrap, fellas.......find her an empty lap, Fellas厖
Dolly'll never go away again

(instrumental break)

I feel the room swayin拝while the band抯 playin
One of our old favourite songs from way back when,
So厖golly gee, fellas厖 have a little faith in me
Fellas厖
Dolly抣l never go away, fellas厖
You抣l never go away厖
Dolly ain抰 goinaway again

This song was not written by Louis Armstrong it was by Carol Channing. But Armstrong sang it to made a demonstration recording for the song's publisher to use to promote the show Hello, Dolly! which opened on January 16, 1964. Later, "Hello, Dolly!" won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1965, and Armstrong received a Grammy for Best male Vocal Performance.

Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971, he is also known as Satchmo or pops who was a very famious jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans. Armstrong is well known for shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performance. Moreover, he is also known for his skillful scat vocalizing singing which is using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics.

He died after a heart attack just before his 70th birthday.

Armstrong often re-composed pop-music he played, making them better. He played with a strong compassion and had a great performance. Armstrong almost created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what was basically a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with huge possibilities for individual expression.

This is a fun song about a man admiring his lover. This is a song that makes you feel happy and want to dance. Also makes you think of your own lovers and the feeling you get with them. I chose this song because i liked the tone and thought it was interesting. Listening and watching him perform you can see how much energy he uses to play and sing which is amazing! It inspires me to want to sing, if only i could.

Harvest Song by Jean Toomers

Harvest song

I am a reaper whose muscles set at sundown. All 
        my oats are cradled. 
But I am too chilled, and too fatigued to bind them. 
        And I hunger. 
I crack a grain between my teeth. I do not taste it. 
I have been in the fields all day. My throat is dry. 
        I hunger. 
My eyes are caked with dust of oatfields at harvest-time. 
I am a blind man who stares across the hills, seeking 
        stack'd fields of other harvesters. 
It would be good to see them . . crook'd, split, and 
        iron-ring'd handles of the scythes. It would be 
        good to see them, dust-caked and blind. I hunger. 
(Dusk is a strange fear'd sheath their blades are dull'd in.) 
My throat is dry. And should I call, a cracked grain 
        like the oats . . . eoho-- 
I fear to call. What should they hear me, and offer 
        me their grain, oats, or wheat, or corn? I have 
        been in the fields all day. I fear I could not taste 
        it. I fear knowledge of my hunger. 
My ears are caked with dust of oatfields at harvest-time. 
I am a deaf man who strains to hear the calls of other 
        harvesters whose throats are also dry. 
It would be good to hear their songs . . reapers of 
        the sweet-stalk'd cane, cutters of the corn . . 
        even though their throats cracked and the 
        strangeness of their voices deafened me. 
I hunger. My throat is dry. Now that the sun has 
        set and I am chilled, I fear to call. (Eoho, my 
        brothers!) 
I am a reaper. (Eoho!) All my oats are cradled. 
        But I am too fatigued to bind them. And I hunger. 
        I crack a grain. It has no taste to it. 
        My throat is dry . . . 
O my brothers, I beat my palms, still soft, against the 
        stubble of my harvesting. (You beat your soft 
        palms, too.) My pain is sweet. Sweeter than 
        the oats or wheat or corn. It will not bring me 
        knowledge of my hunger.

In Jean Toomers poem, Harvest Song, Toomer is writing about African American slaves and the conditions they faced when harvesting.  Toomer echoes the man’s thoughts over and over again.  He speaks of being hungry in the first, second, fourth, sixth, and tenth stanzas. He explicitly says “I crack a grain between my teeth. I do not taste it.”  he is so worn out that his taste buds don’t function. The harvester feels cold, blind, deaf—hopeless!

He feels disconnected from the other people; he is lonely.  But he says he won’t call to his other friends because it won’t help him. The other harvesters are in the same situation, and he is afraid of the knowledge it will bring. He states, “I fear I could not taste it. I fear knowledge of my hunger”.  His life is horrible, and he is so hungry and tired that he is scared to not be able to taste the food.

He’s helpless.  Toomer is giving a voice to this slave who has lost the will to live.  Toomer uses the word reaper to describe the man, which he is literally.  But he also personifies death because he is alone, blind, deaf, hungry and in a situation where he is powerless.  There is no life to him.  An image of the grim reaper, a harbinger of death, is also a powerful image in the poem.

Why is he writing about this person?  To understand the black person’s hardships.  Also to give a voice to this poor slave. And he uses “Eoho” repeatedly towards the end of the poem like he is calling out to his people.

It don’t mean a thing analysis, by Duke Ellington

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJGuxLG-H8

What good is melody?

What good is music?

If it ain't possessing something sweet

It ain't the melody

It ain't the music

There's something else that makes this song complete

(Bo dolled dolled do da...)

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing

(do Do a Do ap...

Well it don't mean a thing all you got to do is sing

It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot

Just give that rhythm ev-ry-thing you got YES

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing

It don't mean a thing

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing boy

(Ba ba doo dah doo…)

I said it don't mean a thing and all you got to do is sing

(La la la…)

Now it makes no difference if it's sweet or hot

Just give that rhythm ev-ry-thing you got OHH

It don't mean a thing boy, if it ain't got-a-that-a-swinga

Doo Wap

Show me

It don’t mean a thing analysis

Duke Ellington and his orchestra transformed Western music with his take on jazz music.  Without jazz much of the popular music today wouldn’t exist.  The song, It don’t mean a thing, is a catchy tune that make people want to dance to the beat, have fun, and enjoy life.  Jazz music became very popular in the twenties and thirties.  Clubs in New York like the Cotton Club were very popular.  And there Duke Ellington and his orchestra would play often. Duke Ellington lived from 1899-1974; Ellington began playing music in Washington D.C. in 1917 professionally. This song is said to define the era of the Ellington orchestra which was a unique new tone for the jazz sound. Specifically, they changed the Hot jazz of the '20's to the swing of the '30s. 

This song starts off by asking questions. "What good is melody? What good is music?" The answers, "if it ain’t got something sweet." Ellington’s intention is to bring a happy feeling because music should make you feel good.

 Ellington also uses the idea of music’s outcomes on people not mattering--"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing Well it don't mean a thing all you got to do is sing" He's saying it doesn’t matter what you look like or sound like just let it out and enjoy.

       The repetition of these words makes it easy to follow and allows yourself get lost in the beat. Therefore, you can just let go and enjoy yourself!

Poem Of the America, by Langston Hughes.

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.  (America never was America to me.)  Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.  (It never was America to me.)  O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.  (There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")  Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?  And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?  I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.  I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed!  I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-- Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years.  Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become. O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home-- For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore, And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand I came To build a "homeland of the free."  The free?  Who said the free?  Not me? Surely not me?  The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we've dreamed And all the songs we've sung And all the hopes we've held And all the flags we've hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay-- Except the dream that's almost dead today.  O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again.  Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America! O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be!  Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again!

This poem is about African Americans, Native Americans, and other poor immigrants being unable to have the same kind of freedom and dreams as others. Hughes wants change and he is demanding it, by using the repetition of the word “let there be…” in the beginning of the poem.

 The idea that for many people America is not the land of the free is a recurring theme throughout the poem. Hughes states, “America was never America to me.” Meaning what he wanted was never reachable to him because of his identity. He talks about the distinct differences of what his people want and what the American dream gives only to selected group of people. “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed” He explains how he wants this dream to not to be prejudiced against his people. Moreover, he wants to have freedom and everyone should be granted this. He states, “There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free."

Then he leads into another idea where he tells the audience he is everything, black white, all who suffers in different ways. Nonetheless, he connects it all with “And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak” he connects America as a place where people are trying to overpower each other, “mighty crush the weak”. He also explains how they all have dreams no matter who they are, greedy, poor, or rich.

Then he returns back to the African American who has nothing and why their dream hasn’t been heard he states, “The millions who have nothing for our pay-- Except the dream that's almost dead today.” Basically he’s saying that these dreams have gotten them through, and call him what you like but it doesn’t matter because it’s our responsibility to reconstruct America to “the land where every man is free.”

HR movie: Brother to Brother

  Harlem is a section in New York where in the 1920’s and 1930’s 175,000 Black Americans migrated to in order to take advantage of economic opportunities that cities provided, as well as to move to more racially tolerant places. During this time Black artists flourished, and the art that emerged is part of period of history called the Harlem Renaissance. In Harlem, a densely-populated community, many black intellectuals produced beautiful and famous works of art. Literary figures like, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B DuBois, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen are just some of the many artists that added their great works to Western Literature.  Their poems and books are still widely read today. Jazz music also blossomed during the Harlem Renaissance.  Artists like Duke Ellington, a pianist, revolutionized Jazz. In the film, “Brother to Brother,” a book publisher wants Wallace Thurman, a gay writer during the Harlem Renaissance, and Zora Neale Hurston, another female novelist to change their writing styles. Clearly, the publisher is uncomfortable with these writers’ activism and desire to reconstruct the image of black people. The publisher would rather Hurston and Thurman keep the stereotypical African American alive. Hurston and Thurman are insulted and refuse to make the changes. I am not surprised that the book publisher would make this request of Thurman and Hurston.  And I applaud their strength to say no.

The publisher is white and says Hurston and Thurman have some “really good insights on Negro life that white authors don’t have access to.” Then he adds “but I want to change it a little.” He asks for more emphasis on the stereotypical “dangerous Negro” who is affected by sex, drugs, and alcohol, in order to make the piece more interesting. The publisher states, “Its what the audience wants, it’s more exciting.” Both authors, Thurman and Hurston are angered by this request and deny his suggestions. They say it defeats the purpose of their intentions. Before leaving they tell him “you’re asking the wrong people.” African Americans like Thurman and Hurston felt moved to transform the negative perceptions white people had of them.  By agreeing to write about a stereotypical black man, they would keep the cycle of racism and separation intact. 

It isn’t surprising to me that this type of request was asked by a white man. On the surface, he is saying that whites want to read about an exciting story that has black people, drugs, sex, and violence. But on a deeper level, whites don’t want to be told they are complicit in the struggles of blacks; whites don’t want to read about the complexities of African American lives. The publisher wants to perpetuate the stereotype of the Negro as an addict by manipulating Thurman and Hurston into writing about a ‘dangerous Negro.’ This stereotypical image is used to separate whites from blacks, and to make whites feel superior. Negros are seen as wild people to stay away from.

This film contrasts African American identity in the present with the Harlem Renaissance. There are many similarities. The main character Perry is an artist who is black and gay. He has an exhibit that displays some of his work. Perry’s friend introduces Perry to a white man who tells Perry that he has potential. Perry realizes what he is about and understands what the man is going to ask from him. Therefore, Perry leaves, later on the same man comes up to him again and says “you have some really nice work I would love to use your work and use the same themes but more approachable ways” Perry isn’t surprised by this and tells him he isn’t interested. This is similar to what Thurman and Hurston went through, but it was a century later. This says something significant about what African Americans still have to go through to this day. It shows what superior white men feel about using black art and not excepting change. They want to continue to hold Africans Americans down with common stereotypes instead of allowing them to have new and positive identities. Therefore, this is how racist legends are passed down to children and that is why it continues to this day.