'THE MOVEMENT REVISITED' MUSIC REVISITED
More detail about what music was played (and didn't get to) at our NYPL talk
When Christian McBride asked me to do a conversation with him inspired by his album ‘The Movement Revisited’ at the New York Public library, we’d always planned to play a few tracks from his tribute to the civil rights era icons Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali. But it was until the weekend before the talk that we put together a playlist of songs by other artists that featured social commentary. When we spoke in Manhattan this past Monday we knew that we’d never get to all the songs in the allotted hour, so I wanted to revisit the revisit conversation and highlight what we played and what we didn’t get to.
The list is heavy on longer jazz compositions, which will be suprise to some, but jazz arists of the ‘50s and early ‘60s were prominent agitators for change in American society. It wasn’t until the late ‘60s and ‘70s that performers in the commercial mainstream of soul, R&B, and funk created a body of work featuring social commentary and protest lyrics. One of the interesting threads is that some artists focused on uplift, celebrating black identity and unity, while others offered more bracing critiques of racism, both in the United States and globally. This list is selective and is in no way comprehensive but, as black history month ends, it’s satisfying to trace a bit of this potent musical lineage.
Duke Ellington’s ‘Black, Brown & Beige’ suite (1943) Originally presented at Carnegie Hall in January ‘43, Duke revisited the material in shorter form many times over the years. The most famous use was in 1958 when gospel star Mahalia Jackson recorded a soul stirring version of “Come Sunday.”
Sonny Rollins’ ‘Freedom Suite’ (1958) Before he embarked on his legendary hiatus from the stage and recording to rehearse on the Williamsburg Bridge, the tenor saxophone colossus recorded this testiment to social change backed by Oscar Pettiford on bass and Max Roach on drums.
Max Roach’s ‘We Insist!’ aka ‘Freedom Now Suite’ (1960)
Roach, who’d played on Rollins’ recording, was a strident musical activist who collaborated on the lyrics with poet/performer Oscar Brown Jr. These five movements traces a peoples story from slavery to apartheid in South Africa with his future wife Abbey Lincoln’s voice adding beauty and anguish to this journey.
Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddman” (1964)
Outraged by the murder of four black girls at Birmingham, Alabam a church bombing in 1963, Simone composed this song in response, which got this righteous singer banned from several radio stations and black balled by many in the music industry.
The Impressions’ “We’re a Winner” (1967)
At a time love songs were the backbone of soul music, Curtis Mayfield explored a variety of topics about the black experience in America, creating a unique body of work with the Impressions and as a solo artist. This song speaks to racial uplift, a recurring theme in the Chicago based singer/songwriters’ work.
James Brown’s ‘Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” (1968)
When Soul Brother #1 made this record (and adopted an Afro), he send out a message of racial pride that vibrated through this nation like an shock wave. Though not an explicit endorsement of “black power,” it made Brown a political figure (and target), particularly in the wake of Martin Luther King’s assassination in April ‘68.
Aretha Franklin’s "To Be Young, Gifted and Black” (1972)
Nina Simone took the title from a play Lorrainne Hansbury was writing and collaborated with Weldon Irving on the lyrics. However the Queen of Soul’s version is definitive with Aretha on piano, Billy Preston on Hammond organ, and the Sweet Inspirations on heavenly background vocals.
Art Ensemble of Chicago’s “Fanfare for the Warriors” (1973)
The title track from this avant garde band was written by saxophonist Joseph Jarman, but features all its revered members (Jarman, Lester Bowie on trumpet, Don Moye on drums, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, Malachi Favors on bass) playng boldly.
Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band’s “Winter in America” (1974)
Ironically this somber travelogue across America is not on the 1973 album that bares its name. Instead it can be found on 1975’s ‘The First Minute of a New Day,’ the group’s debut on Arista Records, where Scott-Heron and company would become the most famous African-American musical entity to consistently tackle politics pre- Public Enemy.
Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes’ ‘Wake Up Everybody’ (1975)
Under the direction of label heads and producer/songwriters Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff, Philadelphia International Records generated pop anthems, R&B classics, and consistently released albums with socially conscious lyrics. Reach of their albums during the early to mid ‘70s featured the tag “There’s a Message in the Music.” This song, written by the duo of McFadden & Whitehead, features the commanding soulful voice of Teddy Pendergrass just before he embarked on life as a sex symbol.
Tracy Chapman’s ‘Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution’ (1988)
“Fast Car” has brought Chapman back into the public imagination. Hopefully people will dig into the depth of her debut album, which features gorgeous love songs (“Baby Can I Hold You Tonight,” “For My Lover”) and other topical tunes, including this anthem composition.
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ (2015)
This track from 2015’s innovative hip hop/jazz collabo, ‘To Pimp A Butterfly,’ received renewed life in 2020 when it became the de facto anthem of Black Lives Matter marches. Many old heads were put off by use of the N word and obscenity in the rhymes. It wasn’t “We Shall Overcome,” but ‘20 wasn’t 1963.
Christian McBride’s “Sister Rosa” and “Rumble in the Jungle” from ‘The Movement Revisited’ album.