Ralph Ellison: Living With Music

Editorial Reviews
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Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) was one of America's most accomplished writers and intellectuals. Jazz and the blues heavily influenced his novels (Invisible Man, Juneteenth) and essays. This CD, produced by Ellison scholar Robert G. O'Meally, the author of Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings, compiles many of Ellison's favorite jazz selections. There's Louis Armstrong's rendition of the Andy Razaf/Fats Waller classic, "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue," and Duke Ellington's ragtime-fringed and dirge-like numbers, "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" and "Black and Tan Fantasy," representing the multihued American democracy Ellison championed. Count Basie's "Moten Swing" and Jimmy Rushing's "Harvard Blues" recall Ellison's driving, wide-open Oklahoma City musical heritage, as does the down-home, spiritual vocals of Billie Holiday and Mahalia Jackson. The lone spoken word on this collection is a 1964 tape of Ellison reading from his essay, "Hidden Name and Complex Fate." As O'Meally writes in his liner notes, "This collection echoes the work of Ellison the trumpet player and composer-in-training who became a writer, and offers Ellisonian equipment for those deciding not only to shun the noise but to live with the momentum implied in jazz music." --Eugene Holley Jr.

Ralph Ellison: Living With Music, Music, Various Artists, Big Band, Blues Music, Bop, Classic Jazz, Dixieland, Jazz Collections, Mainstream Jazz, New Orleans Jazz, Pop, Progressive Big Band, Swing, Traditional Pop, V/a Compilations, Vocal Jazz

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Ralph Ellison: Living With Music
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (Modern Library Classics)

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ASIN: B0000663Z0
Release Date: 2002-04-30

What Did I Do To Be So Black And Blue - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven
Work House Blues - Bessie Smith
East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - Duke Ellington & His Washingtonians
Black And Tan Fantasy - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
Moten Swing - Count Basie & His Orchestra
Oh, Lady Be Good! - Jones-Smith Incorporated
All Of Me - Billie Holiday
Sugar Plum - Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra
Flying Home - Benny Goodman Sextet
Jump For Joy - Joe Turner
Harvard Blues - Jimmy Rushing & His Orchestra
Down Hearted Blues - Jimmy Rushing & His Orchestra
The Holy Babe - Mahalia Jackson
La Farruca - Vincente Escudero
Up And Down, Up And Down (I Will Lead Them Up And Down)(Puck) - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
Hidden Name And Complex Fate Lecture - Ralph Ellison

Amazon.com

Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) was one of America's most accomplished writers and intellectuals. Jazz and the blues heavily influenced his novels (Invisible Man, Juneteenth) and essays. This CD, produced by Ellison scholar Robert G. O'Meally, the author of Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings, compiles many of Ellison's favorite jazz selections. There's Louis Armstrong's rendition of the Andy Razaf/Fats Waller classic, "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue," and Duke Ellington's ragtime-fringed and dirge-like numbers, "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" and "Black and Tan Fantasy," representing the multihued American democracy Ellison championed. Count Basie's "Moten Swing" and Jimmy Rushing's "Harvard Blues" recall Ellison's driving, wide-open Oklahoma City musical heritage, as does the down-home, spiritual vocals of Billie Holiday and Mahalia Jackson. The lone spoken word on this collection is a 1964 tape of Ellison reading from his essay, "Hidden Name and Complex Fate." As O'Meally writes in his liner notes, "This collection echoes the work of Ellison the trumpet player and composer-in-training who became a writer, and offers Ellisonian equipment for those deciding not only to shun the noise but to live with the momentum implied in jazz music." --Eugene Holley Jr.

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