We’re now well into February, a month set aside to reflect on Black history, and your library is well-positioned to help us all learn more about and celebrate the substantial contributions of Black people to all of society’s endeavors. In this column, though, I want to home in on Black artists’ rich offering to the development of American music.
From soulful spirituals (CD 782.253 Bat) — laments of a fettered people longing for justice and joy in the midst of abject cruelty — to jazz (CD 781.65 Bar) to the Blues (CD 781.643) and R&B to today’s chart-dominating Hip Hop, Black musicians have profoundly contributed to the evolution of the American (and global) music landscape.
To that end, consider, for a young reader, “Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa” (j 921 Fitzgerald, E.) written by Andrea Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney for a delightful overview of Fitzgerald’s life in the voice of Scat Cat Monroe, a feline fan of Fitzgerald’s rich voice and vocal innovations. Adult readers, while doubtlessly enjoying the Pinkneys’ work, might relish the more fulsome fare of Bud Kliment’s “Ella Fitzgerald”(921 Fitzgerald, E.).
Hard as it is for this English teacher to admit, reading falls short of the mark here. Happily, the library has you covered. Consider checking out the CD The Very Best of the Cole Porter Songbook (CD 782.1 Por) which will treat you to several samplings of Fitzgerald’s voice to say nothing of other Black artists featured on the album: Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong and others.
Focusing a little more on young readers, why not have them delight in “When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat” (j E Wei), a loving tribute to a jazz master? While down in our youth section, consider picking up Ruby Sanders’ “Jazz Ambassador, Louis Armstrong” (j 921 Armstong, L.) or possibly pick up Carole Weatherford’s “Before John was a Jazz Giant” (j 921 Coltrane, J.) which weaves of a tale of the young John Coltrane growing up as a black boy in the South in the 1930s.
Though this is a column about music, I’m going to blur the lines a little bit to give a nod to poetry; afterall, lyrics are poetry. The tradition is so rich, and the library has books by or featuring such a diverse array of writers as Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Tupac, W.E.B. Dubois, Phyllis Wheatley, Alice Walker and others. Allow me to recommend the anthology African American poetry: “250 Years of Struggle & Song” (811.008 Afr) edited by Kevin Young as a tour de force. For something contemporary, take a look at Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen: An American Lyric” (814.6 Ran) which speaks boldly, in this moment, of the work we still must do to be just and love one another more fully.
It goes without saying that these suggestions only scratch the surface. Entire books could be (and have been) written on each of the genres, people and time periods on which I’ve only barely touched. How rich are we, as a people and country, to have a cultural tapestry woven so thick with the stories of myriad cultures and experiences. Consider taking February to explore one important facet of it.
Curious about what else we have to offer? Stop by and browse our shelves, or come to the Reference desk for suggestions. We are now open to patrons 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. You may also place items on hold using our website www.cdpl.lib.in.us or by calling us at 765-362-2242, ext.3.
Paul Utterback, Reference Assistant at CDPL, contributed this week’s column.
