ipl-logo

How Did Sun Ra Influence The Black Freedom Movement

1152 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of jazz music essay

Another artist who had a large influence in the black freedom movement and the third world struggles during the 1960’s and 70’s is Sun Ra. Sun Ra is a revolutionary jazz musician who began performing professionally as a kid. Once Sun Ra moved to Chicago in 1945, he immersed himself in jazz. Throughout his life, Sun Ra was influenced by space, religion and radical social movements and he expresses his beliefs and ideals through his music. Sun Ra’s love of astronomy and spiritual awakening opened doors for his music because he started fighting the constraints in jazz. The type of jazz he wanted to play was all about free expression, drum choirs, dancers, and sometimes even acrobats (Sun Ra Biography, 1). Sun Ra’s entire career argues persuasively …show more content…

Benjamin started her singing career singing at nightclubs, community dances and other social events. Powerful women figures like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald influenced her sound as a musician. Other very influential people in Benjamin’s life include Duke Ellington and Abdullah Ibrahim, her husband who she had a child with. Following the Sharpeville massacre, Benjamin and her husband Ibrahim lived in New York, raising both money and awareness for the anti-apartheid cause (Chinen, 1). Benjamin is in the history books as one of the greats alongside Billie Holiday because of the way she told stories using her voice and a microphone. “Benjamin can create emotional truth and innocence in part because she doesn’t rely on vocal acrobatics or melisma-- just pure, crystalline sound” (Kelley, 1). Benjamin maintained her own unique tone throughout her musical career but also never strayed away from her devotion to modern jazz, because she saw it as the most liberating music on the planet (Kelley, 123). Benjamin also very inclined with politics and was politically active on behalf of the African National Congress. Furthering her career, after moving back and forth from South Africa and New York City, she started her own record label, Ekapa, and released seven LPs showing her true talents. Sathima Bea Benjamin never lost touch of herself or her …show more content…

“Astral Traveling: The Ecstasy of Spiritual Jazz.” Astral Traveling: The Ecstasy of Spiritual Jazz | Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 25 Sept. 2015, pitchfork.com/features/pitchfork-essentials/9724-astral-traveling-the-ecstasy-of-spiritual-jazz/.
“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr On The Importance Of Jazz.” WCLK, wclk.com/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-importance-jazz.
Fordham, John. “50 Great Moments in Jazz: John Coltrane 's Giant Step for Improvisation.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Aug. 2010, www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/aug/09/john-coltrane-giant-step.
Kelley, Robin D.G. “Sathima Bea Benjamin: The Echo Returns.” JazzTimes, jazztimes.com/departments/artist-profiles/sathima-bea-benjamin-the-echo-returns/.
Kelley, Robin D. G. “Africa Speaks, America Answers.” Africa Speaks, America Answers - Robin D. G. Kelley | Harvard University Press, Harvard University Press, www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674046245.
Kidd, Jessica Fordham. “Herman Blount (Sun Ra).” Encyclopedia of Alabama, www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1896.
Lock, Graham. Blutopia: Visions of the Future and Revisions of the Past in the Work of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and Anthony Braxton. Duke Univ. Press,

Show More
Related

Jelly Roll Morton Research Paper

535 Words | 3 Pages

Jazz has shaped the world we know today. Jazz would have never been as popular without the help of the famous musicians: Jelly Roll Morton, Joe King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. These people helped spread the new genre through radio, railroads, and the records that they played. Where did this all start? The jazz age began in New Orleans where a certain King was born.

Read More

French And Indian War: Chapter Analysis

254 Words | 2 Pages

A very interesting time after the French and Indian War. There were a lot of things that caught my attention in this chapter. One being the fact that the French and local tribes worked together to fight the British as well as trade and supply one another for survival. Another was how Pontiac’s Rebellion and the Paxton Boys’ were early American race wars. It is not surprising that no one could identify or wanted to identify any of the murderers from the Paxton Boys.

Read More

Comparing Billy Strayhorn's Music To The World

802 Words | 4 Pages

Binyi Wu Ethnomusicology 50A Discussion 1E November 23, 2015 Billy Strayhorn “The extent to which Billy Strayhorn gained recognition during his years with us was never commensurate with his contribution” said Leonard Feather, the British-born jazz musician. Indeed, though contributing enormous brilliant jazz pieces to the Swing era, Billy Strayhorn was far more unnoticed compared to his collaborator, the jazz master Duke Ellington. Instead, living most of his professional life as the protege of Duke Ellington, Strayhorn passed away in 1967 at too young an age to fully illustrate his own music to the world. However, Strayhorn’s work encountered a resurgence with the dedication of fellow musicians like Toshiko Akiyoshi and Joe Henderson

Read More

1920s Dbq Essay

430 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout America's history, African Americans suffered racism, bias, including constant scolding during the 19th century. Nevertheless, perspectives shifted distinctly, when the American Dream surged through hearts of the previously shunned race, migrating in mass numbers, known as The Great Migration. With the traveling immigrants, they brought about Jazz to liven up the dull streets with legendary names such as Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. Their new sounds caught thousands of people’s attention, improving the African American race to new confidence as never before. As a result, their legacy not only established new grounds for African Americans but also contributed to America’s modern swing to the sounds of Jazz.

Read More

Harlem Renaissance Dbq

479 Words | 2 Pages

The 1920’s The decade of the 1920’s is best described as “Boom to Bust.” In the beginning people were having a very good time, not just at parties but economically and culturally. Even though the 18th amendment was passed in 1919, making the sale of alcohol illegal, people still drank, mostly in secret. There were tons of inventions that really got people moving and spending such as electricity/lights, the automobile, credit, and the modern radio. Everyone in the 1920’s was feeling good, making a lot of money, and buying whatever they wanted, but all of the ended with the crash of the stock market.

Read More

Duke Ellington Annotated Bibliography

585 Words | 3 Pages

“Duke Ellington’s composition was a musical history of African Americans, ‘Black, Brown, and Beige”(Pop Culture of 20th-Century America). He took jazz in a new direction. Duke wrote more elaborate pieces of music that mixed classical and jazz music together. The popularity of jazz led younger black musicians to break into new techniques. Soon after jazz became popular, African American musicians soon became very successful.

Read More

Sexuality Control In Jamaica Kincaid's Girl

697 Words | 3 Pages

Benna music became a useful form of spreading news and information across the island,” (Landed). The daughter then responds for the first time, “I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school”, (Kincaid, Jamaica). Since Benna can be associated with the spreading of rumors, the mother wants to make sure her daughter isn’t participating but instead “[P]rotect[ing] oneself from discrimination,” (Bailey, Carol 111), so it doesn’t interfere with her

Read More

Blues Music And Ethos Pathos Logos

761 Words | 4 Pages

Originating from African Americans residing in the deep south, blues music began to spread. Chicago bloomed with blues and became the roots for this style of music. The use of pathos and ethos allows the author to delve into the Stones and how they made a name for African American musicians. He uses direct quotes from blues musicians, like Muddy Waters, to provide an emotional attachment to the struggles of African American musicians during this time. He also provides a detailed background with interviews to provide a glimpse into their life and credibility.

Read More

Louis Armstrong Accomplishments

721 Words | 3 Pages

"What he does is real, and true, and honest, and simple, and even noble. Every time this man puts his trumpet to his lips, even if only to practice three notes, he does it with his whole soul. " This quote by composer, Leonard Bernstein, perfectly grasps what Louis Armstrong aspired for every time he unhinged the case of his instrument. This recognition is what countless other black artists, musicians, poets and writers desired during the outbreak of literary and artistic African American culture in the first half of the 1900’s, known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Read More

How Did John Coltrane Influence The Civil Rights Movement

824 Words | 4 Pages

Since its early roots in New Orleans, Jazz has been essential part of American culture through its role in showcasing and contributing to America’s complex history. Throughout the years, Jazz artists have used improvisation and individuality, which are essential traits of the music, to keep the music celebrated and popular around the world. However, only few artists have used Jazz music to support social movements and used to influence people’s lives. Unlike others, I believe John Coltrane, was one of the greatest saxophonist, who portrayed his individuality through his belief in spiritual power of music and using his improvisation to change music style while influencing social issues. Coltrane was a deeply spiritual man who believed music was a vehicle for the

Read More

How Did Miles Davis Influence Jazz

1014 Words | 5 Pages

In this paper, I plan to examine the influences that Miles Davis had on jazz. Starting with the bebop era, when his career first began, to his final collaboration released following his death. While in school Davis had learned how to play the trumpet, and following graduation he attended Julliard in New York. However, he dropped out of Julliard in 1945 in order join one of bebop’s pioneers, Charlie Parker. It was

Read More

Jazz Vs Manouche Jazz

1060 Words | 5 Pages

Now, jazz musicians are renowned for professionalism, refinement, and culture. Jazz is a fine art, a representation of humanity’s progress. As jazz musicians, we need to maintain a higher set of values than any other type of musician. So if we, Manouche Jazz musicians, don’t care about the fate of the Romani, yet we play their music, then our profession is hypocritical. If we pretend to hold ourselves to the level that jazz is defined by, while also appropriating the music of an already struggling culture, Manouche Jazz musicians, in particular, are hypocritical appropriators.

Read More

Jazz And Racial Identity

233 Words | 1 Pages

Despite Jazz being formed out of two cultures, the issues of social stratification and racial identity never had to be addressed in early jazz history. But as Jazz grew in popularity in a prewar 1930s America, the issue of racism started to form. As Jazz prospered within the economy and as a musical style, it’s roots revealed it’s racial identity. Jazz emerged from the music used formerly to entertain slaves and was a tool of rebellion against the white man, Jazz’z roots were very much embedded in slave culture. As free slaves moved north, they brought their Jazz influence to parts of the country such as Chicago and New York.

Read More

Jazz Influence On American Culture

1090 Words | 5 Pages

In life, there are few things as organic as jazz music. With its raw sound and scrappy roots, one cannot help but feel life head-on whilst witnessing players produce such a sound right before their eyes. Its origins and arch are a product of the United States’ national culture and identity. Jazz exists not only as a deeply rooted form of art but as a cultural marker, particularly during its commercial peak in the first half of the 20th century. Its impact transcends borders, and it is one of the most beloved musical genres worldwide.

Read More

Live At The Apollo Analysis

861 Words | 4 Pages

We all know that the power of the Black community in America came from deep in their soul. Their strength and will to fight segregation , and their love can be felt in the civil rights movement. Their ability to express their minds in a non- violent way connects to the soul music that James Brown created. James Brown’s music was a mixture of R&B and gospel. Which in a way connects to what Dr. Martin Luther King was trying to do during the civil rights movement.

Read More

More about How Did Sun Ra Influence The Black Freedom Movement

Related Topics

Open Document