A brief introduction to civil rights jazz on vinyl

[Guest]

50 years ago Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered what has become the most iconic speech in America’s chequered social history.

It was a moment which galvanised both the Civil Rights movement and its concurrent expression in jazz.

From spirituals and work songs, through gospel, blues and swing, to be-bop and the appropriation of jazz no longer as art rather than entertainment, via hard bop, free jazz and the avant-garde, it’s a genre that has at every point been inextricably linked with its social and political context.

Alongside Civil Rights anthems “We Shall Overcome”, “How I Got Over” and “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands”` performed at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom from which Dr. King made his speech, is a powerful tradition of protest songs, whether thinly veiled as on Louis Armstrong’s “Black and Blue” or fervently outspoken, as on Billie Holiday’s seminal “Strange Fruit”.

http://www.thevinylfactory.com/vinyl-factory-releases/a-brief-introduction-to-civil-rights-jazz-on-vinyl/

 

[Vincent52]

Thanks for this Steve - what an amazing link. I've not dealt with The Vinyl Factory before but will search them out now. Most, if not all, of these (I already have Mingus Ah Um) are now on my "to get" list. :^

 

[Guest]

Thanks for this Steve - what an amazing link. I've not dealt with The Vinyl Factory before but will search them out now. Most, if not all, of these (I already have Mingus Ah Um) are now on my "to get" list. :^

Yes, sometimes music is much more than just entertainment.

That Nina Simone looks like a must get.

 

[Baggawire]

You may like this too - on the always excellent Soul Jazz label.

 

[June]

Had these for quite a few years now and not sure if they are still in print (from Universal Sounds? Soul Jazz?)

Edit: they were on the Harmless label :doh: from around 1999

 

[June]

Or if you like it less fluffy / more spikey, check the Trikont label from Germany.