Time was, one really had to scrape to pull together a good Black History program. My, how things have changed! The past few years have seen an explosion of recordings and wider exposure for composers once known mostly to record collectors. Who knew that Florence Price would one day be played everywhere?
This week on “Sweetness and Light,” I feel sheepish even making it a two-parter, as I’m still merely skating across the surface. But it is, after all, a light music show.
Enjoy a second cup of coffee with Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; the “Dean of Afro-American composers,” William Grant Still; former slave “Blind Tom” Wiggins (allegedly once the highest-paid pianist of the 19th century); Philadelphia-born bugle virtuoso Francis Johnson (including his “Princeton Gallopade”); and Duke Ellington.
Next year, maybe I’ll make it a four-parter. Or better yet, be more conscious about including more of this music throughout the year. I try, but I can’t tell you how many times things get cut, so that I can fit it all into an hour. (Apologies to you, Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, and Edmond Dédé!)
Good music is not a black and white issue. I hope you’ll join me for another “Sweetness and Light,” music calculated to charm and to cheer. It’s part two of “Black and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Listen to it, wherever you are, at the link:
PHOTO: Have coffee with the Duke
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