Monday, July 9, 2007

Black Composer Offers a Few Notes


Jeffrey Mumford usually stumps people when he asks them to name a black composer.They offer a blank look, then ask: Are there any? He rattles off a list: Florence Price. R. Nathaniel Dett. Tania Leon. Olly Wilson. Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. George Walker.Add one more name to the list: Jeffrey Mumford.

Jeffrey invited me to sit on the porch at his Oberlin home and listen to his concerns about rap music. He's concerned about how it shapes, or misshapes, the identity of too many black people. read more

[Sunday, July 08, 2007 Plain Dealer written by Regina Brett - Plain Dealer Columnist]

Friday, July 6, 2007

Western Folklife Center

Far From Home, Mexicans Sing Age-Old Ballads of a New Life
By Randal C. Archibold

The Western Folklife Center, a nonprofit cultural organization in Elko, Nev., that has begun a project to document Mexican influences and folklore in the ranching West. Mexican folk ballads known as corridos have moved north with immigrants and adopted new themes. more of this NYTimes article