Banfield - Cultural Codes: Makings of a Black Music Philosophy: an Interpretive History From Spirituals to Hip Hop (African American Cultural Theory and Heritage)

Dr. William (Bill) Banfield is a composer, jazz guitarist, author, and educator. He is professor of Africana Studies/Music and Society in the Liberal Arts Department and director of the Africana Studies Center and Programming at Berklee College of Music. His work focuses on the aesthetic history of Black music culture and the power of music to hold, transfer, and sustain cultural value. His other books include Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations with Black American Composers (2003) and Black Notes: Essays of a Musician Writing in a Post-Album Age (2004), both published by Scarecrow Press. He also serves as the editor of the African American Cultural Theory and Heritage series published by Scarecrow Press.

The artwork on the cover is a painting by contemporary artist Emily Russell, titled Ozzy Plays the Guitar. What struck me about this image, in relation to the books message, is the ways in which artistic expressions are interpreted, calling upon codes that are infused with various kinds of identities, histories, values, and meanings.

Albeit a problematic image, Ozzy here is simply a sock monkey made to hold a guitar. For some, he may evoke the image of Robert Johnson. For others hes evocative of a play on Black face minstrelsy. How we read this work of art is based on the same principles of how we hear and see music in its varied values from the artists who render them.

What grabs me about Ozzy is the look in his eye: He asks us to decode what he means, and he delights in playing with that musical-image idea. This book raises questions about the study of Black music, suggesting that no art can survive without an understanding of and dedication to what values are envisioned from its creators.... I believe this kind of exploration keeps us grounded in a rich musical past, answers the dilemmas we face today about what we value, and such a view guides our discussions as we create and make choices about where we are headed. Art [music] is a critical part of our social consciousness, and culture is about how we live in the world. This book is about creative Black artistry and its effect and impact on shaping modern culture and society, and the questions that are wrapped up in discovering these meanings. I deliberately chose this image of Ozzy as a means to provoke those very questions, to ask the reader to decode not just the image, but to examine the culture that informs it.

Special thanks to Dr. Camille Colatosti for her editing and help with the completion of this huge undertaking.

Thanks, Ed. Thanks, Stephen!

For all musicians, and for all students and lovers of this great artistry and incredible history and culture.

Lord, what must I do to become clear? Clarity is a form of salvation.

The recordings listed here are a sampling of the works that embody and reflect ideas of a Black popular music aesthetic, and that help frame and accompany arguments in this book. The list is inclusive of mainly African American and mainstream American popular music culture through which threads can be drawn from spirituals, folk, and jazz to contemporary urban. From this sampling, the conclusion should be noted that this music is reflective of an ideology of sound, song performance, and meanings which constitute a known body of artistic work.

How Long

Go Down Moses

Didnt My Lord Deliver Daniel

Steal Away

Over My Head I Hear Music in the Air / Up above My Head (Kirk Franklin recording)

Run Mary Run

Backwater Blues Bessie Smith (1927)

You Gonna Need Somebody When You Die Charley Patton (1929)

Kind Hearted Woman Blues Robert Johnson (1937)

Stones in My Passway Robert Johnson (1937)

Strange Fruit Billie Holiday (1939)

Rock Me Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1941)

Stand By Me Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1941)

Mama and Papa Blues Lightnin Hopkins (19591964)

Come Sunday Duke Ellington (1958)

The Shape of Jazz to Come, Ornette Coleman (1959)

Free Jazz, Ornette Coleman (1960)

Body and Soul Thelonious Monk (1963)

Just a Gigolo Thelonious Monk (1963)

A Love Supreme, John Coltrane (1965)

Do, Re, Mi Woody Guthrie (1940)

This Land Is Your Land Woody Guthrie (1944)

The Times They Are a-Changin Bob Dylan (1964)

(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction The Rolling Stones (1965)

Get Off of My Cloud The Rolling Stones (1965)

All You Need Is Love The Beatles (1967)

Revolution The Beatles (1968)

With a Little Help from My Friends Joe Cocker (1969)

I Had a Dream John Sebastian (1970)

Drugstore Truck Drivin Man Joan Baez, featuring Jeffrey Shurtleff (1970)

A Change Is Gonna Come Otis Redding (1965)

Papas Got a Brand New Bag James Brown (1965)

Cold Sweat James Brown (1967)

Respect Aretha Franklin (1967)

Say It LoudIm Black and Im Proud James Brown (1968)

I Got the Feelin James Brown (1968)

Licking Stick James Brown (1968)

Everyday People Sly & the Family Stone (1968)

Mother Popcorn James Brown (1969)

Choice of Colors The Impressions (1969)

Its Your Thing The Isley Brothers (1969)

Friendship Train Gladys Knight and the Pips (1969)

Ball of Confusion The Temptations (1970)

To Be Young, Gifted, and Black Nina Simone (1970)

Funky Drummer James Brown (1970)

Get Up James Brown (1970)

Super Bad James Brown (1970)

Soul Power James Brown (1971)

Make It Funky James Brown (1971)

Hot Pants James Brown (1971)

Respect Yourself The Staple Singers (1971)

Love the One Youre With The Isley Brothers (1971)

Smiling Faces Sometimes The Undisputed Truth (1971)

Whats Going On Marvin Gaye (1971)

Lets Stay Together Al Green (1971)

Papa Was a Rolling Stone The Temptations (1972)

Slippin into Darkness War (1972)

Back Stabbers OJays (1972)

Work to Do The Isley Brothers (1972)

Love and Happiness Al Green (1972)

Love Train OJays (1973)

Ghetto Child The Spinners (1973)

Doing It to Death James Brown (1973)

The Payback James Brown (1974)

Papa Dont Take No Mess James Brown (1974)

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Gil Scott-Heron (1974)

Shining Star Earth, Wind & Fire (1975)

Wake Up, Everybody Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1975)

Chocolate City Parliament Funkadelic (1975)

Funky President James Brown (1975)

Get Up Offa That Thang James Brown (1976)

Street Life The Crusaders, with Randy Crawford (1979)

Aint No Stoppin Us Now McFadden and Whitehead (1979)