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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Jazz, Blues, and Spirituals: The Origins and Spirituality of Black Music in the United States
Originally published in 1959, Rookmaaker's music history explores the development of black music in the United States from its earliest days until the 1950s--describing the origins, rationale, and interplay of diverse new genres. As he provides insight into the spiritual background and qualitative differences of jazz, blues, spirituals, and gospel music, he speaks to the questions raised by modern jazz, which, in his words, "boasts high quality but an existential spirit." This new edition features a preface by William Edgar, an accomplished jazz pianist and a professor at Westminster Seminary.
Book Details
- Publisher: P & R Publishing
- Publish Date: Feb 5th, 2020
- Pages: 240
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 9.10in - 6.10in - 0.90in - 1.25lb
- EAN: 9781629956732
- Categories: • Ethnomusicology
About the Author
Rookmaaker, Hans: - Hans Rookmaaker (1922-1977) was a notable Dutch professor and author, writing on art theory, music, philosophy, religion, and other topics.
Praise for this book
As a Covenant College graduate who has pursued a career in music, I had the privilege of seeing Dr. Rookmaaker coming to the US with his colleague, Francis Schaeffer in the early 1970s. It was a challenging and exciting time for Reformed Christians! This book shows Hans Rookmaaker's profound respect for black music from Africa through work songs, spirituals, blues, jazz, and early gospel. What is fascinating is that this is not simply a history book, but that it includes Dr. R's pithy evaluation of each era, each player, and the spirit of the art. The element of joy captures his hearty approval of the New Orleans musicians of the early 1900s, which he says is absent from later jazz forms, having been replaced by individualism or nihilism. Without censuring the art, however, he shines the light of Philippians 4:8 on the swing and bebop genres. He is sharply critical of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess as a pseudo-black performance, and he hasn't much time for rock-n-roll! But the fundamental admiration of African American creativity shining through oppression is Rookmaaker's view woven through every paragraph of this research. Though written in 1960, this is an example that the twenty-first century educated musician should follow.--James Ward, Recording Artist, Singer-Songwriter
Hans Rookmaker is a fascinating man who, although not as well-known as he deserves to be, played an important role in the development of a neo-Calvinist vision of the arts. From POW to student of art history, Rookmaker developed a broadly presuppositional approach to art history, explaining the history of art in relation to the history of philosophy and religion. Passionate, opinionated and always informed, this republication of Jazz, Blues, and Spirituals is a wonderful example of Rookmaker's expertise and continued relevance. Beginning with the rhythms of Africa and the indignity of slavery, and moving through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by way of Ma Rainey and Jelly Roll Morton to Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, from Bennie Goodman and Count Bassie to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson, Rookmaker not only chronicles the development of Spirituals, Blues, Band music, Ragtime, Jazz and Gospel music, but also casts light on black and white relations in the U.S. and on Christianity's relationship to culture. Now that it is available once again, may this volume remind a generation of Christians that no musical form is neutral or without meaning and may it stimulate further work across a variety of musical genres.--Mark P. Ryan, Director of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute, Adjunct Professor of Religion and Culture, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis
In 1925 James Weldon Johnson pondered how the music of the African slave in America was transformed into the Spirituals. He answered, "At the psychic moment there was at hand the precise religion for the condition in which he found himself thrust...The thought that the Negro might have refused or failed to adopt Christianity...leads to some curious speculations. One thing is certain, there would have been no Negro Spirituals." From the Negro Spirituals to the Blues to Jazz we have a robust and diverse contribution to the world of music coming out of the Black experience in America. I am grateful to P&R Publishing for putting this story front and center again for us in Hans Rookmaaker's Jazz, Blues and Spirituals. He gives us this American story through the lens of God's work among a people. We are brought into the beauty that springs out of joy and sorrow intimately tied to a hope rooted in God.--Irwyn L. Ince, Director, GraceDC Institute for Cross-Cultural Mission