Home » Jazz Musicians » Alan Kurtz
Alan Kurtz
90
Book / Magazine
"Stereotypes in Black Music" by Alan Kurtz, Reviewed by Steve Provizer
Source:
Brilliant Corners, a Boston Jazz Blog
Author Alan Kurtz's thesis is: since at least the turn of the 20th century, African-American performers have been fulfilling and/or re-inforcing stereotypes of the naturally-rhythmic primitive savage-i.e., sustaining “white ethnocentric fantasies"-to advance their careers. Episodes include: Minstrelsy, the “coon song" craze, vaudeville, popular black theater ("In Dahomey," Shuffle Along," etc), Ellington's “Jungle Music," Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Cab Calloway, bebop, R&B, the jazz avant-garde of the 60's, disco and rap/hip hop. Mr. Kurtz says he wants the book to ...
read more
