VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

09-4-0382

Hill, Constance Valis. Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2000. 320 pp. Foreword by Gregory Hines. ISBN 0-19-513166-5, $30.00.

Finally, readers are invited into the world of twentieth-century jazz tap through the lives and careers of one of our national treasures, the celebrated Nicholas Brothers. Born to a family of jazz musicians, the two brothers are historically woven through a time capsule of Diaspora-driven American art innovations in Brotherhood in Rhythm. It is hard to believe author Hill was not present in Harlem’s Cotton Club in the 1920s as she recalls every step, blow by blow, recorded on film, in oral interview, on home movies, and in arts reviews.

The classical virtuosity of Fayard and Harold Nicholas is unmistakable in Hollywood’s collective consciousness as we are reminded of these flying acrobats who always landed on their feet to display exquisitely precise jazz tap dance sequences. Every artist they touched, including Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, George Balanchine, and Josephine Baker, helped to provide a glamorous setting for the racial intolerance the Nicholas Brothers continually endured. Rarely displayed photographs and a vernacular glossary support Hill’s story-like progression of the Nicholas Brothers’ careers as they charmed and stunned audiences at every well-known performance venue of their time. Hill’s caring fastidious research has created a mirror for American dance.

—Toni Smith
Troy, N.Y.

09-4-0383

Moisala, Pirkko and Diamond, Beverley, eds. Music and Gender. Champaign: Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000. 376 pp. ISBN 0-252-02544-X, $55.00 (cl); 0-252-06865-3, $24.95 (pb).

The foreword in this impressive work was written by New York ethnomusicologist Ellen Koskoff; the general editors are music professors in Canada and Finland. This collection of essays seeks to define the relationships of gender, music, and society.

Interdisciplinary considerations include poetry, performance, imagery, technology, and general acoustics. Geographic areas of study encompass Estonia, Ethiopia, Croatia, Prince Edward Island, Europe, Turkey, Finland, the United States, and a rain forest.

A detailed index and biographical sketches of the several author contributors are included in this fine work. Notes and bibliographies appear with the essays, and some incorporate organized data such as music examples, tables, and direct quotes.

The typescript is easy to read, and the cover photographs are enjoyable to view. Emphasis is placed on the field of women’s studies, with an ethnomusicological perspective. However, the book is not over the head of the general reader. It includes many anecdotes and is highly recommended.

—Geary Larrick
Stevens Point, Wis.

09-4-0384

Ward, Andrew. Dark Midnight When I Rise: The Story of the Jubilee Singers Who Introduced the World to the Music of Black America. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000. 493 pp. ISBN 0-374-18771-1, $27.00.

Ward examines the life of the legendary Jubilee Singers. After the Civil War, Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, established itself as one of the most prestigious black colleges in America. Unable to collect tuition from a predominantly impoverished student body, school treasurer George White organized the Jubilee Singers in 1871 to raise funds. At first, the group toured nationwide with little financial success. Exploited and manipulated by unscrupulous managers, the singers were worn out by the demands of touring and racism. Just as they were ready to give up, the singers were invited to perform before an influential Brooklyn congregation. This single performance catapulted the singers into success. From there they traveled throughout the United States and Europe to earn nearly $150,000 (approximately $2.5 million in today’s money). During their seven-year tour, the singers won world acclaim and earned audiences with Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, and Mark Twain. The Jubilee Singers influenced music legends Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Benny Goodman.

Ward provides a fascinating tribute to a group of intelligent and gracious men and women whose dignity and courage were always tested. Ward’s extensive research from letters, memoirs, and historical archives reinforces for readers the singers’ influence on music.

—Dora Love
San Francisco, Calif.