Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations with Black American Composers
A valuable guide to the repertoire... (Times Union)Forty-one composers including the author offer personal perspectives on their art, mostly through first-person narratives and occasionally in Q-and-A format. Included here are such important orchestral figures as Hale Smith, Adolphus Hallstork, George Walker, Olly Wilson, David Baker, T.J. Anderson, H. Leslie Adams, Leslie Dunner, Bobby McFerrin, Patrice Rushen, Michael Abels, Anthony Davis, Jonathan Holland, Anthony Kelley, Jeffrey Mumford, Gary Powell Nash, and James Kimo Williams. Banfield provides a biographical synopsis for each composer, and his opening chapter is an historical overview of the African-American composer's experience. (SymphonyNOW)The heritage of jazz, blues, R&B, rap, and popular music is evident, as expected, but the entries inevitably go past the confines of music. Essential..... (CHOICE)The heritage of jazz, blues, R&B;, rap, and popular music is evident, as expected, but the entries inevitably go past the confines of music. Essential. (CHOICE)