Together Let Us Sweetly Live: The Singing and Praying Bands (Music in American Life) - Hardcover

David, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252031709 ISBN 13: 9780252031700

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2007

Synopsis

 A forgotten and beautiful African American folk tradition reexamined

Together Let Us Sweetly Live offers a rare look at the unique grassroots African American religious institutions called the Singing and Praying Bands. This folksong and ring shout tradition began in Chesapeake Bay country in the early nineteenth century, with a fusion of Methodist prayer meeting worship and African religious, danced song traditions. Although scholars have assumed ring shouts died out long ago, Jonathan C. David shows otherwise, ushering us inside tidewater communities of Maryland and Delaware where they continue to thrive.

A traditional band service represents a cultural commitment to mutual aid, called "help," operating as a system of social reciprocity, as a performance aesthetic, and as the foundation of community spirituality. The book's nine chapters tell the story of the Singing and Praying Bands at these services through oral histories, each told by a different member of a group. Seventy-eight photographs along with various song notations bring the spirit of the culture to life. The author's introduction provides the historical and ethnographic context needed to understand the bands and their tradition. An accompanying CD of original field recordings provides an opportunity to hear the service as if you were there.

A volume in the series Music in American Life

About this title

About the Author

Richard Holloway has over thirty years experience as a development consultant in Africa and Asia.

Review

"This book is superb. It combines historical analysis, first-person narrative, musical transcription, and photography to form a landmark study of folk religion. With insight and respect it conveys a wonderful sense of humanity."
--Stephen Wade, editor and producer of A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings

"Remarkable. . . . A rich historical and ethnographic portrait of the tradition and the community."--Smithsonian Folkways Magazine

"This indispensable reference source and comprehensive treasury of information on a phenomenal heritage and culture includes an accompanying CD of a sample recording of a Singing and Praying Band."--Multicultural Review

"Jonathan David has put together a fine set of first-person accounts that together convey a detailed view of this distinctive cultural tradition."--European Journal of Communication

“The stories taken together provide a panorama of history, showing the singing and praying band tradition from the insider’s perspective, focusing on personal relationships, folk traditions, and the ties that bind the practitioners and the community.”--Journal of Folklore Research

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0252031709
• ISBN 13: 9780252031700
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 264