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Alan Kurtz

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"Stereotypes in Black Music" by Alan Kurtz, Reviewed by Steve Provizer

"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 ...

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