A Note  

1. A Griot's Art: The Story of Everything  1

2. CanariesCanarios: A New Music in an Old World  17

3. Go Down Chariot: The Georgia Sea Islands and Fanny Kemble. The Slavery Spirituals, Lydia Parrish and Zora Neale Hurston  37

4. Skiffles, Tubs and Washboards: Good Time Music before the Blues  62

5. Red Clark's List: New Orleans Street Jazz and the Eureka Brass Band in the 1950s  81

6. A Dance in Ragged Time: "Shake the World's Foundation with the Maple Leaf Rag"  105

7. Gal, You Got to Go Back to Bimini: The Bahamas, Its Rhymers, and Joseph Spence  133

8. Pretenders, Caressers, Lions, and a Mighty Sparrow: Trinidad's Sweet Calypso  152

9. It Be Like Thunder if a Man Live Close: Nights in Trinidad's Pan Yards  178

10. Reggae Is a New Bag: Kingston Streets, Kingston Nights  203

11. To Feel The Spirit: Gospel Song in the Great Churches of Harlem  230

12. A Prince of Zydeco: Louisiana's Zydeco Blues and Good Rockin' Dopsie  254

13. �Como se llama este ritmo? Bebo Vald� the Music of Cuba, and the Buena Vista Social Club  283

14. Bahia Nights: Carnival in Brazil's Black World  308

Notes  335

Bibliography  339

Index  343

“[W]ritten in a vivid, often enthusiastic, and eminently readable style . . . . A Language of Song is an interesting and entertaining introduction to the subject. I found it a pleasant and most enjoyable read.”—Thomas W. Jacobsen, Journal of Folklore Research

“What’s truly impressive is the scope of the whole work which, while it devotes a little space to blues and jazz, is basically about all of the rest of the African-derived music we hear from around the world. . . . The quality of the writing is invariably interesting and sympathetic, not to mention informative. . . . [T]here’s a timely attention to the economics of slavery and the present-day persistence of racism which merits a wide readership.”—Brian Priestley, Jazzwise

“Reading Charter's book, even an experienced researcher may find precious tips on how to articulate sources and conduct fieldwork. The author's experience in finding and interviewing local musicians and making profitable use of literary and historical sources can be useful for the academic public as well as providing a pleasant reading experience for the non-specialist.”
—Conrado Falboa, Popular Music

“The value of this book probably lies primarily in the personal memories
and reflections it leaves of various milestones in a long and distinguished
career – one that continues to this day. It makes for enjoyable reading, and
... it will be received with gratitude by students of African diasporic musics who have been inspired at one time or another by Charters’s
pioneering work, myself included.”—Kenneth Bilby, New West Indian Guide

“Reading Charter’s book, even an experienced researcher may find precious tips on how to articulate sources and conduct fieldwork. The author’s experience in finding and interviewing local musicians and making profitable use of literary and historical sources can be useful for the academic public as well as providing a pleasant reading experience for the non-specialist.”—Conrado Falbo, Popular Music

“Charters follows the roots of the blues wherever they lead. In the process, he’s mapped a multicultural genome that provides great insight into the genre.”—Jazziz

“Filled with vivid, lively writing (and cool photos taken by Charters’ daughter), this wonderful book shows masterfully how the African cultural diaspora has always been a musical one too.”
—Jason Bivins, Cadence

“The scope of the book is pretty astounding, particularly considering that so much of Charters’ work with jazz, blues and other musics—not to mention his literary pursuits—is barely referenced here. The book flows smoothly thanks to Charters’ narrative style, which shifts effortlessly back and forth between colorful travelogues, summarizations of modern research, and his informed interpretations of the music and social settings he encounters. All in all it’s a delightful book that reflects a remarkable life in music.”—Scott Barretta, Living Blues

“But Charters, at the ripe young age of eighty, presents us with sixty years of musical insights. Impressionistic as they may seem, his ruminations are bound to inform and provoke, and are well worth our attention.” —Ray Allen, American Studies

“[A]n extraordinary journey, filled with vital, revealing details of cultures and music. Charters himself emerges as a guide fully worthy of all the guides he’s sought out so diligently and clearly been so blessed to discover.”—Stuart Broomer, Signal to Noise

“Let’s hope Charters keeps extracting from his mine of inexhaustible stories of music from around the world for future tomes. Roots music lovers will devour them over and over again.”—Library Journal

“Charters’s sensitive examination of the well-heeled Kingston audience and their ambivalent response to this inflammatory music is one of this book’s high points. . . . The present volume falls somewhere between a memoir and a compilation album: over 14 chapters he recounts his trips in search of what lies behind black music. . . . Charter’s elegant gambit is to switch back and forth from today’s music to its historical precedents...This is a quietly written book, but Charter’s excitement at such moments of epiphany is palpable. . . . His book is an absorbing, accessible read, underpinned by solid scholarship and the author’s good-humoured and seemingly endless curiosity”—Clive Bell, The Wire

“No garden-variety writer about music, Samuel Charters deserves a respectful bow from anyone who values roots music. . . . Charters’ first-person writing—straightforward, flowing, quietly passionate, seldom dry, never afflicted by self-absorption or scholarly denseness—provides proof of his gift for understanding various types of African-derived music that he encountered on his travels. . . . Any reader beginning an investigation of this or that music discussed would be wise to spend time with A Language of Song. Readers already hip will find new information and appreciate Charters’ fresh enthusiasm over the golden sounds.”—Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat

“A Language of Song's presentation style mixes richly detailed first-person recollections of travels, historical accounts of the music and vivid descriptions of performances. The result is a fascinating and highly readable story of a unique lifetime in music.”—Scott Barretta, The Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS)

“[W]ritten in a vivid, often enthusiastic, and eminently readable style . . . . A Language of Song is an interesting and entertaining introduction to the subject. I found it a pleasant and most enjoyable read.”—Thomas W. Jacobsen, Journal of Folklore Research

“What’s truly impressive is the scope of the whole work which, while it devotes a little space to blues and jazz, is basically about all of the rest of the African-derived music we hear from around the world. . . . The quality of the writing is invariably interesting and sympathetic, not to mention informative. . . . [T]here’s a timely attention to the economics of slavery and the present-day persistence of racism which merits a wide readership.”—Brian Priestley, Jazzwise

“Reading Charter's book, even an experienced researcher may find precious tips on how to articulate sources and conduct fieldwork. The author's experience in finding and interviewing local musicians and making profitable use of literary and historical sources can be useful for the academic public as well as providing a pleasant reading experience for the non-specialist.”
—Conrado Falboa, Popular Music

“The value of this book probably lies primarily in the personal memories
and reflections it leaves of various milestones in a long and distinguished
career – one that continues to this day. It makes for enjoyable reading, and
... it will be received with gratitude by students of African diasporic musics who have been inspired at one time or another by Charters’s
pioneering work, myself included.”—Kenneth Bilby, New West Indian Guide

“Reading Charter’s book, even an experienced researcher may find precious tips on how to articulate sources and conduct fieldwork. The author’s experience in finding and interviewing local musicians and making profitable use of literary and historical sources can be useful for the academic public as well as providing a pleasant reading experience for the non-specialist.”—Conrado Falbo, Popular Music

“Charters follows the roots of the blues wherever they lead. In the process, he’s mapped a multicultural genome that provides great insight into the genre.”—Jazziz

“Filled with vivid, lively writing (and cool photos taken by Charters’ daughter), this wonderful book shows masterfully how the African cultural diaspora has always been a musical one too.”
—Jason Bivins, Cadence

“The scope of the book is pretty astounding, particularly considering that so much of Charters’ work with jazz, blues and other musics—not to mention his literary pursuits—is barely referenced here. The book flows smoothly thanks to Charters’ narrative style, which shifts effortlessly back and forth between colorful travelogues, summarizations of modern research, and his informed interpretations of the music and social settings he encounters. All in all it’s a delightful book that reflects a remarkable life in music.”—Scott Barretta, Living Blues

“But Charters, at the ripe young age of eighty, presents us with sixty years of musical insights. Impressionistic as they may seem, his ruminations are bound to inform and provoke, and are well worth our attention.” —Ray Allen, American Studies

“[A]n extraordinary journey, filled with vital, revealing details of cultures and music. Charters himself emerges as a guide fully worthy of all the guides he’s sought out so diligently and clearly been so blessed to discover.”—Stuart Broomer, Signal to Noise

“Let’s hope Charters keeps extracting from his mine of inexhaustible stories of music from around the world for future tomes. Roots music lovers will devour them over and over again.”—Library Journal

“Charters’s sensitive examination of the well-heeled Kingston audience and their ambivalent response to this inflammatory music is one of this book’s high points. . . . The present volume falls somewhere between a memoir and a compilation album: over 14 chapters he recounts his trips in search of what lies behind black music. . . . Charter’s elegant gambit is to switch back and forth from today’s music to its historical precedents...This is a quietly written book, but Charter’s excitement at such moments of epiphany is palpable. . . . His book is an absorbing, accessible read, underpinned by solid scholarship and the author’s good-humoured and seemingly endless curiosity”—Clive Bell, The Wire

“No garden-variety writer about music, Samuel Charters deserves a respectful bow from anyone who values roots music. . . . Charters’ first-person writing—straightforward, flowing, quietly passionate, seldom dry, never afflicted by self-absorption or scholarly denseness—provides proof of his gift for understanding various types of African-derived music that he encountered on his travels. . . . Any reader beginning an investigation of this or that music discussed would be wise to spend time with A Language of Song. Readers already hip will find new information and appreciate Charters’ fresh enthusiasm over the golden sounds.”—Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat

“A Language of Song's presentation style mixes richly detailed first-person recollections of travels, historical accounts of the music and vivid descriptions of performances. The result is a fascinating and highly readable story of a unique lifetime in music.”—Scott Barretta, The Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS)

“A Language of Song is an important work. Samuel Charters is a lovely writer, his observations and anecdotes are invaluable, and his background for writing this book perhaps unsurpassed among living writers. He has visited so many important places in the history of the music of the African diaspora during the last half century, and has always done so with great attentiveness and sensitivity.”—Ted Gioia, author of Work Songs and Healing Songs

“In this highly readable account, Samuel Charters takes us on a personal, guided tour of the many musical worlds touched by the African diaspora. In a sensitive and revealing text, Charters portrays the real stars, often unknown to the general public, who have played a central role in melding a range of traditions, from ancient to modern, into new musical styles. Like that of Alan Lomax, Charters’s work has transcended genres and crossed the decades, laying the groundwork and providing inspiration for generations of scholars who have followed. This splendid book is a celebration of a lifetime of enthusiasms.”—Richard Carlin, author of Worlds of Sound: The Story of Smithsonian Folkways

“From The Gambia to the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic to the American Deep South, New Orleans, St. Louis, Manhattan, down to the Bahamas, Trinidad, Jamaica, Cuba, and finally to Brazil. These were staging grounds of the horrific African slave trade, which eventually became outposts of freedom and cultural and musical creativity. With beautiful, highly evocative prose, Samuel Charters describes a lifetime of tracing these routes and documenting the music that was created along them—blues, ragtime, jazz, zydeco, calypso, reggae, steel band, rumba, samba, and much more—music that has changed the way the world listens and dances.”—David Evans, author of Big Road Blues: Tradition and Creativity in the Folk Blues

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