{"id":1715,"date":"2017-10-02T20:40:13","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T01:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=1715"},"modified":"2017-11-16T00:09:19","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T06:09:19","slug":"how-an-architectural-interior-designer-captured-the-evolution-of-the-african-american-spiritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2017\/10\/02\/how-an-architectural-interior-designer-captured-the-evolution-of-the-african-american-spiritual\/","title":{"rendered":"How An Architectural Interior Designer Captured the Evolution of the African American Spiritual"},"content":{"rendered":"

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http:\/\/ezproxy.stolaf.edu\/login?url=https:\/\/search.alexanderstreet.com\/view\/work\/bibliographic_entity|recorded_cd|72058<\/a><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t often that an architectural interior designer from Detroit with a battery-operated reel-to-reel tape recorder captures a vitally important moment in history, but Carl Benkert, a man who happened to fit the aforementioned description, managed to accomplish just that. In the year of 1965, when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing, and protesters were marching from Selma, Alabama to the State Capitol in Montgomery for access to the voting registration, Benkert recorded live freedom songs, chants, and speeches that were released in a documentary-album, \u201cFreedom Songs: Selma Alabama.\u201d One of the tracks (found in the hyperlink above), titled \u201cSteal Away, Nobody Knows the Trouble I\u2019ve Seen\u201d caught my attention as it captures the spirit and constant evolution of the complex African American Spiritual.<\/p>\n

While other musical traditions in North American such as Sacred Colonial Songs or American Indian music contain a strong and definitive presence of responsorial singing, African American spirituals have a unique take on the matter that seems to maintain traction throughout the 19th<\/sup> and early 20th<\/sup> century. Known as the \u201csinging man\u201d by many, spirituals have generally been led by one singer who introduces melodic material that is then repeated and varied upon by the \u201ccongregation,\u201d or participants. In Benkert\u2019s recording, Hosea Williams, a Civil Rights leader and member of the Souther Christian Leadership Conference, acts as this \u201csinging man,\u201d providing the melodies of two spirituals, which are answered by his fellow protestors. In addition to this call-and-response style comes an element of improvisation and variation that has been present throughout the history of spirituals. Author of 1867\u2019s \u201cSlave Songs of the United States\u201d William Frances Allen touches on this subject, describing how \u201cthere is no singing in parts as we understand it, and yet no two appear to be singing the same thing.\u201d This improvisatory tradition can be found in \u201cFreedom Songs: Selma, Alabama\u201d through the various declamatory vocables, including a man shouting \u201cCome on,\u201d and the distinctive bass and soprano voices.<\/p>\n

SUDDEN AND WILD TANGENT: BUT WAIT, AREN\u2019T THESE PERFORMERS SIMPLY LOWERING THE THIRD AND THE FIFTH TO ACHIEVE THESE VARIATIONS? NO, I\u2019M GLAD YOU ASKED.<\/p>\n

While using buzzwords such as \u201cloose harmonies\u201d are decent descriptions for the Western-oriented reader, listening to varied live music is the best way to capture the true distinction found in African American music. By comparing two saxophone players from different backgrounds, such as Kenny G. and Charlie Parker, we can quite easily see the emotional, personal, and distinct differences that cannot be captured through Western imitation or transcription.<\/p>\n