Bibliography
Musical Battles
Armenian Folk Arts, Culture and Identity co-edited by Nancy Sweeny and Levon Abrahamian (Indiana University Press, 2001) The "media" of 19th century Armenia were wandering bards called gusans that traveled from village to village. This brand-new book includes material about contests between Armenian bards.Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest by Ross Russell (University of California Press, 1971) This book is a superb overview of the Kansas City jazz scene and its evolution. The lens moves from ragtime to Count Basie, Charlie Parker to Bennie Moten. There's also a great chapter on jam sessions that we consulted for this show. Nat Hentoff writes "it's ....an indispensable book - and one that should further the redefinition of authentic American culture. Ross Russell helps illuminate a music which never received Pulitzer prizes nor recognition from 'official' American academies of art."
Jazz Anecdotes by Bill Crow (Oxford University Press, 1990) The book is just what the title indicates - a compilation of the best anecdotes of the jazz world, told by the musicians and friends who were there. There's one chapter on cutting contests, which we found particularly helpful in putting this show together, including anecdotes about Roy Eldridge, Rex Stewart, Dizzy Gillespie and Sidney Bechet.
Traditional Greenlandic Music by Michael Hauser (Forlaget Kragen and ULO, 1992) Traditional drum-songs used to have great cultural significance in Greenland for spiritual, legal, and entertainment purposes. Hauser shows how encroachment of European culture has changed the cultural roles of drum-songs. Song-duels are still held in front of audiences, but today's purposes are more for entertainment. Hauser delves into the cultural context of the change, and explores the lyrical and musical structures of the duels. There is also a number of beautiful photographs of Greenland, the people, and dueling.
A companion CD is available with the book: Traditional Greenlandic Music (ULO 75).
Both the book and the CD can be ordered from:The Law of Primitive Man - A Study in Comparative Legal Dynamics by E. Adamson Hoebel (Harvard University Press, 1967) Hoebel is one of the great legal anthropologists of the 20th century, and this work investigates the role of drum-songs in traditional Greenlandic culture. In an interesting conclusion, he likens the sport of the drum-song duel to the interplay between "sparring attorneys at law" in a present-day American courtroom.
ULO Saqqummersitsisarfik, P.O. Box 184
DK-3911 Sisimiut
GREENLANDThe Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births translated from the Pali by various hands, under the editorship of Professor E.B. Cowell, translated by Robert Chalmers (originally published in 1895 and reprinted by Cosmo Publications, 1973) Here we found the history of one of the Buddha's previous lives: as an old musician named Guttila, chief court musician of the King of Benares. In a contest with his student Musila, Guttila proved his Buddha-nature by continuing to issue forth great music even after all the strings on his instrument were broken!
Solo Tabla Drumming of North India - Its Repertoire, Styles and Performance Practices by Robert S. Gottlieb. Here we found the story of the legendary battle between two noted tabla players in the emperor's court: The emperor chose the winner when pigeons were attracted to the sounds of one contestant's tabla, and as a prize he offered to have the other man's hands trodden upon by an elephant! The victorious tabla player begged the emperor to spare his opponent, and the emperor relented.
On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying and Signifying - the Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor by Mel Watkins (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1994) Watkins provides a definitive history of African-American humor. This book examines the evolution of African-American humor from slavery to the end of the 20th century, and lays bare the interplay between black humor and mainstream American culture. We found this book particularly helpful in describing the black traditions of "doing the dozens" and "signifying".
The Great Pianists from Mozart to the Present by Harold C. Schonberg (Simon & Schuster, 1963) In this incredibly entertaining book that provided our Beethoven vs. Steibelt stories and related material, Schonberg brings the lives and times of the great pianists to life. Robert Taylor of the Boston Sunday Herald writes that "...what Mr. Schonberg has done has a remarkable aspect: He makes us hear the piano greats of the past. The pages read almost as though he had come direct from a concert by Cramer or Moscheles, with the experience still fresh in his mind, and described the playing accurately, colorfully, thoroughly."
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