"Bombs bursting in Air"
Contributions by Franz Andres Morrissey, Mat Callahan, Suzanne G. Cusick, James E. Dillard, Steven Garabedian, Jim Rogers, Elissa Stroman, Britta Sweers, and Dick Weissman
What exactly is American music? Is blackface minstrelsy American music? Is Hawaiian music? Is “The Star-Spangled Banner,” written by an Englishman, American music? And what exactly is “Rockin’ in the Free World”? Why does the Voice of America use jazz music to promote America? These and many other questions are discussed in Bombs Bursting in Air: Music and the State.
A Songbook of Slavery and Emancipation
This collection stands as both history and testimony: a living archive of music that called for the end of slavery, the emancipation of African Americans, and a future built on equality and human dignity. These songs do not simply mourn oppression; they demand resistance, freedom, and justice.
Songs of Slavery and Emancipation
Throughout the history of slavery, enslaved people organized resistance, escape, and rebellion. Sustaining them in this struggle was their music, some examples of which are sung to this day. While the existence of slave songs, especially spirituals, is well known, their character is often misunderstood. Slave songs were not only lamentations of suffering or distractions from a life of misery. Some songs openly called for liberty and revolution, celebrating such heroes as Gabriel Prosser and Nat Turner, and, especially, celebrating the Haitian Revolution.
James Connolly Songs of Freedom
Following on the discovery of a songbook edited by James Connolly and published in New York in 1907, the songbook was republished and a selection of the songs it contained were arranged and recorded.
Working Class Heroes
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of a long-overlooked songbook, Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People, a selection was made and recorded. Additionally, research was done into the composers of these songs and a new book with their stories was published.
Songs of Slavery and Emancipation
The discovery of a song containing explicitly revolutionary lyrics, composed and performed by slaves in 1813, led to further research. Were there more songs fitting this description? If there were, why hadn't we heard of them before? This eventually led to the discovery of numerous such songs. These were then recorded and filmed. A book telling the story of discovery, authenticating the findings, and further elucidated by a leading historian was also completed.
"Behold, the Fall of Babylon"
The purpose of this project is to provide a history of the song "Babylon is Fallen" and to make audio recordings of outstanding versions. We plan to use a variety of musicians and ensembles, including gospel choirs and shape-note singing groups, as well as instrumentalists performing in the styles of different eras and regions. The repertoire will consist of variations of the original song along with completely different songs using the same title, "Babylon is Fallen". In addition we will include more recent songs that use the "Babylon" image in a manner clearly derived from the original but are new compositions, lyrically and musically.