Author: Ted Gioia
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199357579
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 332
Book Description
Uncovers the unexplored history of the love song, from the fertility rites of ancient cultures to the sexualized YouTube videos of the present day, and discusses such topics as censorship, the legacy of love songs, and why it is a dominant form of modern musical expression.
Love Songs
Author: Ted Gioia
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199357579
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 332
Book Description
Uncovers the unexplored history of the love song, from the fertility rites of ancient cultures to the sexualized YouTube videos of the present day, and discusses such topics as censorship, the legacy of love songs, and why it is a dominant form of modern musical expression.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199357579
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 332
Book Description
Uncovers the unexplored history of the love song, from the fertility rites of ancient cultures to the sexualized YouTube videos of the present day, and discusses such topics as censorship, the legacy of love songs, and why it is a dominant form of modern musical expression.
This Jazz Man
Author: Karen Ehrhardt
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547545746
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 37
Book Description
In this toe-tapping jazz tribute, the traditional "This Old Man" gets a swinging makeover, and some of the era's best musicians take center stage. The tuneful text and vibrant illustrations bop, slide, and shimmy across the page as Satchmo plays one, Bojangles plays two . . . right on down the line to Charles Mingus, who plays nine, plucking strings that sound "divine." Easy on the ear and the eye, this playful introduction to nine jazz giants will teach children to count--and will give them every reason to get up and dance! Includes a brief biography of each musician.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547545746
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 37
Book Description
In this toe-tapping jazz tribute, the traditional "This Old Man" gets a swinging makeover, and some of the era's best musicians take center stage. The tuneful text and vibrant illustrations bop, slide, and shimmy across the page as Satchmo plays one, Bojangles plays two . . . right on down the line to Charles Mingus, who plays nine, plucking strings that sound "divine." Easy on the ear and the eye, this playful introduction to nine jazz giants will teach children to count--and will give them every reason to get up and dance! Includes a brief biography of each musician.
The Erotic Muse
Author: Ed Cray
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252067891
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 488
Book Description
If you've ever wanted to know the "correct" words to "Roll Me Over," or wondered where the melody of "Sweet Betsy from Pike" came from, this book can answer your questions. Extensively revised and including forty more songs than its predecessor, this new edition of The Erotic Muse is a unique scholarly collection of bawdy or forbidden American folksongs. Ed Cray presents the full texts of some 125 songs, with melodies for most of them and detailed annotations for all. His lively commentary places the songs in historical, social, and, where appropriate, psychological context.
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252067891
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 488
Book Description
If you've ever wanted to know the "correct" words to "Roll Me Over," or wondered where the melody of "Sweet Betsy from Pike" came from, this book can answer your questions. Extensively revised and including forty more songs than its predecessor, this new edition of The Erotic Muse is a unique scholarly collection of bawdy or forbidden American folksongs. Ed Cray presents the full texts of some 125 songs, with melodies for most of them and detailed annotations for all. His lively commentary places the songs in historical, social, and, where appropriate, psychological context.
Contemporary Art Songs for Men
Author:
Publisher: Alfred Music
ISBN: 9780739095751
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
10 exquisite text settings for male voices of any age, featuring classic poetry written entirely by male wordsmiths. This unique book offers each piece in both treble and bass clefs, high and low keys. Equally appropriate for the mature recital singer and the newly-changed voice. 10 exquisite text settings for male voices of any age, featuring classic poetry written entirely by male wordsmiths. Titles: An April Day * Birthday Verses * The Growth of Song * I Love Thee * Music I Heard * A Song * November * To . . . * When Christmas Comes * A White Rose.
Publisher: Alfred Music
ISBN: 9780739095751
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
10 exquisite text settings for male voices of any age, featuring classic poetry written entirely by male wordsmiths. This unique book offers each piece in both treble and bass clefs, high and low keys. Equally appropriate for the mature recital singer and the newly-changed voice. 10 exquisite text settings for male voices of any age, featuring classic poetry written entirely by male wordsmiths. Titles: An April Day * Birthday Verses * The Growth of Song * I Love Thee * Music I Heard * A Song * November * To . . . * When Christmas Comes * A White Rose.
Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau
Author: Chad Hamill
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau explores the role of song as a transformative force in the twentieth century, tracing a cultural, spiritual, and musical encounter that upended notions of indigeneity and the rules of engagement for Indians and priests in the Columbia Plateau. In Chad Hamill's narrative, a Jesuit and his two Indian "grandfathers"--one a medicine man, the other a hymn singer--engage in a collective search for the sacred. The priest becomes a student of the medicine man. The medicine man becomes a Catholic. The Indian hymn singer brings indigenous songs to the Catholic mass. Using song as a thread, these men weave together two worlds previously at odds, realizing a promise born two centuries earlier within the prophecies of Circling Raven and Shining Shirt. Songs of Power and Prayer reveals how song can bridge worlds: between the individual and Spirit, the Jesuits and the Indians. Whether sung in an indigenous ceremony or adapted for Catholic Indian services, song abides as a force that strengthens Native identity and acts as a conduit for power and prayer. A First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies book
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau explores the role of song as a transformative force in the twentieth century, tracing a cultural, spiritual, and musical encounter that upended notions of indigeneity and the rules of engagement for Indians and priests in the Columbia Plateau. In Chad Hamill's narrative, a Jesuit and his two Indian "grandfathers"--one a medicine man, the other a hymn singer--engage in a collective search for the sacred. The priest becomes a student of the medicine man. The medicine man becomes a Catholic. The Indian hymn singer brings indigenous songs to the Catholic mass. Using song as a thread, these men weave together two worlds previously at odds, realizing a promise born two centuries earlier within the prophecies of Circling Raven and Shining Shirt. Songs of Power and Prayer reveals how song can bridge worlds: between the individual and Spirit, the Jesuits and the Indians. Whether sung in an indigenous ceremony or adapted for Catholic Indian services, song abides as a force that strengthens Native identity and acts as a conduit for power and prayer. A First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies book
A More Beautiful Question
Author: Warren Berger
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1620401460
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
To get the best answer-in business, in life-you have to ask the best possible question. Innovation expert Warren Berger shows that ability is both an art and a science. It may be the most underappreciated tool at our disposal, one we learn to use well in infancy-and then abandon as we grow older. Critical to learning, innovation, success, even to happiness-yet often discouraged in our schools and workplaces-it can unlock new business opportunities and reinvent industries, spark creative insights at many levels, and provide a transformative new outlook on life. It is the ability to question-and to do so deeply, imaginatively, and “beautifully.” In this fascinating exploration of the surprising power of questioning, innovation expert Warren Berger reveals that powerhouse businesses like Google, Nike, and Netflix, as well as hot Silicon Valley startups like Pandora and Airbnb, are fueled by the ability to ask fundamental, game-changing questions. But Berger also shares human stories of people using questioning to solve everyday problems-from “How can I adapt my career in a time of constant change?” to “How can I step back from the daily rush and figure out what really makes me happy?” By showing how to approach questioning with an open, curious mind and a willingness to work through a series of “Why,” “What if,” and “How” queries, Berger offers an inspiring framework of how we can all arrive at better solutions, fresh possibilities, and greater success in business and life.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1620401460
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
To get the best answer-in business, in life-you have to ask the best possible question. Innovation expert Warren Berger shows that ability is both an art and a science. It may be the most underappreciated tool at our disposal, one we learn to use well in infancy-and then abandon as we grow older. Critical to learning, innovation, success, even to happiness-yet often discouraged in our schools and workplaces-it can unlock new business opportunities and reinvent industries, spark creative insights at many levels, and provide a transformative new outlook on life. It is the ability to question-and to do so deeply, imaginatively, and “beautifully.” In this fascinating exploration of the surprising power of questioning, innovation expert Warren Berger reveals that powerhouse businesses like Google, Nike, and Netflix, as well as hot Silicon Valley startups like Pandora and Airbnb, are fueled by the ability to ask fundamental, game-changing questions. But Berger also shares human stories of people using questioning to solve everyday problems-from “How can I adapt my career in a time of constant change?” to “How can I step back from the daily rush and figure out what really makes me happy?” By showing how to approach questioning with an open, curious mind and a willingness to work through a series of “Why,” “What if,” and “How” queries, Berger offers an inspiring framework of how we can all arrive at better solutions, fresh possibilities, and greater success in business and life.
Theatre and Cabaret Comedy Songs - Men's Edition
Author: Hal Leonard Corp.
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1540000095
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
(Vocal Collection). A collection of the funniest songs written for the stage and screen. Songs include: The Baby Song from I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change * The Bad Years from Tales from the Bad Years * The Brain from Young Frankenstein * Bring Me My Bride from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum * Caralee from 35mm * Everybody Ought to Have a Maid from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum * Gaston from Beauty and the Beast * Great Big Stuff from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels * Haben Sie Gehort Das Deutsche Band? (Have You Ever Heard the German Band?) from The Producers * Heil Myself from The Producers * I Am Aldolpho from The Drowsy Chaperone * I Believe from The Book of Mormon * I Hate Musicals from Ruthless * I'm Calm from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum * I'm Not That Smart from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee * I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today from Avenue Q * I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua from Kiss Me, Kate * If You Were Gay from Avenue Q * Les Poissons from The Little Mermaid * Man from The Full Monty * Masculinity from La Cage aux Folles * Me from Beauty and the Beast * The Morning After (Leave) * My Unfortunate Erection from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee * Out of the Sun from Honeymoon in Vegas * Quasimodo from When Pigs Fly * Real Live Girl from Little Me * Robin's Song from Monty Python's Spamalot * A Secretary Is Not a Toy from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying * Sunday from tick, tick . . . BOOM! * That's All * Where Is the Life That Late I Led? from Kiss Me, Kate * You Won't Succeed on Broadway from Monty Python's Spamalot * You'll Be Back from Hamilton .
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1540000095
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
(Vocal Collection). A collection of the funniest songs written for the stage and screen. Songs include: The Baby Song from I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change * The Bad Years from Tales from the Bad Years * The Brain from Young Frankenstein * Bring Me My Bride from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum * Caralee from 35mm * Everybody Ought to Have a Maid from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum * Gaston from Beauty and the Beast * Great Big Stuff from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels * Haben Sie Gehort Das Deutsche Band? (Have You Ever Heard the German Band?) from The Producers * Heil Myself from The Producers * I Am Aldolpho from The Drowsy Chaperone * I Believe from The Book of Mormon * I Hate Musicals from Ruthless * I'm Calm from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum * I'm Not That Smart from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee * I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today from Avenue Q * I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua from Kiss Me, Kate * If You Were Gay from Avenue Q * Les Poissons from The Little Mermaid * Man from The Full Monty * Masculinity from La Cage aux Folles * Me from Beauty and the Beast * The Morning After (Leave) * My Unfortunate Erection from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee * Out of the Sun from Honeymoon in Vegas * Quasimodo from When Pigs Fly * Real Live Girl from Little Me * Robin's Song from Monty Python's Spamalot * A Secretary Is Not a Toy from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying * Sunday from tick, tick . . . BOOM! * That's All * Where Is the Life That Late I Led? from Kiss Me, Kate * You Won't Succeed on Broadway from Monty Python's Spamalot * You'll Be Back from Hamilton .
Songs of America
Author: Jon Meacham
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0593132955
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A celebration of American history through the music that helped to shape a nation, by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham and music superstar Tim McGraw “Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw form an irresistible duo—connecting us to music as an unsung force in our nation's history.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin Through all the years of strife and triumph, America has been shaped not just by our elected leaders and our formal politics but also by our music—by the lyrics, performers, and instrumentals that have helped to carry us through the dark days and to celebrate the bright ones. From “The Star-Spangled Banner” to “Born in the U.S.A.,” Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw take readers on a moving and insightful journey through eras in American history and the songs and performers that inspired us. Meacham chronicles our history, exploring the stories behind the songs, and Tim McGraw reflects on them as an artist and performer. Their perspectives combine to create a unique view of the role music has played in uniting and shaping a nation. Beginning with the battle hymns of the revolution, and taking us through songs from the defining events of the Civil War, the fight for women’s suffrage, the two world wars, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and into the twenty-first century, Meacham and McGraw explore the songs that defined generations, and the cultural and political climates that produced them. Readers will discover the power of music in the lives of figures such as Harriet Tubman, Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and will learn more about some of our most beloved musicians and performers, including Marian Anderson, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, and more. Songs of America explores both famous songs and lesser-known ones, expanding our understanding of the scope of American music and lending deeper meaning to the historical context of such songs as “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” “God Bless America,” “Over There,” “We Shall Overcome,” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” As Quincy Jones says, Meacham and McGraw have “convened a concert in Songs of America,” one that reminds us of who we are, where we’ve been, and what we, at our best, can be.
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0593132955
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A celebration of American history through the music that helped to shape a nation, by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham and music superstar Tim McGraw “Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw form an irresistible duo—connecting us to music as an unsung force in our nation's history.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin Through all the years of strife and triumph, America has been shaped not just by our elected leaders and our formal politics but also by our music—by the lyrics, performers, and instrumentals that have helped to carry us through the dark days and to celebrate the bright ones. From “The Star-Spangled Banner” to “Born in the U.S.A.,” Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw take readers on a moving and insightful journey through eras in American history and the songs and performers that inspired us. Meacham chronicles our history, exploring the stories behind the songs, and Tim McGraw reflects on them as an artist and performer. Their perspectives combine to create a unique view of the role music has played in uniting and shaping a nation. Beginning with the battle hymns of the revolution, and taking us through songs from the defining events of the Civil War, the fight for women’s suffrage, the two world wars, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and into the twenty-first century, Meacham and McGraw explore the songs that defined generations, and the cultural and political climates that produced them. Readers will discover the power of music in the lives of figures such as Harriet Tubman, Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and will learn more about some of our most beloved musicians and performers, including Marian Anderson, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, and more. Songs of America explores both famous songs and lesser-known ones, expanding our understanding of the scope of American music and lending deeper meaning to the historical context of such songs as “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” “God Bless America,” “Over There,” “We Shall Overcome,” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” As Quincy Jones says, Meacham and McGraw have “convened a concert in Songs of America,” one that reminds us of who we are, where we’ve been, and what we, at our best, can be.
Audition Songs for Men
Author: Paul Harvard
Publisher: Nick Hern Books
ISBN: 9781848424562
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Book Description
The Good Audition Guides: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills.
Publisher: Nick Hern Books
ISBN: 9781848424562
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Book Description
The Good Audition Guides: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills.
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
Author: Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062942964
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 816
Book Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021 AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION • A FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION • SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE • A NOMINEE FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD A New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year • A Time Must-Read Book of the Year • A Washington Post 10 Best Books of the Year • A Oprah Daily Top 20 Books of the Year • A People 10 Best Books of the Year • A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year • A BookPage Best Fiction Book of the Year • A Booklist 10 Best First Novels of the Year • A Kirkus 100 Best Novels of the Year • An Atlanta Journal-Constitution 10 Best Southern Books of the Year • A Parade Pick • A Chicago Public Library Top 10 Best Books of the Year • A KCRW Top 10 Books of the Year An Instant Washington Post, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller "Epic…. I was just enraptured by the lineage and the story of this modern African-American family…. A combination of historical and modern story—I’ve never read anything quite like it. It just consumed me." —Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Book Club Pick An Indie Next Pick • A New York Times Book Everyone Will Be Talking About • A People 5 Best Books of the Summer • A Good Morning America 15 Summer Book Club Picks • An Essence Best Book of the Summer • A Washington Post 10 Books of the Month • A CNN Best Book of the Month • A Time 11 Best Books of the Month • A Ms. Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A BookPage Writer to Watch • A USA Today Book Not to Miss • A Chicago Tribune Summer Must-Read • An Observer Best Summer Book • A Millions Most Anticipated Book • A Ms. Book of the Month • A Well-Read Black Girl Book Club Pick • A BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Literary Book of the Summer • A Deep South Best Book of the Summer • Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award The 2020 NAACP Image Award-winning poet makes her fiction debut with this National Book Award-longlisted, magisterial epic—an intimate yet sweeping novel with all the luminescence and force of Homegoing; Sing, Unburied, Sing; and The Water Dancer—that chronicles the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous era. The great scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, once wrote about the Problem of race in America, and what he called “Double Consciousness,” a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s words all too well. Bearing the names of two formidable Black Americans—the revered choreographer Alvin Ailey and her great grandmother Pearl, the descendant of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers—Ailey carries Du Bois’s Problem on her shoulders. Ailey is reared in the north in the City but spends summers in the small Georgia town of Chicasetta, where her mother’s family has lived since their ancestors arrived from Africa in bondage. From an early age, Ailey fights a battle for belonging that’s made all the more difficult by a hovering trauma, as well as the whispers of women—her mother, Belle, her sister, Lydia, and a maternal line reaching back two centuries—that urge Ailey to succeed in their stead. To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and white—in the deep South. In doing so Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story—and the song—of America itself.
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062942964
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 816
Book Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021 AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION • A FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION • SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE • A NOMINEE FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD A New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year • A Time Must-Read Book of the Year • A Washington Post 10 Best Books of the Year • A Oprah Daily Top 20 Books of the Year • A People 10 Best Books of the Year • A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year • A BookPage Best Fiction Book of the Year • A Booklist 10 Best First Novels of the Year • A Kirkus 100 Best Novels of the Year • An Atlanta Journal-Constitution 10 Best Southern Books of the Year • A Parade Pick • A Chicago Public Library Top 10 Best Books of the Year • A KCRW Top 10 Books of the Year An Instant Washington Post, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller "Epic…. I was just enraptured by the lineage and the story of this modern African-American family…. A combination of historical and modern story—I’ve never read anything quite like it. It just consumed me." —Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Book Club Pick An Indie Next Pick • A New York Times Book Everyone Will Be Talking About • A People 5 Best Books of the Summer • A Good Morning America 15 Summer Book Club Picks • An Essence Best Book of the Summer • A Washington Post 10 Books of the Month • A CNN Best Book of the Month • A Time 11 Best Books of the Month • A Ms. Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A BookPage Writer to Watch • A USA Today Book Not to Miss • A Chicago Tribune Summer Must-Read • An Observer Best Summer Book • A Millions Most Anticipated Book • A Ms. Book of the Month • A Well-Read Black Girl Book Club Pick • A BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Literary Book of the Summer • A Deep South Best Book of the Summer • Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award The 2020 NAACP Image Award-winning poet makes her fiction debut with this National Book Award-longlisted, magisterial epic—an intimate yet sweeping novel with all the luminescence and force of Homegoing; Sing, Unburied, Sing; and The Water Dancer—that chronicles the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous era. The great scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, once wrote about the Problem of race in America, and what he called “Double Consciousness,” a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s words all too well. Bearing the names of two formidable Black Americans—the revered choreographer Alvin Ailey and her great grandmother Pearl, the descendant of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers—Ailey carries Du Bois’s Problem on her shoulders. Ailey is reared in the north in the City but spends summers in the small Georgia town of Chicasetta, where her mother’s family has lived since their ancestors arrived from Africa in bondage. From an early age, Ailey fights a battle for belonging that’s made all the more difficult by a hovering trauma, as well as the whispers of women—her mother, Belle, her sister, Lydia, and a maternal line reaching back two centuries—that urge Ailey to succeed in their stead. To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and white—in the deep South. In doing so Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story—and the song—of America itself.