abridged vitae of portia k. maultsby personal data home
TRANSCRIPT
ABRIDGED VITAE OF PORTIA K. MAULTSBY
Personal Data
Home address: University Affiliation:
2406 Monte Carlo Tr. Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology
Orlando, FL 32805 504 N. Fess Ave.
(812) 327-4965 Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana 47405
Email: [email protected]
School/Department/Program Affiliations
African and African American Diaspora Studies, American Studies, and African Studies
Education
University of Wisconsin Ph.D. Ethnomusicology
Madison, Wisconsin (African and African-American Music
Minor Field: African-American Studies)
University of Wisconsin M.M. (Musicology)
Madison, Wisconsin
Mount St. Scholastica B.M. (Piano, Theory/Composition)
College, Atchison, KS
Mozarteum--Salzburg Studied piano, music history and
University of Salzburg German
Salzburg, Austria
Dissertation
"Afro-American Religious Music: 1619-1861. Part II-- Historical Development; Part II--Computer
Analysis of One-Hundred Spirituals," (1974).
Academic Experiences---Teaching/Administrative
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN:
2014- Laura Boulton Professor Emerita of Ethnomusicology
2014- Director Emerita & Research Associate, Archives of African
American Music and Culture
1991-2014 Director, Archives of African American Music and Culture
2010-2014 Laura Boulton Professor of Ethnomusicology
2006-2009 Professor & Chair, Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology
2004-2009 Director, Ethnomusicology Institute and Program
1992 Professor
1991-present. Director, Archives of African American Music and Culture
1985-91 Departmental Chair, Afro-American Studies
1981-84 Associate Chair, Afro-American Studies
1981 Associate Professor
1975 Assistant Professor
1971-1981 Director, IU Soul Revue
1971-1974 Lecturer/Visiting Assistant Professor
Visiting Professorship/Scholar/Fellow:
2014- National Museum for African American Music, Nashville, TN
Senior Scholar/Consultant and Co-chair Scriptwriting Committee
1999-2000 Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA
Spring 1998 Utrecht University (The Netherlands), Musicology Department
Belle van Zuylen Professor of African American Music
Spring 1994 Colorado College, Music Department
Visiting Professor
1984-1985 Senior Visiting Scholar, Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Summer 1983 Seattle Pacific University, Music Department
Visiting Professor
Fall 1982 Swarthmore College, Music Department
Visiting Professor
Courses Taught
Black Music in America Popular Music of Black America
Art Music of Black Composers Black Religious Music
Hip-Hop Music and Culture Theoretical Issues in African-American Music
Soul Music: Culture & Performance (Ensemble)
History of Ideas (Ethnomusicology)--team taught
Seminar in Ethnomusicology--team taught Black American Music in the Netherlands
Theorizing Hip-Hop Music and Culture Applied Ethnomusicology and Folklore: Media
Productions
Grants/Fellowships
College Arts and Humanities Institute (CAHI) Travel Research Grant ($6,000) for research in the
Netherlands 2012.
Grant-in-Aid Research ($2,500) for Dutch translations, Office of the Vice Provost for Research,
IU, 2012.
New Frontiers grant for conference on Black Rock ($19,975), Office of the Vice-Provost for
Research- IU, 2009.
Themester grant ($6,000) for activities related to conference on Black Rock, College of Arts and
Sciences-IU, 2009.
Moveable Feast Grant for a Traveling Exhibit, Rock, Rhythm and Soul: Black Roots of Popular
Music ($28,500) Office of the Vice-Provost for Research-IU. 2008.
IU Humanities Institute grant for a conference on Techno, ($6,000), IU, 2006.
IU College of Arts and Sciences and Teaching Learning Technologies Lab grants to complete an
instructional web site, “Hip-Hop Music and Culture” $20,000 and $2,500 respectively, 2001
IU Ameritech Grant: “Multicultural Multimedia on the Web: From Spirituals to Hip-Hop, the
Music and Culture of Black America” (three instructional websites), $15,000, July 1, 2000-
December 2001
Office of International Programs, Overseas Conference Fund for travel to The Netherlands,
Summer 1999.
$300,000 Departmental Grant (secured as departmental chair) from the Ford Foundation, 1990.
Research Grant from the President's Council on International Programs (Indiana University in
support of presentations made in the USSR, Summer 1988.
Research Grant awarded by Ford Foundation/National Research Council and matched by the
College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Research and Graduate Development-Indiana
University, 1985-1986.
Ford Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the National Research Council, 1984-1985.
Indiana Committee for the Humanities-Summer Research Fellowship, Summer 1984.
Grant-in-Aid for Research--Indiana University, 1983-1984.
Course Development Grant--Learning Resources, Indiana University, 1981-82.
International Travel-Overseas Conference Fund for travel to Oxford, England--Indiana
University, Summer 1981.
Distinctions and Awards
Recipient of Indiana University President’s Medal presented by President Michael A. McRobbie,
2013.
Presented the Charles Seeger Lecture, the distinguished lecture and centerpiece of the annual
meeting for the Society for Ethnomusicology, 2012.
Recipient of the National Award presented by the National Association for the Study and
Performance of African American Music, 2011.
Distinguished Scholar Award—Indiana University, Office of Women’s Affairs, 2011.
Distinguished Faculty Award—Indiana University, College of Arts and Sciences, 2009.
Teaching Excellence Faculty Award—Indiana University, Department of Folklore and
Ethnomusicology, 2003.
Teaching Excellence Faculty Award –Indiana University, Department of Afro-American Studies,
1997
One of forty-two Ford Foundation Fellows selected to be profiled in Excellence Through
Diversity, published by the National Research Council, 1996.
Chosen for inclusion in Facts on File on American Black Women (12 volume series). Darlene
Clark Hine, General Editor (New York: Carlson Publishing, forthcoming). This resource book
contains essays on prominent African American women in various academic fields and
professions.
Profiled in Rolling Stone, September 17, 1992.
One of eight American performers/scholars selected to participate in a workshop/conference on
"African American Sacred Music," in Havana, Cuba sponsored by the National Choir of Cuba
and the Ecumenical Council of Cuba (1990).
Profiled in the Black History Month Calendar developed, published and distributed nationally by
Tanqueray (1989).
One of six American ethnomusicologists selected to participate in an American-Soviet research
conference in the USSR. Sponsored by the International Research and Exchanges Board (1988).
Listed in: International Who's Who in Music, Cambridge, England: I.W.W.M. (1987).
Faculty Excellence Awarded for Outstanding Accomplishments - Indiana University Black
Student Union (1986).
Awarded Honorary Doctor of Music degree, Benedictine College, Kansas (1985).
Listed in: Southern, Eileen. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians.
Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press (1982).
Listed in: Minority American Women: A Biographical Directory. New York: Neal-Schuman
(1981).
Professional Activities
Membership in Professional Organizations
Society for Ethnomusicology: guest editor for a special issue of Ethnomusicology (U.S. Black
Music, September 1975); Council Chairperson, 1982-84; Board of Directors, Member-at-Large
1978-80; Council Member, 1973-76, 1977-80, l988-1991, 2011-2014; Program Committee,
1970-71, 1975-76, 1983-84, 1995-96; Session Chairperson, 1971, 1977, 1984, 1996, 2002, 2010;
Local Arrangements, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1997-78, 2012-13; Sound Futures (Development
Committee), 2002-2005; 2011-present; Diversity Action Committee, 2013- ); Advisory Board
for Podcast publications; co-authored the bio for Lois Anderson, the 2009 SEM Honorary Member, for the newsletter.
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music: Executive Board Member (USA
Branch),1989-1995; Honorary Executive Board Member, 2004-present; Officer Nominating
Committee, 2006; Chair, finance/investment committee (USA Branch) 2009-present; Editorial
Board (International Body), 1989-present (USA Branch);
Indiana Music Educators Association: Board of Directors, 1993-1995.
The College Music Society - Member of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in the
Profession, 1989-92.
The American Music Society
Association of African American Museums
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Field Research
“Black American Music in the Netherlands” conducted in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Zwolle,
Rotterdam, Hengelo, Soest, Oranjelaan, Papendrecht: Spring/Summer 1998 and Summer 1999,
Spring 2001; Spring 2008 (in USA during the tour of the Dutch gospel choir), Fall 2012 and
summer 2013 in various cities in the Netherlands.
“Dayton Street Funk” research conducted in Dayton, Ohio, Summer 1997
Black Entrepreneurs in the Development of a Multibillion Dollar Music Industry” research
conducted in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Houston, New Orleans,
and Orlando in the music industry. 1982-83 and 1984-85; 2011-present.
"The Relationship Between West African and U.S. Black Music;" "West African Club Music (Ju
Ju)" conducted in Nigeria and Ghana, West Africa, Summer 1977.
Publications:
Books
Co-editor [with Mellonee Burnim. Issues in African American Music. New York: Routledge
Press (forthcoming)
Co-editor [with Mellonee Burnim]. African American Music: An Introduction. 2nd
edition. New
York: Routledge Press (2015)
Co-editor [with Mellonee Burnim]. Issues in African American Music New York: Routledge
Press (forthcoming 2016)
Co-editor [with Mellonee Burnim]. African American Music: An Introduction. New York:
Routledge Press (2006), 704 pp.
Sub-editor [with contributions by Mellonee Burnim], African-American section (12 articles).
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, United States and Canada, Vol. 3. Vol. General Editor.
Ellen Koskoff (New York: Garland Publishing, 2001), 571-715.
Selected Articles/Monographs/Book Chapters/Time-Line
“African American Music and the Shaping of American Culture” in Dream a World Anew: The
African American Experience and the Shaping of America. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian
Institution Press, (forthcoming 2016).
“’Everybody Wanna Sing my Blues...Nobody Wanna Live My Blues’: Deconstructing
Narratives of Race, Culture and Power in African American Music Scholarship” in Issues in
African American Music. Edited by Portia K. Maultsby and Mellonee V. Burnim and. New
York: Routledge Press (forthcoming 2016).
“African American Music Time-Line, p. xvi”; “The Translated African Cultural and Musical
Past,” p. 3-22; “Rhythm and Blues/R&B, p. 239-276; “Soul,” p. 277-298; “Funk,” p. 301-319 in
African American Music: An Introduction. 2nd
edition. Edited by Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia
K. Maultsby. New York: Routledge Press (2015).
“Dayton Street Funk: The Layering of Multiple Identities” in Ashgate Research Companion to
Popular Musicology. Derek Scott ed. United Kingdom: Ashgate Press, 2009, 259-282. Reprinted
in Race, Gender, and Identity. Ed. James L. Conyers, Jr., New Jersey: Transaction
Publishers/Rutgers University (2013).
"The Evolution of African American Music" (a chart that illustrates the evolution of African
American music from its African origins to present) in: Everard M. Philips, The Political
Calypso: A Sociolinguistic Process of Conflict Transformation. Port of Spain, Trinidad: Personal
Power Unlimited, 2009), 12-14 (includes commentary). Revision of work first produced in 1988
and revised several times through 2009.
[with Mellonee Burnim] “Intellectual History” in African American Music: An Introduction.
Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia K. Maultsby eds. (New York: Routledge Press 2006), 7-32.
“Rhythm and Blues” in African American Music: An Introduction. Mellonee V. Burnim and
Portia K. Maultsby eds. (New York: Routledge Press 2006), 245-70.
“Soul” in African American Music: An Introduction. Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia K.
Maultsby eds. (New York: Routledge Press 2006), 271-92.
“Funk” in African American Music: An Introduction. Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia K.
Maultsby eds. (New York: Routledge Press 2006), 293-314.
"Music", The Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Vol. 4. 2nd
ed. Jack
Salzman, David Lionel Smith, and Cornel West, eds. (New York: Macmillan Library Reference
USA), 2006. Revised essay. First published in 1996, 1521-1541.
“Africanisms in African-American Music.” In Africanisms in American Culture, 2nd
ed. Joseph
E. Holloway, ed. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005),326-55. First published in
1990.Reprinted in Jacob U. Gordon, ed. The African Presence in Black America (Trenton, N.J.:
Africa World Press, 2004), p. 39-83; Delores P. Aleridge and Carlene Young ed., Out of the
Revolution: The Development of Africana Studies (New York: Lexington Books, 2000), 379-
405; and Floyd W. Hayes, ed. A Turbulent Voyage: Readings in African-American Studies.
(Del Mar, CA: Collegiate Press, 1992), 269-290.
[with Isaac Kalumbu] “Popular Music Studies: African-American Studies” in Continuum
Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. Vol 1. Media, Industry and Society. Eds. John
Shepherd, David Horn, Dave Laing, Paul Oliver, and Peter Wicke (New York: Continuum,
2003), 47-54.
“Has Gospel Music Become Pop Music, or What Shall We Call Take 6?” in Views on Black
American Music: Such Sweet Thunder (Proceedings from conferences on Black music held at
the University of Massachusetts 1989-1999). Ed. Mark Baszak (The Fine Arts Center: University
of Massachusetts Amerst, 2003), 26-31.
"The Search for African-American Musical Resources in the United States" in The Harvard
Guide to African-American History. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, editor-in-chief; Darlene
Clark Hine, and Leon Litwack, general editors (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2001),
139-166.
“Funk Music: An Expression of Black Life in Dayton, Ohio and the American Metropolis” in
The American Metropolis: Image and Inspiration. Hans Krabbendam, Marja Roholl, and Tity De
Vries, eds. (Amsterdam: Vu University Press, 2001), 198-213.
[with Mellonee Burnim]. "Overview: [Intellectual History of African American Music]" in The
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 3. United States and Canada Music. General Ed.
Ellen Koskoff (New York: Garland Publishing, 2001), 572-591.
“Rhythm & Blues and Soul" in The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.” Vol. 3 United
States and Canada Music. General Ed. Ellen Koskoff (New York: Garland Publishing, 2001),
667-679. Reprinted in Ellen Koskoff, ed. Musical Cultures in the United States: An Introduction.
(New York: Routledge, 2005), 228-239.
"Funk" in The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.” Vol. 3. United States and Canada.
General Ed. Ellen Koskoff (New York: Garland Publishing, 2001), 680-686. Reprinted in Ellen
Koskoff, ed. Musical Cultures in the United States: An Introduction. (New York: Routledge,
2005), 75-81.
“African-American Music” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Rev. ed. Vol
2 (London: Macmillian Publishers 2000), 109-114.
"Music in African-American Culture" in African-Americans and the Media: Contemporary
Issues. Venice Berry and Carmen Manning-Miller, eds. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Press, Inc.,
1996), 241-262.
"Intra- and International Identities in American Popular Music" in Trading Culture: GATT,
European Cultural Policies and the Transatlantic Market. Annemoon van Hemel, Hans
Mommaas, and Cas Smithuijsen, eds. (Amsterdam: Boekman Foundation, 1996), 148-156.
"Music", The Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Vol. 4. Jack Salzman,
David Lionel Smith, and Cornel West, eds. (New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA,
1996), 1888-1907.
"The Evolution of African American Music" (a chart that illustrates the evolution of African
American music from its African origins to present) c1988 and revised 1990, 1995, 2004, 2007,
2009; African American Review (literary journal -- special issue on music) Vol. 29 No. 2,
(summer 1995), p. 183-84; included as part the permanent exhibit "After the Revolution:
Everyday Life in America, 1780-1800" in the Museum of American History, Smithsonian
Institution (1991) and as part of the permanent exhibit, "From Victory to Freedom: Afro-
American Life in the Fifties" in the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center,
Wilberforce, OH, (1989); published in Nieuwsbrief IASPM-Benelux [Newsletter of the Dutch
Branch of the International Association of Popular Music] (October 1994); in music industry
magazines, Urban Network (June 14, 1994), Hits (June 22, 1992; June 21, 1993; June 27, 1994),
Ebony Man (July 1991), p.42-43, and in program booklet for the 1st International Conference on
Rock 'n' Rap sponsored by University of Missouri School of Journalism (February, 1993).
"Ethnicity and African American Popular Music," Bulgarian Musicology XVIII No. 1 (1994),
50-58.
"Music in the African American Church" in Encyclopedia of African American Religions. Larry
G. Murphy, J. Gordon Melton and Gary L. Ward, eds. (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.,
1993), 520-26. Revised version of "Jahrbuch fur Liturgik..." (1983).
"The Impact of Gospel Music on the Secular Music Industry" in We'll Understand It Better By
and By: African American Pioneering Gospel Composers. Bernice Johnson Reagon, ed.
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), 19-33. Reprinted in From Hip Hop to
Jubilee: Readings in African American Music, 1st ed. Kip Lornell ed. ( New York: Pearson,
2010),173-187 and Signifyin’(g), Sanctifyin’, & Slam Dunking: A Reader in African American
Expressive Culture. Gena Dagel Caponi ed. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999,
172-190.
"Black Music Scholarship and the Approaching New Century," Black Music Research Bulletin
(Spring 1989), 10-11.
[with Mellonee Burnim] "From Backwoods to City Streets: The Afro-American Musical
Journey," in Expressively Black. Geneva Gay and Willie Baber, eds. (New York: Praeger Press,
1987), 109-136.
Rhythm & Blues (1945-1955): A Survey of Styles," Black American Popular Music
(monograph). Niani Kilkenny and Robert Selim, eds. (Washington, D.C.: Program in Black
American Culture--Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution,1986), 6-19, 22-23.
This monograph provided content for a radio program, "Rhythm & Blues: Straight From the
Heart," produced by David Rector for National Public Radio's Horizons Series.
"West African Influences and Retentions in U.S. Black Music: A Socio-Cultural Study," in More
than Dancing. Ed. Irene Jackson-Brown (New York: Greenwood Press, 1985), 25-55. A revised
version of "Influences and Retentions of West African Musical Concepts in U.S. Black Music"
published in 1979.
"The Role of Scholars in Creating Space and Validity for On- Going Changes in Black American
Culture," in Black American Culture and Scholarship: Contemporary Issues. (Washington, D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution, 1985), 9-23.
"Funktion und Darbietung von Kirchenliedern, Spirituals und Gospels in der Schwarzen Kirche,"
Jahrbuch fur Liturgik und Hymnologie Ubersetzet von Eva Janke; Herausgegeben von Konrad
Ameln, et. al, 27. Band 1983 (Germany: Gesamtherstel-lung Barenreiter Kassel, 1984), pp.
192-207. Reprinted in English, "The Use and Performance of Hymnody, Spirituals and Gospels
in the Black Church," The Western Journal of Black Studies, VII Fall 1983), pp. 161-171; The
Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center XIV (Fall l986/Spring l987), pp. l4l-l59;
and Readings in African American Church Music and Worship James Abbington ed. (Chicago:
GIA Publications, Inc., 2001), 77-98. Revised version published in The Hymnology Annual: An
International Forum on the Hymn and Worship II (Spring 1992), 11-26.
"Soul Music: Its Sociological and Political Significance in American Popular Culture," Journal
of Popular Culture, XVII (Fall 1983), pp. 51-60. Reprinted in The Age of Rock. Ed. Timothy E.
Scheurer (Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1989), 168-178.
"The Origin of Black Spirituals: A Summary and Analysis of Theories," Internationale
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fur Hymnologie, Bulletin, II (Mei 1983), 118-124.
"Influences of the Roberta Martin Era on Popular Styles of Black Music," in Roberta Martin and
the Roberta Martin Singers: The Legacy and the Music. Bernice Johnson Reagon and Linn
Shapiro, eds. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1982), 42-45.
"Africanisms Retained in the Spiritual Tradition," in Report of The Twelfth
Congress-International Musicological Society (Germany: Barenreite, 1981), 75-8.
Afro-American Religious Music: A Study in Musical Diversity. Papers of the Hymn Society of
America, No. XXXV (Springfield, Ohio: The Hymn Society of America, 1981). Monograph.
"Contemporary Pop: A Healthy Diversity Evolves from Creative Freedom," Billboard
International Music Magazine: Special Issue on Black Music (June 9, 1979), BM10, 22, 28.
"Influences and Retentions of West African Musical Concepts in U.S. Black Music," The
Western Journal of Black Studies, III (Fall 1979), 197-215.
"Black Spirituals: An Analysis of Textual Forms," The Black Perspective in Music, IV (Spring
1976), 54-69.
"Music of Northern Independent Black Churches During the Ante-Bellum Period,"
Ethnomusicology, XIX (September 1975), 421-449.
"Selective Bibliography: U.S. Black Music," Ethnomusicology, XIX (September 1975),
421-449.
Websites
History of African American Music www.carnegiehall.org/honor/history/index.aspx
Interactive website developed in conjunction with the festival Honor! Festival Celebrating
American Cultural Legacy curated by Jessye Norman and presented by Carnegie Hall (covers 48
African American musical genres and styles), 2009.
Hip-Hop Music and Culture https://www.indiana.edu/~hiphop
Indiana University completed in 2001. Revised in 2002. Subsequent revisions by Fernando
Orejuela. Restricted to students enrolled in the class through Indiana University.
Black Popular Music https://www.indiana.edu/~popoular
Indiana University completed in 1996. Revised in 2009, 2011.
Restricted to students enrolled in the class through Indiana University.
Survey of African American Music https://www.indiana.edu/~survey
Indiana University completed in 1998 (under revision)
Restricted to students enrolled in the class through Indiana University.
Other Research Publications
Contributed to the bibliography on African-American music included in Popular Music Studies:
A Select International Bibliography. Compiled and edited by John Shepherd, David Horn, et.al.
London: Cassell Academic, 1997.
"Breaking Down Barriers: The Evolution of the Black Music Industry" featured essay in Gallery
of Greats (Black History Month Calendar) Milwaukee: Miller Brewing Company, 1994.
"The Crisis Interview [with Portia Maultsby on Black Music]" Crisis (February 1991) pp. 38-41.
Teaching-Related Publications
“A Conversation with Portia Maultsby,” Folklore Forum 34:1/2, (2003). Special Issue on
Applied Folklore and Ethnomusicology
"The African American Blues Tradition" (curriculum guide) in The University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga, The Southeast Institute for Education in the Arts : 1993 Renewal Institute.
Chattanooga: University of Tennessee, 1993), 1-47.
"African American Music: African Origins" in The Blues Project 1993 (Largo, MD: Humanities
Resource Center, Prince George's Community College, 1993), 9-11. Reprinted in Maryland
Humanities (February 1994), 6-8 and in The Engaging Reader. 3rd ed. Anne Mills King ed.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1996.
"The Evolution of African American Music: Part I" in News (January 1993), 6-7; Part II (July
1993), 6-7; Part III (January 1994, p. 5,8); Part IV (October 1994, p. 1,7); Part V (January 1995,
p. 2-3); Part VI (July 1995), p. 2-3; Part VII (October 1996), 4,7. Newsletter published by the
Rhythm & Blues Foundation housed in Smithsonian Institution.
"Toward a Multicultural Music Education Curriculum" in Toward the End of the Century: Cross-
Cultural and Minority Perspectives. Nohema Fernandez, ed. (Missoula, MT: College Music
Society, 1992), p. 67-72. Reprinted in Indiana Musicator [organ of the Indiana Music Educators
Association] (May 1993), 24-28. Revised version of a paper delivered as the keynote address at
the Florida Music Educators Association 43rd annual Clinic-Conference, January 1987.
"Black Music in America," course syllabus in Ethnic Studies. Gary T. Okihiro, ed. (New York:
Markus Winer Publishing, 1989), 178-82.
Works in Progress
Book Project- Issues in African American Music (New York: Routledge Press, 2016)
Book Project-“From the Margins to the Mainstream: Black Popular Music, 1945-2010”
Future Project
Book Project—“Crossing the Atlantic: African American Gospel Music in the Netherlands”
Published Reviews
Book Review, Folk Music and Modern Sound. William Ferris and Mary Hart, eds. (Jackson:
University Press of Mississippi, in International Council for Traditional Music, (Spring 1985),
pp. 213-16.
Record Review, Jubilee to Gospel: A Selection of Commercially Recorded Black Religious
Music, 1921-1953. Selected and annotated by William H. Tallmadge, with Biographical notes
and related discography compiled by Doug Sernoff, in Ethnomusicology, XXVII (January 1983),
pp. 162-164.
Book Review, (two hymnals), Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Collection of Afro-American
Spirituals and Other Songs (New York: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1981); Songs of Zion:
Supplemental Worship Resources 12 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1981); in The Hymn, XXXIII (July
1982), pp. 193-196.
Book Review, Afro-American Religious Music: A Bibliography and a Catalogue of Gospel
Music. Compiled by Irene V. Jackson. (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1979), in
Ethnomusicology, XXV (January 1981), pp. 147-148.
Book Review, Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War by Dena Epstein.
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977), in The Black Perspective in Music, VII (Spring
1980), pp. 127-128.
Record Review, Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs
1960-1966. Smithsonian Institution, Program in Black American Culture, in Voices in Black
Studies (March/April 1980), p. 3.
Record Review, John's Island, South Carolina: Its People and Songs. Recorded by Henrietta
Yurchenco, in Ethnomusicology,XVIII(January1974),pp.181-183.
Creative Activity
Video/Film/Radio & Radio Documentaries
2010. On-camera interview for “Birth of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” (52 min) program one or a 4-part
documentary series of on the produced by Sigma Media for the Franco-German culture TV-
channel ARTE.
2009-2010. Co-lead-scholar and researcher for documentary film on the Apollo Theatre created
in conjunction with the venue’s up-coming 75th
year Anniversary celebration (inclusive of a
book, an exhibit developed by the Smithsonian Institution/Museum of American History, and
public programs).
2005. Consulting Scholar and on-camera interview for “Southern Soul,” program four of the
documentary series Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music produced by BBC. Program
aired in 2005. Repeated broadcast on VH1 in the U.S. since 2008.
1995-1999. Consulting scholar and interviewee for Let the Good Times Roll (13-part radio series
on rhythm and blues). Conceived and produced by Susan Jenkins for National Public Radio in
collaboration with the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. I assisted in designing the conceptual
framework and defining content; conducted research and served as an interviewee for the series.
This series won several awards.
1994-1996. Researcher and consulting scholar for Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was (13-part
series on Black radio). Series Producer: Jacquie Webb for Radio Smithsonian. I assisted in
developing the proposal for the series; provided research materials; defined content for six
shows; reviewed scripts for each show; and served as an interviewee for the series.
Black Radio won two gold medal awards for the best "History Series" and "Narration
Series" in the 1996 New York Festivals International Radio Competition (1,398 entries from 31
countries); the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Silver Baton (627 entries); the George
Foster Peabody Award (1,000 entries); and the 17th Annual National Education Association
Award for the Advancement of Learning Through Broadcasting.
1994-1996. On camera interviewee and consulting scholar for documentary, Chicago's Record
Row: The Cradle of Rhythm & Blues for WTTW-TV (Chicago). Michael McAlpin, Producer. I
provided research materials and assisted in designing the conceptual framework and defining
content; compiled a demo tape of music; reviewed four versions of the script, and two rough cuts
of the production.
Chicago's Record Row won the IRIS award from the National Association of Television
Programmers and Executives. Currently it is being considered for other awards.
1994-95. Music researcher/consulting scholar for The Motown Sound, a video documentary on
Motown Record Company for the Henry Ford and Motown Museums, produced by Donna
Lawrence Productions. I provided research materials, designed the conceptual framework and
defined content; reviewed various rough cuts; and assisted in selecting the music.
1991-94. Researcher and consulting scholar for Wade in the Water (26-part series on Black
gospel music). Conceived and hosted by Bernice Johnson Reagon and produced by Judi Moore
Latta and Sonja Williams for National Public Radio in collaboration with Smithsonian
Institution. I assisted in designing the conceptual framework and defining content for each
program; provided research materials and musical examples; and served as an interviewee for the
series. The series has won several national awards.
1989-1990. Music supervisor and researcher/consulting scholar [with Lillian Dunlap] for Eyes
on the Prize II, an eight-part Black history documentary, produced by Blackside Productions
(Boston) for PBS (first aired Jan.-March, 1990). I identified scenes for music placement,
selected, edited music, identified music used in archival footage, and researched copyright
documentation for six shows. The series has won many national and international awards.
1987-88. Consulting scholar/co-producer for Music as Metaphor, a 27 minute multi-media
documentary on Black music (1945-65) produced with Donna Lawrence Productions (Louisville,
KY) for the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (Wilberforce, Ohio)/Ohio
Historical Society. The documentary accompanies the exhibit "From Victory To Freedom:
Afro-American Life from 1945-1965," on permanent display in The National Afro-American
Museum and Cultural Center. For this project, I designed the conceptual framework and defined
content; directed the research; identified on-camera interviewees; selected music; edited various
versions of the script; and co-edited the final version of the show. Music as Metaphor is
presented every half hour in the theater located in the center of the museum.
Music as Metaphor won the Paul Robeson Award in Newark Black Film Festival
competition (75 entries); the Cindy Award from the Association of Visual Communicators (68
entries of which 20 were screened); and Silver awards in both the International Film and T.V.
Festival of New York (6,800 entries) and the Association of Multi-Image International Festival
competitions (400 entries) where it also was recognized with a Merit Award for excellence in
soundtrack production.
1988. Advisor for That Rhythm & Those Blues, a 60 minute documentary on Rhythm & Blues
of the 1950s, produced by George Nierenburg (D & B Pictures, N.Y.) for PBS. As advisor for
the film, I assisted in designing the conceptual framework and defining content, identifying
interviewees, and editing a version of the film.
That Rhythm & Those Blues, won a gold award in the Chicago International Film
Festival and was selected as the feature film for the Montreal, Aspen and Denver international
among other film festivals. The film also has been shown in commercial theaters across the
country.
Musical Performance
1971-1981. Founding Director for the Indiana University Soul Revue, a 43-member touring
ensemble specializing in the performance of black popular music. I served as the group's
primary songwriter, arranger and producer of commercial recordings. One recording, "Music is
Just a Party," was selected by Billboard in 1977 as a "Top Single Pick" in its "First Time Around
Category."
Museum Programs & Exhibitions
Researcher, Script Developer, Curator, Designer, and Consulting Scholar
2012-2013. (with Charles Sykes) wrote a series of essays on Motown used to develop the on-line
Study/Educational Guide (28 pages) written in conjunction with the Broadway production
Motown: The Musical
http://www.motownthemusical.com (click on Study Guide located at the bottom right side)
2010-present. Consultant and lead scholar for the development of the opening exhibit for the
National Museum of African American Music (Nashville, TN): developed the preliminary
treatment for the exhibit and identified potential topics for rotating exhibits and the narrative on
rhythm and blues (1945-1964) and R&B (1980-2012); reviewed and critiqued various versions
of the storyline
2008-2009. Music consultant for traveling museum exhibition “America I Am” African
American Imprint on American Culture,” a four-year touring exhibition that tells the story of the
nation’s African people and their legacies (illustrating the imprint of African Americans across
the nation and around the world) Developed in partnership with The Smiley Group, Inc., and
organized by the Arts and Exhibitions International (AEI) and Cincinnati Museum Center.—I
researched the musical selections and assisted in framing and developing the musical narrative. I
also was the music consultant for accompanying multi-media productions.
2009 Co-curator of touring exhibit, Rock, Rhythm & Soul: The Black Roots of Popular Music.
Nine double-banner panels, each highlighting issues related to the history of African American
popular music (soul, funk, hip-hop, gospel, rhythm and blues, black rock, black radio and the
Civil Rights Movement). Exhibition sites: University of Michigan- Dearborn, Brightwood
Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library; Crispus Attucks Middle High School Museum
(Indianapolis), Purdue University; African-American Museum (Evansville); San Diego County
Fair (California); Black Expo, Indianapolis, IN.
2002-2003. Consulting scholar for the music component of the exhibition for the National
Constitution Center (Washington, DC) produced by Donna Lawrence Productions. I reviewed
the treatment and assisted in identifying musical genres for inclusion.
1997-1998. Co-Curator for exhibition, “Something in the Water: The Sweet Flavor of Dayton
Street Funk” for The National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Wilberforce, OH. I
conducted research, developed the outline for the exhibition, and wrote the essay for the
catalogue.
1991-92. Music researcher/programmer [with Mark Slobin] for exhibition, Bridges and
Boundaries: African Americans and American Jews, mounted by the Jewish Museum of New
York. The exhibition traveled to seven major cities from 1992-1994.
1984-1985. "Black American Popular Music: Rhythm & Blues 1945-1955" Symposium-Performance and Photographic Exhibit, Program In African American Culture,
Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Symposium held February, 1986 and the
subject of a featured article in The New York Times (Feb. 2, l986, p. 52). Exhibit Opened
February, 1986 in Washington and toured the U.S. from 1987-1990.
Conference/Symposium/Colloquium Papers
“Gospel Music in Global Contexts: Tropes of Continuity and Disjuncture” (with Mellonee
Burim) for Scripps College Humanities Institute series ”Music, Dance, Ritual, and Belief:
Transforming Societies,” April 2013.
Seeger Lecture (selected by the Board) ““’Everybody Wanna Sing my Blues...Nobody Wanna
Live My Blues’: Deconstructing Narratives of Race, Culture and Power in African American
Music Scholarship,” Society for Ethnomusicology, New Orleans (November 2012).
Invited Paper. “Culture, Tradition and Innovation in African American Popular Music,” for
International Colloquium, La Música Entre África Y Ámérica, Montevideo, Uruguay
(September 30-Ocbober 3, 2011).
Plenary Speaker: “Soul Power: James Brown, King Records and the Making of Modern African
American Music," Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Cincinnati,
OH (October 2009)
Keynote address: “From the Margins to the Mainstream: Issues of Identity, Aesthetics and
Meaning in Black Popular Music” for Spirit and Blues Symposium, Dominican University,
Chicago (April 2008).
“Stax Records and the ‘Memphis Sound’: Exploring the Concept of Black Diaspora in Popular
Music,” National Conference on Black Music Research, Center for Black Music Research,
Chicago (February 2008).
“Marginalizing and Mainstreaming Black Popular Music: An Interpretation of Marketing
Labels,” joint conference of the Society for American Music & Black Music Research Center,
Chicago, Illinois (March 2006).
“Marginalizing and Mainstreaming Black Popular Music: An Interpretation of Marketing
Labels,” Society for Ethnomusicology, Atlanta, Georgia (November 2005).
“The Motown Sound: Strategizing Cultural Production,” Society for American Music conference
Eugene, Oregon (February 2005).
“The Intersection of Regional Boundaries in the Creation of the Motown Sound” for An
International Conference of the Institute for North-American Studies: “Crossing Cultures: Travel
and the Frontiers of North-American Identity, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, May
2003
Keynote Speaker, “New Mix for an Old Song: Current Music Industry Issues,” Conference on
the Memphis Sound” sponsored by the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Memphis, April
2003
“The Conundrum of Blackness in the Motown Sound” for Experience Music Project Pop
Conference, Seattle Washington, April 10-13, 2003
“The Conundrum of Blackness in the ‘Motown Sound,’” Conference of the Society for
Ethnomusicology, Estes Park, CO, October 2002.
“Is it African-American, American or Transnational: Black Music in and Beyond the Academy,”
Conference of the Association for African American Literature and Culture, Salt Lake City, UT,
October 2000.
“Funk Music: Its Crystalization in the Industrial City of Dayton and Its Revival in Post-Industrial
America via Hip-Hop. Keynote address for the Netherlands American Association, Middelburg,
The Netherlands, June 1999.
“Issues of Contextuality and the Black American Music Aesthetic,” Black American Music in
Europe: Past & Present. A joint conference of the University of Utrecht, International
Association for the Study of Popular Music (Dutch Branch) and the Royal Dutch Society for
Musicology, Utrecht, The Netherlands, May 1998.
“African-American Popular Music” for session Historiography and Popular Music Studies,
International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference, October 1997.
"Rhythm & Blues: Culture, Tradition and Change," Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll Conference, Case
Western Reserve University, April 1996.
"Black Roots of American Popular Music," Missouri Music Educators Association State
Conference, January 1995.
"Intra- and Inter-National Identities in American Popular Music," Invited Keynote Address for
the GATT: the Arts and Cultural Exchange Between the United States and Europe Conference
sponsored by the Boekman Stichting (Study Center for the Arts in the Netherlands), Tilburg
University, The Netherlands, October 1994.
"A Celebration: The Influence of African American Music on the American Music," Indiana
Music Educators Association Conference, Indianapolis, IN, January 1994. Guest Clinician.
"From Backwoods to City Streets: Rhythm & Blues and the World War II Migration,"
Association for American Studies Conference, Boston, MA November 1993.
"African American Music: A Manifestation of African Cultural Values and Traditions,"
American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Indianapolis, IN, November 1993. Guest Clinician.
"Ethnicity in African American Popular Music," Keynote Address, International Association for
the Study of Popular Music, Stockton, CA, July 1993.
"Rap Music: Social and Cultural Perspectives," National Black Music Caucus Conference,
Nashville, TN, March 1993.
"Has Gospel Become Pop? The Secular-Sacred Dichotomy," National Conference on the History
and Scholarship of Gospel Music, Smithsonian Institution, February 1993.
"The African American Roots of Rock," Keynote Address for the 1st International Conference
on Rock 'n' Rap, Mass Media & Society," University of Missouri's School of Journalism,
February 1993.
"African American Music: History & Culture of A People," North American Social Studies
Conference, Detroit, MI, November 1992.
"Black Music Research in the Museum Environment," African American Museums Association,
Dayton, OH, September, 1992.
"Rhythm & Blues in Los Angeles: It’s Impact on the Growth of a Multi-Billion Dollar Record
Industry," Society for Ethnomusicology, Oakland, CA, November 1990.
"Music As Metaphor: The Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1965" with Mellonee Burnim, Lillie
Edwards, and Gayle Tate for The Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History,
Chicago, October 1990.
"Black Music as Culture in the Museum Environment," African American Museums
Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 1990.
"The State of African-American Musical Scholarship: Past Accomplishments, Current Problems,
Directions for the Future," Society for Ethnomusicology, MIT, November 1989.
"Afro-American Music & Its African Roots," for American-Soviet Conference sponsored by
Union of Composers of the USSR, All Union Folklore Commission USSR, Folklore
Commission of Composers' Union of Latvia, Riga, Latvia, Russia and IREX. June-July 1988.
"Tradition and Consciousness in Black Popular Music." Society for Ethnomusicology,
University of Michigan, November 8, 1987.
"W. C. Handy and the Commercialization of the Blues," for joint conference of the U.S.A.
Chapter of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM), The Sonneck
Society and the American Musicological Society-Allegheny Chapter, Pittsburgh, April l987.
"A Multi-Cultural Approach to Music Education." Florida Music Educators
Clinic/Conference - Keynote Address, Tampa, Florida, January l987.
"Popular Music of Black America." Ford Foundation Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship
Programs Annual Conference of Fellows; National Research Council, Washington, D.C.,
November 1986.
"Perspectives on Black Popular Music: The Role of Culture in the Creative Process." College
Music Society, Miami, Florida, October 3, 1986; reviewed in The Chronicle of Higher Education
(Nov. 12, 1986, p. 5).
"Rhythm & Blues: 1945-1955: An Overview of Styles." Symposium on Black Popular Music,
Smithsonian Institution, Feb. 1986.
"The Commercialization of Black Folk Music: The Blues." Conference on Music in America,
Smithsonian Institution, May 1985.
“R&B, Soul and Funk: Preserving the Past in Contemporary Musical Expression” for Education
and Family Programs (National Blacks Arts Festival), Atlanta (October 2007) and for the Music
Legends & Masters Series for The Mama Foundation for the Arts, New York (April 14, 2007).
“Critiquing African American Music” for Theory Colloquium, Jacobs School of Music (March
28, 2007).
Invited Lectures/Panels--Research Related
“’Freedom Now’ & ‘Black Power:’ Ideological Manifestations in Soul and Funk,” Department
of Music Lecture Series, Michigan State University, (April 15, 2013).
Negotiating Tradition: Black Music in the Netherlands, Division of Humanities, Miles College
(Alabama) (September 18, 2013).
“Say it Loud as One Nation Under a Groove: Black Music and Concepts of Socio-Political
Activism,” Black Culture Center Lecture Series, Purdue University (October 6, 2010).
“Curtis Mayfield: The Man, The Music, The Movement” (with Howard Dodson, Director
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NY) for National Blacks Arts Festival. Jimmy
Carter Library & Museum, Atlanta, GA (June 17, 2010). Broadcast on C-SPAN3 (September, 25
and 26, 2010).
“Say it Loud as One Nation Under a Groove: Black Music and Concepts of Socio-Political
Activism, University of Houston, African American Studies Lecture Series (April 26, 2010).
“Hip Hop and the African Diaspora: A Fusion of Traditions,” Black Studies and World Music
Programs, Creighton University (April 16, 2010).
“Urban Voices of Protest: “The Music of the 1960s and 1970s”--one of four panelists
(Congressman John Lewis, and scholars Bernice Johnson Reagon, and Tricia Rose) to present on
musical genres of different decades that were central to the Civil Rights and Black Power
Movements. This program, “Music of the Movement: A Sustaining Voice” was the final event
for a year-long series on Martin Luther King, Jr., Remembrance and Reconciliation by the
Maryland Humanities Council (November 17, 2009).
“African American Musical Legacy and its Political Function” for Carnegie Hall’s Honor
Festival, curated by soprano singer Jessye Norman Carnegie Hall, New York (March 8, 2009).
“Situating Gospel and Spirituals in the Black Continuum” for Carnegie Hall’s Honor Festival,
curated by soprano singer Jessye Norman Apollo Theater, New York (March 21, 2009).
“Fight the Power with Black Power: Black Music and Political/Social Activism in the 1960s and
1970s,” Denison University, January 2009).
“R&B, Soul and Funk: Preserving the Past in Contemporary Musical Expression” for Education
and Family Programs (National Blacks Arts Festival), Atlanta (October 2007) and for the Music
Legends & Masters Series for The Mama Foundation for the Arts, New York (April 14, 2007).
“Critiquing African American Music” for Theory Colloquium, Jacobs School of Music (March
28, 2007).
“The Opera Carmen and African and Diaspora Film.” Trenton State College, New Jersey,
February 2006.
“One Nation Under A Groove: Black Nationalism and the Ideology of Funk.” Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame and Museum/Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (February 2006).
“More Than Samples: The Sound and Politics of Funk.” DePauw University, March 2006.
“Crossing the Atlantic: African American Gospel Music in the Netherlands.” International
Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Colloquium, Wesleyan University, May 2006.
“Black Power and the Ideology of Soul and Funk” for a series on Black Popular Culture, Black
Popular Struggles, Stone Center for Black History and Culture, University of North Carolina
(October 2005)
“The Interaction of African American and Suriname Gospel Ensembles in the Netherlands” for
the Atlanta History Center’s Black World Series (September 2005).
“More Than Samples: The Sound and Politics of Funk.” Keynote address for Summer Teacher
Institute, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland, OH, July 2005.
“The Motown Sound: A Northern Representation of Blackness?” for the Albany Institute of
History & Art, Albany, NY (March 2005)
“What is Ethnomusicology and What Do Ethnomusicologists Do?” for music students at the
College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY (March 2005)
“Response of the Music Industry to the Message of Soul” for Issue Forum, Our Day Will Come:
How R&B Inspired the Civil Rights Movement, hosted by Rep. John Lewis during the 34th
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.,
September, 2004.
“The Commodification of Gospel Music and Its Transformation into Popular Song,” University
of Memphis” (April 2004)
“Soul Music and Black Power,” University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, May 2003
“Hip-Hop In Dutch Culture,” Ivy Tech State College, Bloomington, IN, February 2003
“The Motown Sound: A Northern Representation of “Blackness?” North Texas State University,
January 2003
“Motown: The Sound of Young America 1964-1968” for Detroit 300 Symposium, University of
Michigan, October 2001.
“Black Gospel Music and Hip-Hop in Dutch Culture,” African and Afro-American Studies
Program Spring 2000 Lecture Series, Stanford University, April 2000.
“Black American Music in Dutch Culture: Processes of Production” for Colloquium
(Department of Music) University of California-Berkeley and Seminar for the Center of
Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA March and April 2000 respectively.
“African-American Music in Dutch Culture” for Muskie Millennial Series Lecture Series, Bates
College, Maine March 2000.
“The Evolution of African American Music,” Santa Clara Council for the Social Studies, San
Jose, CA November 1999.
"Soul Music and Black Power," University of Groningen, The Netherlands, June, 1999.
“From Soul to Funk: The Eras of Black Power and Equal Opportunity,” Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame and Museum,” Cleveland, OH June 1999 and 2000.
“The Globalization of African-American Music” and “Black Gospel in the Netherlands:
Aesthetic Issues and Performance Practices,” Carlow College, Pittsburg, PA, March, 1999.
“Rap Music” for De Beyerd (Cultural Centre and Museum), Breda, The Netherlands, June 1998.
“Black American Music: African Origins,” RASA, Utrecht, The Netherlands, May 1998.
“Issues of Identity in Black American Music” University of Oslo, Norway, April 1998.
“From Street to Corporate America: Defining Rap within a Cultural and Commercial Context”
and “The African-American Roots of Rock, Pop, and Beyond,” University of Victoria, Canada,
March 1997.
"Studies in African-American Music: Approaches, Ideology & Perspectives" for Colloquium
Series, Music Department, Tufts University, November 1996.
"From the Street to Corporate America: Defining Rap within a Cultural and Commercial
Context" for Colloquium Series, Music Department and Center for African American Studies,
Wesleyan University, November 1996.
"African-American Music: Its Cultural and Socio-Political Significance in the Twentieth
Century" for Assembly Series, Washington University, October 1996.
"Gender and Music in the Context of Race" for College Music Society's Institute on Women,
Music & Gender, Indiana University, June 1996.
"Black Music in the Struggle for Civil Rights" for Heman Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights,
University of Texas, April 1996.
"Aesthetic Issues in African American Music," Luther College, February 1996.
"The Black Roots of American Popular Music," Central Missouri State University, January
1995.
"Race, Rap and Reality: The Rap on Rap," Kansas City Conservatory of Music, March 1995 and
Central Missouri State University, January 1995.
"Black Music Aesthetics" Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, Eatonville,
Florida, January 1995.
"The Black Roots of Rock" & "From Rhythm & Blues to Rap," Emporia State University,
November 1994.
University Lecture Tour in the Netherlands: "Rap Music," University of Amsterdam, "Black
Music: Soul & Rap," University of Groningen, "Popular Music and Afro-American Identity,"
University of Nijmegen. Tour co-sponsored by the Dutch Rock Music Foundation, October
1994.
"The Influence of Black Culture on the Creative Process" for Unisys African-American
Composers Forum and Symposium sponsored by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, Inc.,
April 1994.
"Rap Music," Muhlenberg University, Allentown, PA, March 1994.
"Rhythm & Blues Combos and Vocal Groups," Western Michigan University, February 1994.
"African American Music: A Manifestation of African Cultural Values and Traditions," The
University of Montana and The University of Maryland, July 1994 and September 1993.
"Race, Rap and Reality: the Rap on Rap," Colorado College and The University of Chicago,
April/May, 1993.
"The African Origin of the Blues" for the Blues Project, Prince George's Community College,
April 1993.
"African American Rhythm and Blues and Jazz: Their Impact on Music Performed by Diasporan
Africans," Western Michigan University, February 1993.
"Controversy and Diversity in the Rap Music Tradition," Old Dominion University, October
1992.
"African American Music: Its Historical Significance," Indianapolis Public Schools on Infusion
of African/African American Content in the School Curriculum, Indianapolis, August 1992,
1993.
"Tradition and Innovation in African American Popular Music: Rap Music A Case Study" for
Ford Foundation Summer Seminar for College Teachers, University of Pennsylvania, July 1992.
"African American Musical Traditions" for the Schomburg Center Schools Programs Summer
Teacher Institute, Schomburg Research Center, New York, May 1992.
"Black Music: The History and Culture of a People" & "Rap Music: Socio-Cultural
Perspectives" for Xavier University and Jazz and Heritage Foundation, New Orleans, LA. April
1992.
"Perspectives on Black Music: The Role of Culture in the Creative Process" for 15th Annual
George Salisbury Memorial Series, Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City,
March 1992.
"African American Music Aesthetic" & "Rap Music: Socio-Cultural Perspectives" for
Humanities Advisory Council Multicultural Seminar, Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona
Beach, FL, March 1992.
"African American Music: The Role of Culture in the Creative Process," Duke University,
October 1991.
"Rhythm and Blues Styles Music from 1940-1969" for Portraits in Rhythm and Blues. Resident
Associate Program Lecture Series, Smithsonian Institution, October 1991.
"African American Musical Traditions" for the Schomburg Center Schools Programs Summer
Teacher Institute, Schomburg Research Center, New York, and for the Texas Arts Council
Teacher Institute, Houston, August 1991.
"Black Music: Its Cultural Underpinnings," University of Wisconsin and Resource Network
Summer Seminar, New York University, June 1991/April 1991.
"Black Music: An Index to the History and Culture of a People," Bard College (N.Y.), Texas
Southern University and Benjamin Banneker Honors College-Prairie View A&M University,
February and March 1991.
"Black Music: The Story of a People in Motion," Children's Museum, Indianapolis, IN,
September 1990.
"Has Gospel Become Pop, Or What Can We Call Take 6?" 19th Annual Black Musicians
Conference, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, April 1990.
"Black Music: The Spirit of a People's Culture," University of Central Florida's Distinguished
Lecture Series, January 1990.
"Rhythm & Blues" [with music critics Nelson George and Greg Tate from The Village Voice],
The National Museum and Cultural Center Lecture Series, Wilberforce, Ohio, November, 1989.
"Music Is Our Spirit!" (lecture/video, "Music As Metaphor") Clarion University, Pa., Trenton
State College, Witherspoon School of Performing Arts (Indianapolis), April & October 1989.
"Innovation and Tradition in Black Popular Music," University of Pennsylvania, February 1989.
"Musicians' Unions, Music Rights, and the Recording Industry in the U.S." and "Fieldwork and
Urban Music" for the opening of the Ethnomusicology Program lecture series, Zimbabwe
College of Music, Harare, Summer 1989).
(with Ruth Stone) "Creating Communities Through Music: The African and Afro-American
Connection;" "Scaffolding Sound to Create Music in Africa and the Afro-American Diaspora;"
and "Panorama of Musical Style in African and African-Derived Forms," Zimbabwe College of
Music, Harare, Zimbabwe University of Zimbabwe; Zimbabwe Academy of Music, Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe; and The University of Malawi, Africa, Summer 1988.
"Tradition and Consciousness in Black Popular Music," and "Continuity and Change in Music
Traditions," Harvard University, April 1988.
"Tradition and Consciousness in Black Popular Music" New York University, November, 1987
and Ohio University (Athens, Ohio), October 1987.
"Rhythm & Blues: Black American Popular Music," presented in conjunction with Smithsonian
Institution Traveling Rhythm & Blues exhibition, California Afro- American Museum, Los
Angeles, July 1987.
"The African Roots of U.S. Black Music," NEH Summer Institute on African-American Culture
for College Teachers, Trenton State College, July 1987.
"Development of Rhythm and Blues in the 40s and 50s," Afro-American Historical and Cultural
Museum (Philadelphia) in conjunction with the exhibition, "The Sounds of This City: African
American Music in Philadelphia," April l987.
"Tradition in Black Popular Music." Colorado College, February, l987.
"Reflecting Culture in the Order of the Mass Through Music," Workshop on Black Catholic
Liturgy sponsored by the Office of Black Ministry (Diocese of Brooklyn and Archdiocese of
New York) and the Ministry of Black Catholics (Diocese of Rockville Center), Brooklyn, New
York, November 1986.
"Black Popular Music: The Creative Relationship Between Performers and the Black
Community," Purdue University, November 1986.
"Elements of African Music," and "African Elements of Contemporary Caribbean and
Afro-American Music," for Summer Institute in African-American Studies for New Jersey
Educators, Trenton State College, July 1986.
"The Blues and American Popular Music," Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, March 1986.
"The Black Music Industry and the Commodification of the Blues." The University of
Maryland, College Park, Maryland, February 1986.
"Popular Music of Black America: Its Cultural Foundation." Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
April 1985, The Indianapolis Public Library, January 1985 and The Children's Museum,
Indianapolis Indiana, August 1984.
"African Elements in Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk, and Rap Music," University of Pennsylvania,
February 1985 and Trenton State College, December 1984 and June 1985.
Workshops for Teachers
“African-American Popular Music—Rhythm and Blues, Funk, and Hip-Hop/Rap,” Central
Connecticut State University, 2000 and June, 2001 (one-week course).
Scholarly Service
Editorial
Editorial Board. Journal for the Society for American Music published by the University of
Illinois Press, 2012-
Series Co-Editor [with Mellonee Burnim], African American Music In Global Perspective,
University of Illinois Press, 2003-present.
Editorial Board --The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music (2 volumes) to be
published by Routledge 2004-2008.
Editorial Board, Popular Music History. Published in London by Equinox, 2005-present.
Editorial Board, American Music Research Center Journal published by the Center at the
University of Colorado at Boulder (1997-present).
Advisory Board, Black Music Research Journal published by The Center for Black Music
Research, Chicago 1995-1996.
Contributing and Advisory Editor for The Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World to be
published by Cassell Publishers, England, 1996-2009.
Board of International Advisory Editors, Popular Music published by Cambridge University
Press, 1991-1999.
Advisory Committee/Board Member
Advisory Board, Institute for Popular Music,University of Rochester/Eastman School of
Music,2012-
.
Advisor Committee Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Assisted in identifying artists and developing
the program on Rhythm and Blues for the 2011 Folklife festival. 2010.
Advisory Committee for NPR special program "50 Great Voices"- identified artists and provided
related commentary for inclusion on the oprogram. 2009-2010.
Member of the Living Histories Development Committee, The Grammy Foundation, Santa
Monica, CA, 2006-present
Member of Advisory Group for the Smithsonian Institution, SITES exhibition on “American
Roots Music 2004-present.
Consultant for the Indiana Historical Society (Exhibition Department) on the development of an
exhibition on Indiana Soul and Funk and Oral History project, 2004-2005.
Chair, Research and Educational Programs Committee, Motown Museum (Detroit Michigan),
1993-1995.
Rhythm and Blues Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1991-2000.
Silver Burdett & Ginn Publishers [of Simon & Schuster Education Group] for K-8 music
textbook series, World of Music, 1991-92.
The Library of Congress for publication American Folk Music and Folklore Recordings 1990: A
Selected List, 1991.
Smithsonian Institution - Folkways Record Project, l987.
Advisor/Consultant:
Consultant and Contributor. Assisted in defining direction for the Rhythm and Blues
component of the 2011 Folklife Festival and identified artists to perform (2010-2011).
Lead Scholar [with Adrienne Seward] for film to be produced in conjunction with the 75th
Anniversary of the Apollo Theater, N.Y. City, 2009- .Developed content and framework for
grant proposal and film treatment).
Consultant, festival on African American Music and Artistic Advisor for the program “Honor
Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Soul and Beyond” to be staged at Carnegie Hall (April 2008-
2009), Jessye Norman curator
Consulting Editor, “American Roots” curricular development for Secondary School programs at
Carnegie Hall (2008, 2009).
Music consultant for traveling exhibition “African American Imprint on America” funded by
Travis Smiley Foundation and Target (2007-2008)
Consultant for “From Africa to the Bronx: A Time Line of Black Music” the National
Geographic (April 2007), 108-110.
Consulting scholar and on-camera interview for “Southern Soul,” program four of the BBC
documentary series Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music, 2005.
Consultant for Donna Lawrence Productions and the Kentucky Center for African American
Heritage (Louisville) in the production of the musical component of an audio-visual program on
the role of the church in African American life in Kentucky since the Civil War, 2005.
Advisory Board/consulting scholar for Deep Soul, 4-part television documentary on Rhythm and
Blues. I critiqued various drafts of the proposal/treatment and assisted in defining the framework
and content for the series, (2002-2004).
Historical Advisor for the 52-week radio series on rhythm and blues, Let the Good Times Roll,
to be produced by The Rhythm and Blues Foundation and Smithsonian Productions for PRI and
NPR. Suzan E. Jenkins, Executive Producer. I provided interview questions, contributed names
for interviewees, and critiqued the treatment for 43 programs (1996-1998).
Reviewer for radio and television proposals for the National Endowment for the Humanities,
March, 1997.
Reviewer for Rhythm and Blues Module of the Experience American Music Curriculum
developed by the Music Experience Project (Bellevue, WA), 1996.
Consultant for the Encyclopedia of Black Popular Music, a project of the Center for Black Music
Research (Chicago), 1995.
Consultant for the Henry Ford and Motown Museums (Detroit, MI) in the development of "The
Motown Sound & Story" Exhibition Project, 1993-1995.
Consultant [with Mellonee Burnim] for J. Michael Considine, Jr., Counsellor at Law (West
Chester, PA) on a case involving gospel music choirs in the public schools, 1993.
Consultant for Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, Attorneys at Law (Minneapolis) on music
copyright infringement case, 1990.
Consultant for Daniel Levitt (independent filmmaker) on video documentary "The Keystoners,"