Duke University Press Log

Happy Birthday, Randy Weston

On Wednesday, April 6, jazz pianist Randy Weston celebrated his 85th birthday with a concert at Baltimore's Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore Magazine reviewer John Lewis said, it "was one of the most life-affirming, musically dazzling shows I’ve ever seen." Weston continues the celebration with a gala performance at the Kennedy Center on Saturday, April 9. Geoffrey Himes profiles Weston in today's Washington Post. DC area fans have plenty of chances today and tomorrow to catch Weston talking about his recent autobiography, African Rhythms, which he wrote with jazz journalist Willard Jenkins. Before the concert, he'll appear at UDC tonight at 7 p.m., at the Rockville, Maryland public library tomorrow at noon, and at DC's Sankofa bookstore at 5:30 tomorrow afternoon. Check out our events page for full info. And join us in wishing Randy a very happy birthday!

Clyde Stubblefield, "World's Most Sampled Drummer," Tries to Make a Living

You  may not know Clyde Stubblefield's name, but you've probably heard his drumming. In fact, you've probably heard it on many, many songs. Stubblefield was a session drummer for James Brown in the 1960s, and his work on two songs in particular, "Funky Drummer" and "Cold Sweat," have been sampled by dozens of hip-hop artists. But Stubblefield hasn't seen a penny for all those times other musicians have used his creation. Kembrew McLeod and Peter DiCola write about his experience in their new book Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling. "Even though Stubblefield may have come up with the famous rhythms he played, the combination of copyright law, contractual arrangements, informal agreements, and traditional industry practices meante that he received no copyright and thus no royalties," they write. But now Stubblefield finally hopes to make some money off his music. He has recorded a set of ready-to-sample beats that other artists can license from him—for a share of the profits and proper credit. The recording will be included in a special "Funky Drummer Edition" of the DVD of a documentary, Copyright Criminals, that McLeod made with Benjamin Franzen. An excellent companion to the book, the documentary examines the history and influence of sampling and the copyright laws surrounding it. To publicize the release of the DVD, Stubblefield will appear tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with Public Enemy's Chuck D and Questlove of The Roots, and he and McLeod were both interviewed by the New York Times. McLeod thinks Stubblefield's sample collection is special: "This differs from buying a sample pack for GarageBand," he said told the Times's Ben Sisario, "because you know that what you are listening to and what you are sampling is the genius labor of this incredible musician. It’s Clyde Stubblefield." Read the section about Stubblefield in Creative License on our Tumblr.

 

Authors on the Air

Need some smart conversation? We've got some author interviews for you. First check out Amitava Kumar, author of A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb and Nobody Does the Right Thing, discussing Islamophobia on The Nation's podcast and the politics of terror on Al-Jazeera's Riz Khan Show. Then, for something completely different, listen to jazz pianist Randy Weston on NPR's Talk of the Nation. He talks about his new autobiography, African Rhythms, and about the fiftieth anniversary of his landmark album Uhuru Afrika. He'll be celebrating the anniversary with a concert at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center on November 13. Hope you enjoy hearing from these fascinating authors.

The Record Opens Today!

After a successful preview week, the much-anticipated exhibition The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl opens today at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The exhibition features work by 41 artists from around the world, from the 1960s to the present, who use vinyl records as subject or medium. The exhibition includes sound work, sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography, video and performance. Duke University Press is distributing the catalog for the exhibition, also entitled The Record, and edited by curator Trevor Schoonmaker. Far more extensive than many exhibition catalogs, The Record features not only gorgeous color images, but also personal reflections and critical analyses. All of the artists in the exhibition contribute personal statements about their work in relation to the vinyl record, and critics and scholars explore the historical impact of the record on art and music and the ways the medium has helped shape individual and collective identities. Record collectors, music lovers, and fans of contemporary art will all want to own this gorgeous book. So head over to the exhibition and then get yourself a copy!

Book Trailer for Randy Weston's African Rhythms

Check out this wonderful video previewing jazz great Randy Weston's forthcoming autobiography, African Rhythms. It features some of Randy's music and an interview with collaborator Willard Jenkins, a jazz journalist who proposed the book to Randy and wrote it with him. The video was produced by Bret Primack.

Japanese Reggae Comes of Age

The New York Times features Marvin Sterling's new book Babylon East: Performing Dancehall, Roots Reggae, and Rastafari in Japan today. Reporter Jonathan L. Fischer notes that, "The Japanese have been making reggae almost as long as Jamaicans have been exporting it," but that finally artists are singing in Japanese. "Japanese dancehall is becoming more and more Japanese," says Sterling, a professor of anthropology at Indiana University. Dancehall predominates in the Japanese reggae club scene, but, says Sterling, "within reason, anything goes."

Authors on the Radio

For your listening pleasure, check out these three Duke authors on various radio shows. First up, Randy Weston on NPR's Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland. Weston plays several pieces on the show, including a tribute to Thelonious Monk. McPartland plays her own tribute to Weston. Weston's autobiography, African Rhythms, is out in October. Then you can listen to an Frank Wilderson discuss his new book Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms on KDVS's New Day Jazz. Wilderson's book is a provocative theoretical critique of representations of race in socially engaged films made since the 1960s. Then tonight tune into KPFT's Nuestra Palabra at 7:30 CT to hear AnaLouise Keating  talk about the late great feminist activist and writer Gloria Anzaldúa. Keating is the editor of The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader. Enjoy all these great interviews!

Randy Weston Plays Stanford Jazz Festival

Bay Area jazz fans are in for a treat this weekend, when pianist Randy Weston and his African Rhythms Trio play the Stanford Jazz Festival on Saturday night. Fans can also catch Randy in conversation with legendary jazz radio personality Dr. Herb Wong at the Jazz Heritage Center on Sunday. The center will also show a film about Weston's life entitled "Randy Weston on the Road." Duke University Press is proud to be publishing Weston's autobiography, African Rhythms (written with Willard Jenkins) this fall. It's a book every jazz fan will want to read.

Fred Wesley Jr. Has a New Gig

Fred Wesley Jr.,  legendary funk, soul, and jazz trombonist, has a new, unlikely gig: klezmer artist. Wesley has joined Abraham, Inc., a collaboration between classical and klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer and DJ Socalled. The band was featured on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday. Krakauer calls the band, which also includes rapper C-Rayz Walz, jazz guitarist Cheryl Bailey, and bassist Jerome Harris,"a mash-up." Wesley was nervous when he first began playing klezmer because its Eastern modal scales are so different from what he usually plays. But he soon realized they had plenty in common. "It was a funky beat and I recognized [it]," Wesley said. To learn more about Wesley and his extraordinary career playing with James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, and the Count Basie Orchestra, read his autobiography, Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman.

Daniel Widener Profiled in San Diego Union-Tribune

Daniel Widener, author of Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles, was profiled in yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune. Widener is a professor of history at University of California, San Diego. Widener tells reporter Robert L. Pincus, "This topic also came out of my life." Widener grew up in Los Angeles's Echo Park.  Pincus writes that Widener's "parents’ lives intersected with those of black artists like Alonzo Davis, whose career is chronicled in the book. They frequented one of the pivotal showcases for black artists, Brockman Gallery, which Davis ran along with his brother, Dale Davis." The article also discusses Widener's interest in his current home of San Diego. “I think it’s pretty extraordinary what is happening here,” observes Widener. “This is a city on its way to becoming something else. It’s changing demographically. But I don’t think anyone has a handle yet on what it will be like in the future.”