Anthony Kelley, assistant professor of composition at Duke University, gave a lecture last Tuesday entitled “The Undeniable Influence of African and African-American Music on Art Music” as part of a series of lectures sponsored by the Oberlin Conservatory Black Musicians’ Guild.
Kelley began the talk by introducing the significant role “jungle” music has played, a term coined for the styles of African American big band shows during the era of Duke Ellington and other greats. The scene most often cited is that of a club in Harlem filled with a white audience watching black musicians and female dancers dressed in exotic “jungle” outfits. Jungle evokes an image of an exotic and wild aesthetic, and Kelley highlighted the paradox between the primitiveness and sophistication of the actual music.

“The last significant times such a proposition was consciously taken to fruition by a collective of African Americans who harnessed their version of ‘Art Music’ to explore our own “jungle,” history bestowed us the ragtime era and the Harlem Renaissance,” Kelley said.
Kelley continued to discuss the evolution of “art music,” a term often used to describe classical European influenced music of the U.S. Traditionally, the educational approach to the evolution of art music focuses on the influence of Europe as the main benefactor.

Kelley challenged this as oversight and cited the example of ragtime. The history of ragtime is a complex amalgamation of African and American heritages and not necessarily a direct response to art music. The music reflects African traditions of call and response, the looping, a set pulse juxtaposed against freer improvisation and experimentation in moving beyond set scales. Many composers have been influenced by ragtime, including Brahms, Debussy, nad Stravinsky. More contemporary composers such as John Adams and Michael Torke have noted R&B as a strong influence in their work.
The lecture seemed to be a call for further investigation into the oftentimes hidden influences within this diverse community and to challenge assumptions of origin. Kelley’s talk represents a broader movement to deconstruct notions of identity and heritage.

“Being reminded of the rich resources of African and African- American music making is essential as a frequent, regular activity,” Kelley said. “Why? Because we live in a culture that frequently pretends a multicultural posture, yet constantly presents cultural influence as a one-sided power structure, with European culture dominating and drawing from bits and pieces of other cultures. This is not the truth, and, over time, perhaps a new school of thought, composition, performance, and musicology can rectify this gross misreading of cultural history.”

The lectures hosted by the Oberlin Conservatory Black Musicians’ Guild have been received with much excitement. “People loved this talk,” sophomore Ivy Newman said; “People asked, can he come back and talk some more? I’ve received plenty of e-mails from students and faculty telling us we’ve done a good job.”
The Guild began its first semester this Fall. Newman and Conservatory senior Marti Newland founded the Guild with the purpose of creating a base of support and guidance — academically, musically, socially and culturally — for Oberlin Conservatory’s black students. In addition, the guild also strives to accurately locate the black experience within music education at Oberlin. “We are excited about the support we’ve received from faculty and students and look forward to continuing,” Newman said.