Overview
- Uses interviews with members of New Orlean's musical infrastructure
- Shows Hurricane Katrina as a turning point in the history of New Orleans rhythm and blues
Part of the book series: Pop Music, Culture and Identity (PMCI)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Music, magic and myth are elements essential to the identities of New Orleans musicians. The city's singular contributions to popular music around the world have been unrivaled; performing this music authentically requires collective improvisation, taking performers on sonorous sojourns in unanticipated, 'magical' moments; and membership in the city's musical community entails participation in the myth of New Orleans, breathing new life into its storied traditions. On the basis of 56 open-ended interviews with those in the city's musical community, Michael Urban discovers that, indeed, community is what it is all about. In their own words, informants explain that commercial concerns are eclipsed by the pleasure of playing in 'one big band' that disassembles daily into smaller performing units whose rosters are fluid, such that, over time, 'everybody plays with everybody'. Although Hurricane Katrina nearly terminated the city, New Orleans and its music—in no small part due to the sacrifices and labors of its musicians—have come back even stronger. Dancing to their own drum, New Orleanians again prove themselves to be admirably out of step with the rest of America.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Michael Urban is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. Although his career has focused on the study of Russian politics—yielding titles such as The Rebirth of Politics in Russia (1997) and Cultures of Power in Post-Communist Russia (2010) — it has also included space for the study of music and community — as in Russia Gets the Blues: Music, Culture and Community in Unsettled Times (2004) — which is extended with the present volume.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: New Orleans Rhythm and Blues After Katrina
Book Subtitle: Music, Magic and Myth
Authors: Michael Urban
Series Title: Pop Music, Culture and Identity
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-56575-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-56574-7Published: 13 January 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-56772-0Published: 30 March 2017
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-56575-4Published: 08 April 2016
Series ISSN: 2634-6613
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6621
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 181
Topics: Music, Cultural History, Media Studies, Arts