| Artist |
Song |
Album |
Label |
Comments |
| Louis Jordan |
Juneteenth Jamboree |
Let the Good Times Roll |
Bear Family |
today's show is a (belated) Juneteenth celebration! 2 hours of songs about the civil rights movement and by civil rights leaders |
| Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers |
Lift Every Voice and Sing |
In My Prime I |
|
Blakey would begin every show with this song, the Black national anthem |
|
| Nina Simone |
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free |
The Essential Nina Simone |
Sony Legacy |
written by Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas, recorded by Simone in 1967 |
| Oscar Peterson Trio |
Hymn to Freedom |
Night Train |
|
Peterson wrote this in 1963 as a tribute to the civil rights movement |
| Duke Ellington Orchestra featuring Mahalia Jackson |
Come Sunday |
Black, Brown & Beige |
Sony Legacy |
the Black Brown & Beige suite was written in 1943, this album of the entire suite was rec. 1958 |
| John Coltrane Quartet |
Alabama |
The Classic Quartet - Complete Impulse! Recordings |
Impulse |
written by Coltrane in 1963 in response to the 16th St Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham Alabama |
| Max Roach Quintet v/ Abbey Lincoln |
Freedom Day |
We Insist! Freedom Now Suite |
Candid |
the Freedom Now Suite was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation |
|
| Harry Belafonte |
Angelina |
The Essential Harry Belafonte |
Sony Legacy |
Belafonte is a titan of the civil rights movement and important activist throughout his life |
| Josephine Baker |
Don't Touch My Tomatoes |
Divas Exotica |
|
Baker spoke at the 1963 March on Washington. When Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, Loretta Scott King asked Baker to take over as the leader of the movement. She declined because she didn't want to leave her children |
| Lena Horne |
Day In - Day Out |
At the Waldorf Astoria |
RCA Victor |
Horne was a tireless activist. During WWII she refused to perform to segregated audiences for the USO; she worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching laws; she was with Medgar Evers a few days before his assassination |
| Lena Horne |
The Man I Love |
Stormy Weather |
|
|
| Paul Robeson |
It Ain't Necessarily So |
The Complete EMI Sessions |
EMI |
Robeson was blacklisted in the US because of his outspoken support for racial equality and workers rights |
| Hazel Scott |
Fascinating Rhythm |
Hazel's Best |
|
thank you for requesting Hazel Scott! Scott was a singer & pianist from Trinidad. She was an outspoken critic of racial inequality in the US and worked to improve representation in Hollywood |
|
| Hazel Scott |
Round Midnight |
Round Midnight |
Fresh Sounds Spain |
|
| Billy Strayhorn |
Lush Life |
Lush Life |
Red Baron |
Strayhorn preferred to stay out of the limelight, he worked as a fundraiser for the civil rights movement & helped to raise money for Martin Luther King's work |
| Lena Horne |
Can't Help Lovin' That Man |
Lena Like Latin |
Applause |
Horne and Strayhorn were very close, they worked together on civil rights activism & Horne said many times that he was in the love of her life and she would have married him if she could, but Strayhorn was gay |
| Ray Charles |
Lift Every Voice and Sing |
The Dick Cavett Show |
|
rec. 1972 |
| Nina Simone |
Sinnerman |
Verve Jazz Masters |
Verve |
|
| Paul Robeson w/ Lawrence Brown |
On Ma Journey |
78" |
Victor |
rec. Jan 1926 (incorrectly said 1925 on the air) Lawrence Brown was the pianist who accompanied Paul Robeson on most of his recordings, they worked together for decades |
| Louis Armstrong |
(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue |
Satchmo Ambassador of Jazz |
Verve |
rec. 1929 this was the earliest American popular song about racism |
| Josephine Baker |
Reves |
Josephine Baker |
|
rec. 1935 for the film PRINCESS TAM-TAM |
| Duke Ellington Orchestra |
Chelsea Bridge |
The Blanton-Webster Band |
RCA |
rec. 1942 written by Billy Strayhorn. As a young man he wanted to be a classical pianist but due to the racism in classical music it was impossible for him to study or work in classical |
|
| Billie Holiday |
Strange Fruit |
Rare Live Recordings |
|
rec. 1951 Holiday closed every show with this anti-lyching song |
| Charles Mingus |
The Original Faubus Fables |
Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus |
Candid |
this song was a protest against gov Faubus of Arkansas who tried to prevent Arkansas schools from integrating |
| Nina Simone |
Four Women |
The Essential Nina Simone |
Sony Legacy |
written by Simone in 1966 |
| Nina Simone |
Mississippi Goddam |
Verve Jazz Masters |
Verve |
Simone wrote this in response to the assassination of Medgar Evers |
