The Harlem Renaissance

The northern Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem was meant to be an upper-class white neighborhood, but rapid overdevelopment led to empty buildings and desperate landlords seeking to fill them. In the early 1900s, in what became known as the Great Migration, African-Americans from the South moved north to New York in droves, searching for work after the war, and hoping to escape the racial violence tearing through America. Harlem became a centre for Black culture in the city, drawing in poets like Langston Hughes, thinkers like W. E. B. Du Bois and musicians. These musicians pioneered new forms of jazz and blues, subverted the expectations of Black performers and broke through into the mainstream. This week, Donald Macleod is joined by jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, as he traces the rise and fall of the Harlem Renaissance, transporting us from rent parties to night clubs to Broadway, as we hear a joyful, soulful explosion of sound.

Music Featured:

Carolina Shout Echoes of Spring Willie’s Blues The Harlem Strut Finger Buster St Louis Blues Shuffle Along Medley Love Will Find a Way Everything Reminds Me of You Troublesome Ivories Good Morning Blues Motto/Dead in There The Weary Blues Could Be/Bad Luck Card/Bad Man Consider Me I, Too Black Beauty Black and Tan Fantasy It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) Creole Rhapsody Symphony in Black West End Blues Sobbin’ Hearted Blues Ain’t Misbehavin’ Hotter Than That I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues When the Saints Go Marching In

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Alice McKee

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for The Harlem Renaissance https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001dy5s

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z