Imaginary

Visual Arts

• Susan Clinard, A Woman's Pride

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Pride at its best is not boastful or ostentatious; it reflects confidence, self-assurance and respect. Gene Harris was an African-American jazz pianist who played in several styles, including funk, soul and blues. Some of his work sounds like mainstream, straight-ahead jazz. Jazz has its roots in black culture. Harris played like a man who was comfortable in his own skin, conveying a sense that he was proud of his blackness, in a deeply humane way. Some of his albums are solo, others in a small ensemble. They are grouped below, by style:

• Blues: “Down Home Blues” (1996), “Black and Blue” (1991), “Blues & Ballads: The Best of Gene Harris on Resonance”, “Ballad Essentials” (compilation)
• Funk: “Funky Gene’s” (1994), “Nexus” (1975), “Instant Party” (compilation)
• Soul: “It’s the Real Soul” (1995)
• Distinctly African-American: “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (1973), “Alley Cats” (1998), “Tribute to Count Basie” (1988), “Astral Signal” (1974), “In a Special Way” (1976)
• Straight-ahead: “Live at Maybeck Recital Hall” (1993), “A Little Piece of Heaven” (1993), “The Gene Harris Trio Plus One” (1985), “Live in London” (1996), “Another Night in London” (1996)

All of Frédéric Chopin’s Polonaises (approx. 60-125’, depending on whether early polonaises are included) “are connected by the supreme idea of the polonaise-the most important Polish national dance. The polonaise developed in Poland long before Chopin's time, and since the Baroque era it had been a fashionable society dance at many European courts.” “The polonaise (also known as the polacca) had its origins as a Polish folk dance, but it was taken up by composers in western and central Europe, who often employed it as a mild form of exoticism, sometimes in suites with dance forms that stemmed from a variety of countries.” “The Polish people, who suffered triple occupation by Prussia, Russia and Austria, who were deprived of their independence, who suffered terribly under the pressure of the Holy Alliance, whose national culture was being suppressed – this people proved through its art that it was alive and fighting. The genius of a Mickiewicz in poetry, the genius of a Chopin in music, reflect this struggle in their art.” Recordings of some or all of the pieces on disc are by Rubinstein in 1934-35, Rubinstein in 1950-51 ***, Halina in 1959-60, Pollini in 1976, Ashkenazy in 1981, Katsaris in 1994, Blechaz in 2013, and Nauta in 2018.

Arnold Bax, Tintagel (1919) (approx. 12-15’): This fifteen-minute symphonic poem has generated extensive analysis. Tintagel castle inspired the work. By legend, it was King Arthur's castle. Best recorded performances are conducted by Goossens in 1928, Boult in 1954, Barbirolli in 1967, Boult & in 1972, Thomson in 1983, Handley in 2002 ***, and Lloyd-Jones in 2002.

Constructive and empowering pride is a part of self-worth. This is apparent in these albums by the aboriginal group Yothu Yindi, whose name means “child – mother”:

• “Tribal Voice” (1991), informed by a “firm belief that Indigenous cultural knowledge, songs and instruments have a vital place in guiding and enriching future generations”;
• “Birrkuta – Wild Honey” (1996);
• “One Blood” (1998);
• “Garma” (2000): “Garma (or ganma) is a place from which cultural meanings flow.”

The Master Musicians of Jajouka “are an all-male group from Jajouka, a small village in the foothills of the Rif Mountains about a hundred kilometers from the major Moroccan port city of Tangier”. They “play a variety of folk, ancient and newly written musical pieces on traditional, locally made instruments.” The music, which is said to be thousands of years old, is from the Sufi tradition. It evokes pride in tradition and location. “The Attar clan of Jajouka is the founding family of Jajouka and keepers of one of the world’s oldest and most unique surviving musical traditions. The music and secrets of Jajouka have been passed down through generations from father to son, by some accounts for as long as 1,300 years. The musicians of Jajouka are taught from early childhood a complex music which is unique to Jajouka, until they finally become malims or masters. They possess baraka, (good luck) or the blessing of Allah, which gives them the power to heal, and the endurance required to play some of the most intense and complex music around.” Their releases include:

• “Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka” (1971)
• “Tribe Ahl Serif: Master Musicians of Jajouka” (1974)
• “Jajouka Between the Mountains”
• “Apocalypse Across the Sky” (1992)
• “Dancing Under the Moon”
• “The Primal Energy That Is the Music and Ritual of Jajouka, Morocco”
• “Mulhouse” concert in France, 1980

Compositions:

• Vaughan Williams, In the Fen Country
• Vaughan Williams, On Wenlock Edge
• Alfvén, Three Swedish Rhapsodies: Midsummer Vigil, Op. 19; Upsala Rhapsody, Op. 24; Dalecarlian Rhapsody, Op. 47
• Arnold Bax, Tintagel (1919) (approx. 12-15’): This fifteen-minute symphonic poem has generated extensive analysis. Tintagel castle inspired the work. By legend, it was King Arthur's castle. Best recorded performances are conducted by Goossens in 1928, Boult in 1954, Barbirolli in 1967, Boult in 1972, Thomson in 1983, Handley in 2002 ***, and Lloyd-Jones in 2002.
• Brahms, Hungarian Dances
• Grieg, Norges Melodier (Norwegian Melodies), EG 108
• Grauel, Cello Concerto in A Major
• Claudio Santoro, Symphony No. 7, “Brasilia” (1960)

Albums:

• Jim Gustin and Truth Jones, “Lessons Learned”, “Can’t Shed a Tear” and “Memphis” albums: disparate voices, proudly showcased and displayed.
• Black Art Jazz Collective, “Armor of Pride”
• Denman Maroney, “Solo @ 70”
• Rhiannon Giddens, Anythyst Kiahm, Leyla McCalla & Allison Russell, “Songs of Our Native Daughters”
• Rebolu, Mi Herencia (My Heritage) (2022): “Combining the Afrocentric rhythms and salsa-inspired music of Colombia’s Caribbean coast with the urban energy and multiculturalism of NYC, the Colombian and Colombian-American musicians of Rebolu created Mi Herencia to explore the rich traditions of their community.”

Fictional Narratives

Novels:

• Alison Fairbrother, The Catch: A Novel (Random House, 2022): a “depiction of a smart, talented and sexual young woman who is in the process of learning, as adults must, to balance pride with humility, pain with pleasure, and acceptable fictions with uncomfortable truths.”