Renowned author Ralph Ellison will forever be best known for his groundbreaking tale of the human search for identity, Invisible Man. But before gaining inspiration from the likes of T.S. Eliot and Richard Wright, Ellison's first love was music.
A competent jazz trumpeter, Ellison attended music school before switching professions. Because of this background, music plays a major part in Invisible Man and many of his short stories. Ellison also wrote several of the most personal and profound essays in history about jazz music and its societal implications. This very important side of the writer is the focus of the compliation Living With Music, a record that serves as an accompaniment to the newly published book Living With Music, The Jazz Writings of Ralph Ellison.
An excellent cross-section of jazz classics from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the collection is a must for both lovers of Ellison and newcomers to the jazz genre. The record opens with Louis Armstrong's "(What Did I Do To Be So) Black And Blue;" its piercing commentary on the affliction of African-Americans was said to be the musical centerpiece of Invisible Man.
The rest of the album is stuffed with gems, from Duke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" to Billie Holiday's "All Of Me" and Count Basie's "Moten Swing." Other artists include Mahalia Jackson (who Ellison devoted an entire essay to), Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith and Ellison himself, reading an excerpt from his essay "Hidden Name and Complex Fate." It's the only commercially available recording of his voice.
Living With Music is a wonderful concept, making the resounding point that music can be one of the most untainted and important portals into the mindset of cultural eras. It's a celebration of its indescribable beauty and invaluable importance in our lives. This music flowed through the veins of Ralph Ellison, and like his writing, we're all too lucky to have it flow through ours.
Appeared in the May 9, 2002, issue of Artvoice.