Friday, June 17, 2011

Judith Anne Still: 'I would like to start a Gershwin boycott among African-Americans'

[My Life, My Words: The Autobiography of William Grant Still, American Master Composer; With additional material by Judith Anne Still; The Master-Player Library, Flagstaff, Arizona (2011)]

Judith Anne Still is the daughter of William Grant Still (1895-1978). She operates William Grant Still Music, which offers recordings sheet music and books, including the new autobiography, My Life, My Words. She writes of response to its publication:

“Judging from comments, especially from African-Americans, about MY LIFE, MY WORDS, I see that the cat is finally out of the bag and in print. Everybody has always known that Gershwin stole his music, but no one would say anything, because Gershwin seemed to be the only door that opened for performers of color. (Dr. Everett Jones pointed out to me that part of PORGY was stolen from Cab Calloway).

“The laws against segregation were passed because of bus boycotts: I would like to start a Gershwin boycott among African-Americans, challenging every musician and performer of color to refuse to perform in Porgy, or for any Gershwin piece, from now on. If all agree, we can finally force orchestras and opera companies to do works by real Afro-Americans which are not demeaning in the way that Gershwin is demeaning.

Comment by email from Dr. Everett N. Jones III:
"Please clarify in the post that Gershwin got the idea for Sportin' Life (a character in Porgy and Bess) from Cab Calloway." [Dr. Everett N. Jones III is Assistant Professor of Piano at Wilberforce University]

2 comments:

Gwen said...

Every time I have sung a Gershwin song I have felt the betrayal. The public, especially older people of African descent know in their hearts, that they-we are hearing stolen fruit. But, the tunes are preserved in bodies and spirits, to the extent that to try to remove/boycott them is futile. The one thing we can do, and I have done this at performances, and in program notes is to let it be known that Gershwin appropriated, stole, the music, his entire concept, and because he was white, received acceptance.

How many of our singers would never had worked if they were not featured in Porgy and Bess.?

Givonna Joseph, said...

Since debuting OperaCreole, I am more in love with Still's music than ever before! And we will take our role in bringing his music to the forefront very seriously. I will read the book to see what is being said about Gershwin, but in either case he has paid a great debt to us by writing in his will that any production be of the black cast. While companies are doing Ellington's music without hiring us, Gershwin gave us insured employment.

Ms. Still, thank you for keeping your father's music alive for us! I would love to see a push to colleges to include him in their curricula. We have African American students graduating without knowing their own history.