[The Original James P. Johnson; Smithsonian Folkways 40812 (1996)] On July 2 AfriClassical posted: One Small Voice: The Composer James P. Johnson wrote “You've Got To Be Modernistic”. The blog “One Small Voice” belongs to Peter Saint-Andre, who writes under the nom de plume of “stpeter”. He writes in reply, on his blog: “Thanks for the link! I have a recording of 'Yamekraw' by Marcus Roberts from his album 'Portraits in Blue', but I have not heard any other recordings of the work. (I keep hoping that Roberts will also make a recording of Ellington’s 'New World A-Coming', but as far as I know he hasn’t done so yet.) As I understand it, James P. Johnson’s struggles were many, as were the struggles of musicians like William Grant Still and so many others — Maurice Peress talks a bit about that in his book 'From Dvořák to Duke Ellington', which I discuss here. As to the question of ragtime vs. stride vs. jazz vs. classical (etc.), I like Ellington’s take on the matter: there is only music, and the artificial division into camps and genres is not conducive to deep musical understanding. Many of the early piano virtuosos we associate with stride and jazz were influenced by the likes of Liszt and Chopin, and they might even have pursued 'classical' careers were it not for the fact that such an avenue was closed to them. In any case, I had forgotten about the full range of works written by James P. Johnson (e.g., the tone poems and string quartet), so thank you for the reminder. Do recordings of these works exist? Comment by stpeter — July 2, 2008 @ 9:29 am Correction, I also have a solo piano recording of 'Yamekraw' by James P. Johnson himself, on his album 'The Original James P. Johnson', which I’m listening to right now. :) Comment by stpeter— July 2, 2008 @ 11:09 am”
AfriClassical has no knowledge of recordings of James P. Johnson's symphonies, concertos, tone poems or his string quartet. We certainly feel these works deserve to be recorded!
James P. JohnsonAfriClassical has no knowledge of recordings of James P. Johnson's symphonies, concertos, tone poems or his string quartet. We certainly feel these works deserve to be recorded!
African American Composer
Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody
The Original James P. Johnson
Tone Poems & String Quartet
American Folkways
This is somthing I have been looking for a long time. Thanks!!!
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