Track Listings (18) - Disc #1| All Artists: Various Artists Title: The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music Members Wishing: 4 Total Copies: 0 Label: Buddha Release Date: 9/11/2001 Album Type: Box set, Original recording remastered Genres: Country, Blues, Folk, International Music, Special Interest, Pop Styles: Classic Country, Delta Blues, Traditional Blues, Regional Blues, East Coast Blues, Acoustic Blues, Traditional Folk, Africa, Caribbean & Cuba, Calypso, Comedy & Spoken Word, Easy Listening, Oldies, Vocal Pop Number of Discs: 5 SwapaCD Credits: 5 UPC: 744659975622 |
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Search - Various Artists :: The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music
 | Various Artists The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music Genres: Country, Blues, Folk, International Music, Special Interest, Pop
Decades after its conception, Harry Belafonte's enormously ambitious project has come to a rewarding fruition with the release of this lovingly produced and beautifully packaged collection. Between 1961 and 1971, Belafonte... more » |
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Amazon.com Decades after its conception, Harry Belafonte's enormously ambitious project has come to a rewarding fruition with the release of this lovingly produced and beautifully packaged collection. Between 1961 and 1971, Belafonte sought to create a comprehensive document of what he calls "African-matrixed music": "African rooted, Africa as origin, evolved from an original African form." The rough timeframe Belafonte follows begins with the arrival of blacks in America in the early 17th century and ends at the dawn of the recording age. Yet this five-disc set (with a bonus "making of" DVD) amounts to so much more than a musical history; it is, instead, a detailed sociopolitical history of the people who created this music and a journey following the evolution of black culture from the time that the diaspora left Africa for the New World. Disc 1 offers tribal chants, shouts, and spirituals while the second disc explores the slavery era through the Civil War. Disc 3 looks at postwar sounds both urban and rural while the fourth disc crosses into the next century as the street cries and mountain hollers morph into folk ballads, gritty blues, and minstrel shows--the roots of popular music as we know it today. The final disc includes songs of work and songs of worship, the practical tools of survival for African Americans in troubled times. The sounds found across these discs are faithful re-creations featuring a large cast that includes the likes of Belafonte, Bessie Jones, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Joe Williams. The lovely 140-page hardbound book includes extensive notes and provocative essays, as well as stunning photos plus artwork by Charles White. To be sure, this is not easy listening and those looking for your basic "roots music" collection will be disappointed. Rather, this is really a fascinating exploration of the roots of roots music. --Marc Greilsamer Similar CDs
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CD ReviewsIncredible from a historical standpoint merlthepearl | thousand oaks, CA United States | 09/25/2001 (3 out of 5 stars) "The packaging of this set is absolutely top notch. The highest quality materials were used in its construction and the book is superb.However, from a musical standpoint, I found it very hard to listen to (and I am quite open minded, musically; a big fan of "the Anthology of American Folk Music").I had expected much more rootsy music...field recordings and the like ala Lomax. However, all of the music on these dics was recorded by Belafonte in a studio in New York and involves many religeous chants, work hollers and childrens songs. A good deal of this set is simply sung a cappella. The selections that I enjoyed most are the ones that have some instrumentaion (mostly drums and hand clapping). There are a few numbers that have additional instrumentation as well.Overall, while I feel it is worth owning as a historical multimedia document of the black experience in America, I know I will listen to it seldom, if at all, because you REALLY have to be in the mood for it. If you are looking for a more accessable documentation of black music, I would recommend that you look at a collection called "Sounds of the South" which has a lot of great field recordings made by Alan Lomax.The overall effect of "The Long Road to Freedom" is like walking through a slavery exhibit at a museum...educational and interesting, but ultimately, in my opinion, not overly satisfying from a musical standpoint." Wonderful job of recovering history while being historical Fred McGhee | Austin, TX | 03/05/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) "Job well done. The scope of this music is as comprehensive as anything out there. One of the great things about this collection is that it is broad in scope yet surprisingly accessible. These CD's are great teaching tools, and are also surprisingly ENTERTAINING at the same time. In that regard alone they are a wonderful testament of and to the Black experience. But they are far more than just this. The engineers working on this record also did a terrific job; the sound quality is exceptional... You will be challenged, educated, excited, entertained, enriched, and uplifted by these amazing and stirring songs.No, these are not the Lomax field recordings. If you read the book accompanying the five CD's you'll find out why these recordings weren't done in the field. I'm glad they made the decision that they did; for the most part they brought the field into the (now historic) studio.These songs will make Black people immensely proud of their heritage, and will give others a fine appreciation of the Black experience in America and elsewhere..." A gift to us all AfroAmericanHeritage | Wisconsin | 01/07/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) "What a gift this is to all of us! Researched and recorded between 1961 and 1971, this collection traces the
history of black music from the late 1600's to the 20th Century. It covers the roots of African music, chants, shouts and early spirituals, Louisiana Creole music and a re-creation of a slave Christmas, songs from the Underground Railroad and Civil War era, rural and urban roots music, game and children's songs, work songs, minstrel songs...you name it, it's here.As one who has spent innumerable hours straining to decipher old recordings, I must say that Belafonte and crew have done a fantastic job of bringing the music to life, creating a sound that is both satisfying to the modern ear, yet authentic and respectful to the original material. (The music has NOT, for example, been modernized stylistically. Hurrah for that!) Belafonte simply captured in a modern era what might have been captured in, say, 1866 had modern recording equipment been available." |
