Jazz Country: Ralph Ellison in America

185 Pages·2001·1.58 MB·English

by  Horace A. Porter

jazz country
Ja
zz
c o u n t r y
Ralph Ellison in America
H O R A C E A . P O R T E R
university of iowa press iowa city
University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242
Copyright © 2001 by Horace A. Porter
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Design by Richard Hendel
http://www.uiowa.edu/˜uipress
No part of this book may be reproduced or used in
any form or by any means without permission in
writing from the publisher. All reasonable steps
have been taken to contact copyright holders of
material used in this book. The publisher would be
pleased to make suitable arrangements with any
whom it has not been possible to reach.
A version of chapter 1 was previously published
as “Jazz Beginnings: Ralph Ellison and Charlie
Christian in Oklahoma City” in the Antioch Review57
(Summer 1999).
The publication of this book was generously
supported by the University of Iowa Foundation.
Printed on acid-free paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Porter, Horace A., 1950–
Jazz country: Ralph Ellison in America / by
Horace A. Porter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-87745-777-8 (cloth)
1. Jazz in literature. 2. Ellison, Ralph—
Knowledge—Jazz. I. Title.
ml80.e45 p67 2001
818´.5409—dc21 2001027538
01 02 03 04 05 c 5 4 3 2 1
For Zachary E. Porter

It makes no difference if it’s sweet or hot,
Just keep that rhythm,
Give it everything you’ve got!
It don’t mean a thing
If it ain’t got that swing!
—Duke Ellington

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Chronology: Ralph Ellison, 1914–1994 xiii
Jazz States: Ralph Waldo Ellison’s Major Chords 1
1 Jazz Essays
Ellison on Charlie Christian, Jimmy Rushing,
Mahalia Jackson, and Lester Young 17
The Solo Voice of Charlie Christian’s Guitar 17
Reducing the Chaos of Living to Form: The Affirmative Voices of
Jimmy Rushing and Mahalia Jackson 22
Charlie Christian and the Influence of Lester Young 25
Soul Brothers Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman: Jazz, Race, and
Cultural Exchange 27
2 Jazz Icons
Ellison on Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong,
and Charlie Parker 32
American Masters: Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong 32
Mocking Entertainers: Ellison on Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker 42
3 Jazz Trio
Ralph Ellison, Romare Bearden, and Albert Murray 49
Renaissance Men: Ralph Ellison, Romare Bearden, and Albert Murray 49
The Novelist and the Painter: Shared Visions of Jazz and Art 51
Shared Assumptions: Albert Murray Riffs on the Marvelous,
the Terrible, and the Heroic in African American Culture 61
4 Jazz Underground
Invisible Manas Jazz Text 72
Invisible Man as Jazz Text 72
Invisibility Blues 76
Notes Underground 77
Harlem Riot: Jazz Aesthetics 83
5 Jazz in Progress
Juneteenth, Ellison’s Second Novel 92
The Long Wait: Ellison and Poetic Closure 92
A Jazzman Burns His White Cadillac 95
A Jazzman’s Duet and Solo 101