With our transition into the new year, I think there are a lot of people out there entertained by the ‘new year, new me’ mentality, making goals and resolutions for what they’ll accomplish in the year ahead. I’m not really the type to make resolutions, but I do have a reading goal that I try to accomplish every year (with varying degrees of success). Luckily, this year I have the pleasure of working in a place with lots of books where I can spend a bit of time here and there reading through our collection; not only for my own personal enjoyment, but also to familiarize myself with our works in order to better serve our patrons. Doing these posts has also been a big help in familiarizing myself with our collection, and our topic this month is one very near and dear to my heart: Music in the BDC.
Honestly, I think my interest in jazz and blues probably stemmed from my obsession with The Great Gatsby in high school and has since spiraled from there. So, as a fan of jazz myself, I have already nosed around some of the books in our collection about the genre. Therefore, I decided to dedicate Shelf 1 to some of the books we have at the BDC about jazz and blues music in South Carolina. Shelf 1 contains two books of the sort: Jazz and Blues Musicians of South Carolina: Interviews with Jabbo, Dizzy, Drink, and Others by Benjamin Franklin V (2008), and The Jazz Corner Story by Martin J. McFie (2012).
At first, I thought The Jazz Corner Story was another book in our stacks about jazz musicians in South Carolina. And it is, to an extent. But it’s also about the legacy of one specific jazz club right here in Beaufort County. The Jazz Corner is a famous club on Hilton Head Island that has featured a number of talented artists since its opening 23 years ago. Discussing the history and legacy of jazz, as well as the music scene in relation to The Jazz Corner, this book highlights the chronology of the genre, giving a timeline of events that span from pre-Civil War slavery to the modern age. The musicians and bandleaders of The Jazz Corner over the years are celebrated, and they even talk about the club’s food! When I was first skimming through this book, I didn’t actually realize it was about a specific place until I got to the back. You can probably imagine my confusion at suddenly finding a menu! The Jazz Corner is a well-known and respected establishment in our county that locals and tourists alike love, as well as some pretty good-looking food, if Google reviews have anything to say about it. The Jazz Corner Story is a celebration of a labor of love, bringing musical talent to the folks of Beaufort County and beyond. This book is available for checkout from a number of BCL locations.
While it may come as a surprise to some of our patrons, we do in fact have a few children’s books in our collection. Separation Song became a great addition to this month’s display not only because of its relevance to the topic, but also because, like many children’s books, it’s visually appealing and fun to look at. With a bright yellow cover and crayon drawn pictures covering its pages, this book tells the story of a young girl living on St. Helena Island with her grandmother, where she learns the importance of song in her culture. In particular, she hears her great-grandmother sing her ‘separation song’ in the Gullah dialect, a song about the time of segregation and slavery in the United States that her Mama Susu lived through, and the freedom that followed with the Emancipation Proclamation and work done by activists during the Civil Rights Movement. This book highlights how music can be an invaluable storytelling tool, connecting people within and outside of one’s culture.
While Separation Song introduces the importance of music in Gullah culture, Gullah Spirituals takes this discussion a step further. Written by musicologist Eric Sean Crawford, Gullah Spirituals traces songs to their origins in West Africa and their significance as music for social change and Black identity in the United States, particularly in the South. Focusing mostly on St. Helena Island, this book highlights the history, survival, influence, and tenacity not only of the music tradition in Gullah culture, but also of the folks who practice it. Spirituals in particular are discussed, which are religious songs typically associated with Black Southern Christians, and later were adopted during the Civil Rights Movement as freedom songs. Crawford conducted interviews with performers of Gullah spirituals, asked about their life experiences and music, as well as conducted fieldwork, personal recordings, and other oral interviews to bring this book together into a comprehensive history of the importance of music and spirituals in Gullah culture.
Although Separation Song discusses one specific song sung by a child’s great-grandmother and the meaning it has to her, and Gullah Spirituals discusses music and history of Gullah and Black culture as a whole, Step it Down specifically describes the songs, stories, and games experienced by those of Afro-American heritage. It is also partly a memoir, the ‘rememberings’ of a woman “born in the Southern poverty belt around the turn of this century, a detailing of the mind and body and heart skills she learned in her ‘days coming up’” (Jones XI). The book includes, and is organized by, baby games and plays, clapping plays, jumps and skips, singing plays, ring plays, dances, house plays and home amusements, outdoor games, and songs and stories. A few of these songs and stories are familiar to most people, myself included, but with a regional twist, such as “Head and Shoulder, Baby” and “London Bridge.” Others are less familiar but are still telling of the state of the world at the time these rhymes and rhythms were popular, as is seen with plays like “Knock Jim Crow” and “Uncle Tom.” Many of the stories and plays written in this book are also accompanied by anecdotes from Mrs. Bessie Jones herself; what she thought they meant as a kid, what actions match what part in a song, and the like. This book paints a whole childhood of musical experiences, where song and games were used not only to entertain, but to tell stories and send messages to the younger generation. Step it Down and all the other books on Shelf 2 are available for checkout within the BCL system and throughout the SCLENDS consortium.
Carolina Lowcountry Patois is a vinyl record of the study of the Gullah language done by Dick Reeves. Featuring various stories and rhymes in Gullah, this record is a celebration of a language and culture that is beginning to fade in memory as generations age and new ones take their place. Thanks to works like this one, as well as the efforts of community members and organizations, Gullah culture and language is making its way back to the forefront so that it will not be forgotten by generations to come.
Released in 2014, St. Helena Island Gullah features dialogue, spirituals, stories, and anecdotes for a project that developed out of the dissertation work of Dr. Eric Crawford of Norfolk State University, as well as with support from the Penn Center on St. Helena Island and various churches. It is a multimedia, multidimensional look at the history, music, culture, and language of the Gullah people, with students from varying backgrounds and majors contributing to the work. Through this project, Gullah music and culture is celebrated, and achieves its goal of bringing these 200-year-old songs to a new audience, keeping the ways and wisdoms of the Gullah people alive for generations.
Osha! is a celebration of the music of Osalami “Osha” Lamoke, born Barbara Daise, of St. Helena Island, who was a self-taught guitarist and was heavily inspired by Gullah culture. In 2004 she began writing and performing Gullah songs and released this CD the same year. The music on the CD is full of Gullah folk, Afro-Caribbean, praise house stomp, and blues music. Songs featured include Little Sally Walker, Island in My Soul, Great-Grandaddy’s Gift, and Kujichagulia. The well-loved local singer and guitarist passed on Wednesday, December 4, 2014 at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Her obituary can be found online.
I decided to choose Osha! and its other counterparts on Shelf 3 to highlight the importance of music in Gullah culture, as well as to show the diversity of our collection and variety we contain. We do not only house books up here, folks! In addition to the CDs and vinyl records mentioned above, we also have a number of movies on CD, videos on VCR, art, maps, and of course, lots and lots of books. We’re very lucky to have all the resources and donors that we do to make the diversity of our collection possible to better serve our community and bring you the best materials to aid in your research and learning.
Multiple copies of St. Helena Island Gullah are available for checkout within the BCL system, although Osha! and Carolina Lowcountry Patois are exclusively available here at the BDC.
Shelf 4 became a more miscellaneous shelf, dedicated to other sources I found relevant within our collection, although they do not fit one particular theme. Shelf 4 features two books: Making Music: The First 25 Years of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra by Margaret Greer and Kin-Yee Mak (2006) and A History of the Port Royal Bands: The Men and Music of the Bands of the Third Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry and the 2nd Brigade, 10th Army Corps, Department of the South During the American Civil War by John Brookfield (2015).
While not the most visually appealing cover I could have included for the case this month, I felt it was important to include Making Music in our repertoire because it diversifies the case a bit more. All of the materials discussed thus far have featured either jazz, blues, Gullah folk or spirituals. Therefore, I wanted to include other types of music that are still representative of Beaufort. Highlighting the first 25 years of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Making Music discusses the beginnings and musicians that have been part of the orchestra, in celebration of its Silver Anniversary.
A History of the Port Royal Bands has a fairly self-explanatory, albeit lengthy, title. Brookfield gives in depth descriptions of the men and music of the Civil War, and highlights the importance and role of bands during this time. Filled with photos, biographical information, and enlistment records, it paints a picture of the musicians who made up the bands, specifically the Port Royal Bands. It also felt like a particularly appropriate addition to the display case for January, as we are having a Local History program this month about the very subject. Dr. Michael Johns will be with us on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at St. Helena Branch Library and Tuesday January 24, 2023 at Hilton Head Branch Library to talk with us about Civil War Unions Bands. Run in partnership with the Beaufort County Historical Society and the Coastal Discovery Museum, this is one of many programs the BDC hosts every year. Registration for these two events can be found on the Beaufort County Historical Society’s website. Registration remains open until we reach room capacity. Check for any remaining seats for the January 19th session at the St. Helena Branch Library session. Check for any remaining seats for the January 24th session to be held at the Hilton Head Island Branch Library.
Making Music is available for checkout within the whole library system, although A History of the Port Royal Bands is only available for viewing here at the BDC.
