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    In a recent Library of Congress blog entitled Celebrating Black Performers in the New and Expanded National Jukebox!, Cary O’Dell (author) and David Sager (reference specialist) highlighted recordings by African American performers and composers. One record that is featured is by the Cotton Club Orchestra.  How can we take some of these ideas and translate them into lessons for the classroom?

    Before Duke Ellington was connected to the Cotton Club (located in Harlem, NY), Andy Preer’s Cotton Club Orchestra  performed there from 1924-1927. The Cotton Club Orchestra  later became the Missourians, which ultimately became the Cab Calloway Orchestra.  In 1925, they recorded two hits - one on each side of the same record (O’Dell, 2021 July 12):

     

    Down and Out Blues           

     

     

    Snag ‘Em Blues. 

     

    When thinking about the learning styles of our students, we might consider activities that include visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile modalities. We can combine these learning modalities with elements of the Library of Congress Primary Source Analysis Tools.

     

    Auditory & Visual-Spatial

    Auditory: Down and Out Blues or Snag ‘Em Blues

    Visual-Spatial : YouTube Video: Down and Out Blues - Cotton Club Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89vRu-jgMkM

     Observe

    • What do you notice first?

    • What instruments do you hear?

    • How would you describe the pictures from the time period?


     Reflect

    • What can you learn from listening to this recording?

    • What kind of equipment do you think was used to record this?

    • Do you like what you hear?

    • Could you dance to this music?

     

    Check out this brief article on Acoustical Recording that is part of the National Jukebox Collection. It explains how musicians recorded prior to using microphones or electrical amplification, between the 1890’s and 1925 (Library of Congress). Acoustical recording is the method used for recording Down and Out Blues and Snag ‘Em Blues. 

    • Students can read the article, and then explore changes in recording technology.

    • Students can create a technology timeline: include facts, dates, pictures, and sound bytes).

    Acoustic Session

    Auditory & Kinesthetic/Tactile

    Down and Out Blues or Snag ‘Em Blues


     Observe/

     Listen

    • Listen to the music & draw iconic representations of what they hear during the solo sections

      • Students can draw lines in the direction of the music

      • Students can draw other graphics such as dots, dashes, zig zags, shapes, etc., that represent what they hear

     Reflect on        

     Form

    • What is happening in the music?

    • Are there any sections that repeat?

    • Can the music be organized into any form?

     Move
    • Students can learn the basic steps to the foxtrot and dance to the music. Here is a video teaching basic steps:https://youtu.be/iMyUFYX0uCc



    Visual

    A Night-Club Map of Harlem (1932)

     Observe 

    • The Cotton Club is on this map, as well as other venues.

    • What place or places does the map show? 

    • What, if any, words do you see?

    • Have students identify and note details.

     Reflect

    • Encourage students to generate/test hypotheses about the map.

    • Why do you think this map was made?

    • Who do you think the audience was for this map?

    • How does it compare to current maps of this place?

    • If this map was made today, what would be different?

     Question

    • What do you wonder about the map? 

    • The musicians? 

    • The music of the time?

     

     

    Campbell, E. S. & Dell Publishing Company, P. (1932) A night-club map of Harlem. [New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, Inc., ©] [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016585261/



    Full Playlist:

    Black Broadway and Tin Pan Alley

    https://www.loc.gov/collections/national-jukebox/about-this-collection/playlists/black-broadway-and-tin-pan-alley/

    Resources:

    Bigband Lou. (2009, January 30). Down and Out Blues-The Original Cotton Club Orchestra- 1925. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89vRu-jgMkM

    Bradford, P., Preer, A. & Cotton Club Orchestra. (1925) Snag 'em Blues. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-675124/

    Campbell, E. S. & Dell Publishing Company, P. (1932) A night-club map of Harlem. [New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, Inc., ©] [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016585261/

    O’Dell, C. (2021, July 12). Celebrating Black Performers in the New and Expanded National 

    Jukebox!. Library of Congress. https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2021/07/celebrating-black-performers-in-the-new-and-expanded-national-jukebox/

    Sizemore, A., Cotton Club Orchestra & Preer, A. (1925) Down and Out Blues. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.  https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-675122/

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    Discussion was originally created in The Arts and Primary Sources. View original Discussion here.

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