SUCH SWEET THUNDER
views on black american music.

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Edited by Mark Baszak
Photography by Edward Cohen

The evolution of Black American Music is a worldwide cultural phenomenon, a continuing testament to the triumph of the human spirit in times of adversity, and a stunning contribution of artistic genius to the history of music.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to share musical ideas and play blues with Eric Clapton, grow up in the same neighborhood as Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, or discuss race matters on the phone with Miles Davis? What about hearing Grammy-winning gospel group Take 6 perform in your own living room before they were famous, collaborating with rapper Black Thought of The Roots, or working with all the bebop greats in 1940s era Manhattan when modern jazz was just being formulated? Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Marvin Winans, Jean Bach, Teodross Avery, and Billy Taylor are just a few of the artist-authors who tell their stories in Such Sweet Thunder: Views on Black American Music.

This book chronicles the music (jazz, blues, and gospel) and performers given tribute at annual Black Musicians Conferences and Festivals held at the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center during the final eleven years of the 20th century (1989 - 1999). Such Sweet Thunder is directed to both the aficionado and the general reader. It's a powerful book where words and images combine synergistically to excite the senses - like such sweet thunder.