Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World

Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review JournalARTS, LITERATURE AND SPORTReviewsTHE MEMOIRS OF ALTON AUGUSTUS ADAMS, SR.: FIRST BLACK BANDMASTER OF THEUNITED STATES NAVYEd. Mark ClaguePublisher: University of California PressYear: 2008Pagination: 388ppISBN: 978-0520251311Price: £35Alton Augustus Adams Sr. (b. 1889 - 1987) was the first Black musician to attain bandmaster status inthe US Navy. The framing biography charts Adams’ life, from his entry into the US military in 1917 tohis initiations into music to his extensive writing career – both in terms of music journalism and, later,his memoirs, which are edited here and contextualised by Clague.The book starts with a foreword by Samuel A. Floyd Jr. who describes his friendship withAdams from the 1970s until the bandmaster’s death in 1987. Here, Floyd Jr. highlights the importanceof this kind of testimony - documents, he says, that all too often get relegated to the backrooms ofhistory. Thereafter, Clague discusses Adams’ relationship with W.E.B DuBois and the ways in whichthey were united through a shared passion for racial equality, education and political justice.Chapters one and two focus on Adams’ upbringing, told mostly in his own words. He describesgrowing up in St Thomas in the Virgin Islands – then a former Danish colony – and his early workeducation, firstly as a carpenter and then a shoemaker. He details his forays into music and literatureand the early nourishment of his dream to be a professional musician. There follows a discussion ofthe various bands he became a part of and his entry into the formalised study of music. These earlyexperiences led to the formation of the Adams Juvenile Band in 1910, described in more detail inchapter four.The major episodes of Adams’ life are described in detail in chapters five to eleven. Particularattention is paid to Adams’ entry into the US Navy and the subsequent setting up of the Navy band.The ‘early years’ of the band – namely, 1917 – 1923 – are described in some depth in chapter five. Theband’s ‘glory years’ are described in chapter six. Here, the action centres on the band’s tour of theUnited States in 1924.Chapters seven and eight move away from the US Navy completely to focus on Adams’ life inthe 1920s. In chapter nine, the series of tragedies that beset Adams’ life in the early 1930s are toldin detail: the demise of his band and the death of two of his two daughters, firstly Merle, and laterHazel, who was killed in a house fire which also destroyed many of his music manuscripts, books andpublications. Chapters ten and eleven reveal the ways in which Adams attempted to rebuild his life –moving into music publishing and working in the tourism industry by building and managing a guesthouse in St Thomas.Also relates to:Arts, Literature and SportCulture, Identity, Gender and RelationshipsHistoryPolitics and Government“BAAD BITCHES” AND SASSY SUPERMAMAS: BLACK POWER ACTION FILMSStephane DunnPublisher: University of Illinois PressYear: 2008Pagination: 192ppISBN: 978-0252075483Price: £12.9950