Miss Town's Classroom

Juke Box Love Song
Langston Hughes

I could take the Harlem night
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue busses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.
Take Harlem's heartbeat,
Make a drumbeat,
Put it on a record, let it whirl,
And while we listen to it play,
Dance with you till day--
Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl.

Blues by Archibald J. Motley Jr.

Music Activity

1. Select a musician and research his/her life. Using at least three sources take organized notes about the musician's background, his/her famous works, and how he/she influenced the Harlem Renaissance. Please provide a works cited page.

2. Select, listen, and analyze three songs by the musician that you chose above. In your analysis please provide the following information:

The name of the musician
The title of the piece of music
The story the piece is telling
The emotions conveyed in the piece of music
Your reaction to the piece of music

3. Imagine that you are a musician during the Harlem Renaissance. Create orginal song lyrics that reflect the time period.

Final Product
Using the material that you gathered from above, create a project that highlights the artist's accomplishments, displays the artist's work, and your original work. You should also include photographs of the artist

Using headphones you can listen to songs by the musicians below. Most of the sound clips have been provided by amazon.com. When you reach amazon.com please scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says "Listen to Samples."Many of the songs will only play for 40 seconds. Once you have listened to the samples please select a musician that you would like to study further. You should then see me and I will provide you with a complete CD of the musicians work.

Bessie Smith

A Good Man is Hard to Find
Any Woman's Blues
Baby Doll
Back Water Blues
Beale Street Mama
Black Mountain Blues