Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words From the Harlem Renaissance

Compilation by Various Artists

Released 2000

Tracklist

  • CD 1: Struttin' & Stridin'
  • 1
    The Negro Speaks of Rivers (poem by Langston Hughes)
    Quincy Jones
    0:45
  • 2
    Cotton Club Stomp
    Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club Orchestra
    2:18
  • 3
    The Harlem Strut
    James P. Johnson
    2:33
  • 4
    Brother Low Down
    Bert Williams
    2:51
  • 5
    Letter From Aaron Douglas to Langston Hughes (excerpt)
    Wally Amos
    0:52
  • 6
    There'll Be Some Changes Made
    Ethel Waters’ Jazz Masters
    3:21
  • 7
    Sounds of Africa
    Eubie Blake
    3:11
  • 8
    Sweet Man o' Mine
    Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Band
    3:15
  • 9
    The Weary Blues (poem by Langstron Hughes)
    Branford Marsalis
    1:27
  • 10
    Blues Ain't Nothin Else But!
    Ida Cox
    3:10
  • 11
    Kansas City Man Blues
    Clarence Williams’ Blue Five
    2:55
  • 12
    Indianola
    Wilbur Sweatman's Jazz Orchestra
    2:39
  • 13
    Hard Hearted Hannah
    Rosa Henderson
    2:59
  • 14
    Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem (poem by Helene Johnson)
    Angela Basset
    0:51
  • 15
    St. Louis Blues
    Bessie Smith
    3:13
  • 16
    Copenhagen
    Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra
    2:51
  • 17
    Cake Walking Babies From Home
    Clarence Williams’ Blue Five
    2:59
  • 18
    Long Gone (poem by Sterling Brown)
    Darius Rucker
    0:58
  • 19
    Railroad Blues
    Trixie Smith
    2:59
  • CD 2: Testifyin' & Philosophyin'
  • 1
    Smoke, Lillies and Jade (short story by Richard Bruce Nugent) (excerpt)
    Carl Hancock Rux
    1:54
  • 2
    (Lookie Lookie Lookie) Here Comes Cookie
    Cleo Brown
    2:51
  • 3
    Charleston
    Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
    2:41
  • 4
    Chili Pepper
    Fred Longshaw
    2:47
  • 5
    Lucy Long
    Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools
    2:51
  • 6
    Chain Gang Blues
    Ma Rainey
    3:06
  • 7
    Mother to Son (poem by Langston Hughes)
    Sylvia Rhone
    0:37
  • 8
    Deep River
    Paul Robeson
    2:21
  • 9
    East St. Louis Toodle-O
    Duke Ellington and His Kentucky Club Orchestra
    3:40
  • 10
    Lazy Drag
    Thomas Morris and His Seven Hot Babies
    2:59
  • 11
    How It Feels to Be Colored Me (essay by Zora Neale Hurston) (excerpt)
    Debbie Allen
    2:59
  • 12
    Sengalese Stomp
    Savoy Bearcats
    2:58
  • 13
    After You've Gone
    Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
    3:04
  • 14
    Dead Drunk Blues
    Margaret Johnson
    3:10
  • 15
    No Images (poem by Waring Cuney)
    Lou Rawls
    0:18
  • 16
    Woke Up With the Blues in My Fingers
    Lonnie Johnson
    3:10
  • 17
    Worried Blues
    Gladys Bentley
    2:44
  • 18
    Humpty Dumpty
    Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra
    3:02
  • 19
    Ham and Eggs
    Johnny Dunn and His Band
    3:01
  • 20
    Sugar
    Alberta Hunter
    3:19
  • CD 3: Preachin' & Prayin'
  • 1
    If We Must Die (poem by Claude McKay)
    Ice‐T
    0:50
  • 2
    Honey, I'm All Out and Down
    Lead Belly
    3:13
  • 3
    My Handy Man
    Victoria Spivey
    3:02
  • 4
    Ain't Misbehavin'
    Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
    3:21
    4.7 ★
  • 5
    A Handfull of Riffs
    Blind Willie Dunn & Lonnie Johnson
    3:06
  • 6
    Bright Boy Blues
    Cecil Scott and His Bright Boys
    3:08
  • 7
    The Debt (poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    Joshua Redman
    0:28
  • 8
    Harlem Fuss
    Fats Waller and His Buddies
    3:21
  • 9
    Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
    Bessie Smith
    2:57
    5.0 ★
  • 10
    Fare Thee Honey Blues
    Jimmy Johnson and His Band
    3:21
  • 11
    Soon (poem by Leon Damas)
    Gregory Hines
    0:30
  • 12
    Smashing Thirds
    Fats Waller
    3:07
  • 13
    Do Shuffle
    Fess Williams and His Royal Flush Orchestra
    2:54
  • 14
    Wherever There's a Will, Baby
    McKinney’s Cotton Pickers
    2:58
  • 15
    Dee Blues
    The Chocolate Dandies
    2:56
  • 16
    Odyssey of Big Boy (poem by Sterling Brown)
    Chuck D
    2:42
  • 17
    Minnie the Moocher (The Ho De Ho Song)
    Cab Calloway and His Orchestra
    3:09
  • 18
    Panama
    Luis Russell and His Orchestra
    3:18
  • 19
    Royal Garden Blues
    Ted Lewis and His Orchestra
    3:02
  • 20
    America (poem by Claude McKay)
    August Wilson
    0:52
  • 21
    Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed
    Josh White
    3:02
  • CD 4: Lustin' for Love & Life
  • 1
    I Want to Die While You Love Me (poem by Georgia Douglas Johnson)
    Alfre Woodard
    0:49
  • 2
    Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)
    Ethel Waters
    3:11
  • 3
    Corrine Corrina
    Cab Calloway and His Orchestra
    3:03
  • 4
    Sweetie Dear
    Sidney Bechet and His New Orleans Feetwarmers
    2:51
  • 5
    The Damnation of Women (essay by W.E.B. Dubois) (excerpt)
    LeVar Burton
    2:26
  • 6
    Baby
    Adelaide Hall with Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
    3:09
  • 7
    Happy as the Day Is Long
    Leo Reisman & His Orchestra
    2:24
  • 8
    I Got Rhythm
    The 5 Spirits of Rhythm
    2:44
  • 9
    Let's Get Together
    Chick Webb's Savoy Orchestra
    3:05
  • 10
    Their Eyes Were Watching God (novel by Zora Neale Hurston) (excerpt)
    Veronica Chambers
    1:45
  • 11
    Lady, Be Good
    Buck and Bubbles
    3:25
  • 12
    Symphony in Riffs
    Benny Carter and His Orchestra
    3:04
  • 13
    Sendin' the Vipers
    Mezz Mezzrow and His Orchestra
    2:57
  • 14
    Down South Camp Meeting
    Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra
    3:01
  • 15
    The Day Breakers (poem by Arna Bontemps)
    Coolio
    0:16
  • 16
    She'll Be Coming 'round the Mountain
    Tiny Bradshaw and His Orchestra
    2:44
  • 17
    Minor Mania
    Claude Hopkins and His Orchestra
    2:55
  • 18
    Sensemayá: Chant for Killing a Snake (poem by Nicolas Guillen)
    Eartha Kitt
    1:20
  • 19
    Symphony in Black
    Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
    9:28
  • 20
    Echoes of Spring
    Willie “The Lion” Smith and His Cubs
    2:32
  • 21
    Lookie, Lookie, Lookie Here Comes Cookie
    Teddy Hill and His Orchestra
    3:03
  • 22
    The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain (essay by Langston Hughes)
    George Duke
    1:48
  • 23
    It Never Dawned On Me
    Teddy Wilson
    3:10
  • 24
    Honey Dripper Blues
    Georgia White
    3:08
  • 25
    I'm in the Mood for Love
    Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
    3:09

Release credits

Issues