A Verse Reaction
A Verse Reaction is a poetry podcast with Dr. Ann Beebe, Professor of English at The University of Texas at Tyler. Series One includes episodes on the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, Lucille Clifton, and Mary Oliver. Episodes include interviews with subject-area experts in the fields of Civil War history, Puritanism, Economics, Jazz, Math & Meter, Portrait Painting, Civil Rights, and Birds.
A Verse Reaction
6 - Langston Hughes & Jazz
Episode Summary: Dr. Beebe interviews Dr. Sarah Roberts on American Jazz Music. She then applies the context to four poems by Langston Hughes: “Jazzonia,” “The Weary Blues,” “Minnie Sings Her Blues,” and “Lennox Avenue: Midnight.”
Part 1 (Biography & Overview) Starts: 00.00
Part 2 (Interview with Dr. Sarah Roberts) Starts: 15:15
Part 3 (Four Poems) Starts: 28:45
Dr. Beebe’s LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-beebe
Emily Dickinson: A Companion: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/emily-dickinson/
12-Question Survey for Readers: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R2TGWNM
Dr. Sarah Roberts - Associate Professor of Music teaching saxophone and jazz at UT Tyler - in her 10th year at UT Tyler
Serving as the Interim Director of the School of Performing Arts
Has an extremely diverse background of performing classical, jazz, and all points in between.
In jazz has performed with Phil Woods, Tom Bones Malone, Wayne Bergeron, Kirk Whalum, Chris Vadala, and Clay Jenkins. Dr. Roberts has also performed for such acts as The O’Jays, Johnny Mathis, and The Temptations.
She is a Selmer Performing Artist and a Vandoren Artist Clinician.
For more information: sarahlynnroberts.com
Resources:
Getty Images: Langston Hughes - https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/langston-hughes
National Portrait Gallery: Langston Hughes by Winhold Reiss https://npg.si.edu/learn/classroom-resource/langston-hughes-1902%E2%80%931967
Hughes, Langston and Arnold Rampersad. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Vintage, 1995.
Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes (2 vol). Oxford, 2002.
Video of Hughes reading “The Weary Blues”: https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2014/jazz-poetry-langston-hughes
Audio of Hughes reading several poems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwRF7mU4zrg
Jacob Lawrence - https://www.moas.org/Jacob-Lawrence-and-the-Harlem-Renaissance-1-57.html [See 1943’s Nightlife] and https://www.moma.org/artists/3418#works
