Music is my vessel an exploration of African American musical culture through the life story of Lavell Kamma

Publication

Jacksonville History Center

Name/Title

"Music is my vessel" an exploration of African American musical culture through the life story of Lavell Kamma

Entry/Object ID

Library.2247

Description

167 pages : 28 cm "Music is my vessel" an exploration of African American musical culture through the life story of Lavell Kamma by Scott Swan. Music is my vessel. Exploration of African American musical culture through the life story of Lavell Kamma. Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2003, submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science. Includes bibliographical references. JAMM Farouk Lavell Kamma lived in Jax, Florida and won first place several times since 1954 at the Pepsi Teen Time challenges, a nationally sponsored talent competition held in Jax, Florida, at the Strand Theater. His parent shotgun house was at 1644 West 14th Street, Jax, Fl. Page 54 notes that Farouk was born & raised in Jax ,the 2nd son of Hamzy and Helima Kamma, not from Jax. After marrying in 1937, his parents moved to Jax so his father could find work. He was a self-employed licensed contractor, trained as a carpenter as well as a block and brick mason. He was a member of the Negro Bricklayer's Union, local no.2 wich was the oldest organized labor union in Jacksonville, receiving its charter in 1902. Lavell's other grandfather,Albert Black, his mom's dad, worked for the Atlantic Coast Line for 40 years as fireman on the train. He lived in High Springs, Florida. Lavell (p.61) comments on how Jax has changed; it had a thriving Black community where everything was in that community. Even had own beaches such as American Beach and Manhattan Beach but American Beach was safer. Lavell found no need to leave this community as it was self-contained. Ashley and Davis Streets wwas where the action was. Black community as he knew it disappeared over time due to integration. (Page 68) Best entertainment in Florida from the 1920's was in Jacksonville such as Craddock's Two Spot. LaVilla emerged from 1866-1877 and was an autonomously governed community. Black church (p.72) became a social & cultural center for black life. The railroad was a life line (p.80) of black community. Two Spot info (p.80) Emanuel's Tap Room was where the jazz musicians played. His hit was the song Soft Soul. Summary: The life story of Farouk Lavell Kamma offers a glimpse into the changing cultural attitudes about popular music, race relations, and black national consciousness in 1950s and 1960s America. His reflectively reconstructed musical life story serves as a window on the experiences of an African-American musician during a socially dynamic period in American history. Between 1960 and 1975, Lavell – as a “soul” performer - participated in the genre of black popular music that became the vernacular soundtrack for the Civil Rights Movement. Musically, his career straddles the changes from doo wop to soul, and those changes in style are also reflective of social and cultural changes in black identity and consciousness. But the importance of music in the black community is not a contemporary phenomenon. Historically, music served as a conduit for social interaction and a vehicle for cultural expression, allowing African Americans to express the “double conscious” nature of their existence. Reconsideration of music as a processual activity -homologous to ritual, is necessary to understand the importance of music in the black community. In the century following emancipation, black communities encountered the forces of urbanization and secularization in their attempts to construct and maintain community. Music became a means by which individuals and groups within the community could locate themselves experientially in a changing social and cultural landscape. Urban blacks communities in particular allowed African Americans to find experiential accommodation in a variety of social and economic opportunities. The black church and jook joints were two important social spaces in which African Americans found experiential accommodation. Music was instrumental to African American expression and interaction in both the church and the jook joint. Music itself also served as a social space in which African Americans could locate themselves existentially. Lavell’s life story reveals the complexity of the black urban landscape and the foundational role of music both in his life and in the life of the black community...https://www.researchgate.net Contents: Introduction -- Literature review -- Orienting assumptions -- Music is my vessel -- CODA, coming home -- References -- Biographical sketch of Scott Swan.

Collection

Library

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Dissertation

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Thesis

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Literary Works

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Search Terms

Kamma, Lavell, 1941-2015., African Americans -- Music -- Social aspects., Soul music -- Florida -- History and criticism., Jacksonville Area Music Museum (JAMM).

Publication Details

Author

Swan, Scott.

Edition

spiral bound

Publisher

Florida State University

Place Published

* Untyped Place Published

Tallahassee, Fla.

Call No.

ML 3537 .S93 2003