Reviewed by:

• Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm, and Race by Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom
• Aaron J. West

Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom's Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm, and Race chronicles the extraordinary life of pianist and composer Eubie Blake. Ken Bloom has written several comprehensive works on American song and musical theatre, and each earned a Grammy Award for collaborating on the liner notes for the album, Sissle and Blake Sing Shuffle Along in 2017. Bloom and Carlin's broad cultural and personal history of Blake is written in an easy-to-read prose style to which even a non-historian can relate. Readers are taken on a narrative adventure featuring Blake's triumphs and struggles, framed by significant historical characters and events.

Eubie Blake is a fascinating and unique character in music history for several reasons. Engaging with ragtime, Broadway and classical composition, and jazz, Blake's career spanned nearly one hundred years. Moreover, he saved everything. A historical treasure trove of receipts, contracts, and notes provided researchers with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view primary documentation from an era in which documents were rare. This is particularly important in determining where African American composers stood within the publishing and performing industries. Carlin and Bloom write, 'Reading his account books from several Broadway shows reveals the sad truth that major composers–particularly African American composers–were often paid far less than what was called for in their contracts' (p. xii). In many cases, Blake expected to not be paid for compositions, even if he owned the performance rights.

Blake's story begins in Baltimore in the late nineteenth century. There was a thriving African American community that supported music and musicians, and Blake had ample opportunity to refine his pianistic skills in local dance halls, social clubs, and bordellos. In fact, providing music to patrons of prostitution was the primary musical environment for Blake. As with many of his contemporaries, he developed a remarkable level of dexterity in both hands largely because of the extraordinarily long hours he was asked to perform. Blake notes that he played from four to midnight virtually non-stop on most evenings. Despite taking advantage of the plentiful musical opportunities in the African American neighborhoods of Baltimore, Blake still had to negotiate with a dominant white class but never allowed himself to become resentful. The authors write, 'faced [with] considerable prejudice, Blake was not bitter, and could turn potentially difficult racial stereotypes on their heads by refusing to accept common cultural norms. He never wore blackface when he performed . . . he donned a tuxedo when he played to white audiences to indicate his pride in the music that they performed' (p. ix). Indeed, Blake remained a prideful performer and composer throughout a career that was embedded within a racist system.

By 1915, Blake had developed a remarkable work ethic, resulting in a busy career as a songwriter and performer. Nevertheless, his success was limited until he met lyricist and vocalist Noble Sissle. Sissle and Blake form a composing and performing duo, and this partnership would be integral to their musical legacy. Their newly formed duo, The Dixie Duo, performed minstrel-derived material such as 'Gee! I'm Glad I'm from Dixie', but they refused to wear blackface and shied away from using dialogue that was typical of minstrel performances. Their decision to forgo the most demeaning aspects of the minstrel tradition would be a hallmark of their Broadway work as well. During the discussion of The Dixie Duo, Carlin and Bloom provide a contextual examination of other duos that shared the [End Page 183] same name. This may appear to be a minor sidenote, but this short discussion led to a nuanced description of how this sort of name attracted stereotypes of the American South in which Noble and Sissle refused to participate. This was surely a laborious process and reflects the importance and depth of the authors' research throughout the book.

In 1920, Blake and Sissle paired with the comic duo of Flournoy...

审核人：

• 尤比·布莱克：Rags, Rhythm, and Race by Richard Carlin 和 Ken Bloom
• 亚伦·J·韦斯特

理查德·卡林 (Richard Carlin) 和肯·布鲁姆 (Ken Bloom) 的《尤比·布莱克( Eubie Blake)：破烂、节奏和种族》记录了钢琴家兼作曲家尤比·布莱克 (Eubie Blake) 的非凡人生。肯·布鲁姆 (Ken Bloom) 写了几部关于美国歌曲和音乐剧的综合作品，每部作品都因在 2017 年为专辑Sissle 和 Blake Sing Shuffle Again的衬里音符合作而获得格莱美奖。布鲁姆和卡林对布莱克的广泛文化和个人历史是以易于阅读的散文风格写成，即使是非历史学家也能与之相关。读者被带入一段叙事冒险，以布莱克的胜利和斗争为特色，以重要的历史人物和事件为框架。

出于多种原因，尤比布莱克在音乐史上是一个迷人而独特的角色。Blake 从事拉格泰姆、百老汇和古典乐曲以及爵士乐，其职业生涯跨越了近一百年。而且，他拯救了一切。收据、合同和笔记的历史宝库为研究人员提供了千载难逢的机会，可以查看文件稀少时代的原始文件。这对于确定非裔美国作曲家在出版和表演行业中的地位尤为重要。Carlin 和 Bloom 写道，“从他的几场百老汇演出中读到的账簿揭示了一个可悲的事实，即主要作曲家——尤其是非裔美国作曲家——的报酬往往远低于他们的合同要求”（第十二页）。在许多情况下，布莱克希望即使他拥有表演权，也不会因作品而获得报酬。

布莱克的故事始于 19 世纪后期的巴尔的摩。有一个蓬勃发展的非裔美国人社区支持音乐和音乐家，布莱克有充足的机会在当地的舞厅、社交俱乐部和妓院中提高他的钢琴技巧。事实上，为卖淫者提供音乐是布莱克的主要音乐环境。与他同时代的许多人一样，他的双手灵巧程度很高，这主要是因为他被要求表演的时间非常长。Blake 指出，他几乎在大多数晚上从四点一直玩到午夜。尽管利用了巴尔的摩非裔美国人社区丰富的音乐机会，布莱克仍然不得不与占主导地位的白人阶级进行谈判，但从未让自己变得怨恨。作者写道，“面对[具有]相当大的偏见，布莱克并不痛苦，并且可以通过拒绝接受共同的文化规范来改变潜在的困难种族刻板印象。他表演时从不黑脸。. . 当他向白人观众演奏时，他穿着燕尾服，以表明他对他们演奏的音乐感到自豪”（第 9 页）。事实上，布莱克在整个种族歧视制度的职业生涯中始终是一位引以为豪的表演者和作曲家。

到 1915 年，布莱克已经养成了非凡的职业道德，从而开始了作为词曲作者和表演者的忙碌职业。然而，他的成功是有限的，直到他遇到了作词家和歌手 Noble Sissle。Sissle 和 Blake 组成了一个作曲和表演二人组，这种伙伴关系将成为他们音乐遗产不可或缺的一部分。他们新组建的二人组 The Dixie Duo 表演了来自吟游诗人的材料，例如“Gee！我很高兴我来自 Dixie'，但他们拒绝穿黑脸并回避使用典型的吟游诗人表演的对话。他们决定放弃吟游诗人传统中最卑鄙的方面，这也将是他们百老汇作品的标志。在讨论 The Dixie Duo 期间，Carlin 和 Bloom 对共享[End Page 183]的其他二人组进行了背景调查一样的名字。这似乎是一个次要的旁注，但这个简短的讨论导致了对这种名称如何吸引美国南部的刻板印象的细致描述，而诺布尔和西塞尔拒绝参与其中。这无疑是一个费力的过程，并且在整本书中都反映了作者研究的重要性和深度。

1920 年，布莱克和西塞尔与 Flournoy 的漫画二人组搭档......