Famed cello player, Herman E. Calloway had an unexpected surprise at his band, rehearsal last week. His 10 year old grandson, Bud, had arrived from Flint to meet him. Bud traveled almost 115 miles to see his grandfather for the first time. “Where was his mother?” you might ask. Bud’s mother had died 4 years before after a deadly disease struck. Bud has an amazing story. After his mother’s death, he was put into “The Home”, an orphanage for young boys. After his third foster family put him in a shed infested with bees, Bud decided it was time to find his father. Before his mother had died, she left him a flyer with whom Bud assumed was his father, Herman E. Calloway. He attempted to take a train to Grand Rapids but missed it and tried to walk
The book begins with Bud being in an orphanage. Bud is later given to the Amos family. During his stay in the Amos house, Bud gets bullied by Todd Amos. Bud and Todd get into a fight. Bud is blamed, so he gets put into the family shed. He escapes. Bud later comes back and puts Todd’s hand in warm water. Todd pees on himself because of it than Bud leaves. Bud than leaves permanently and brings pictures of his mom. In one picture he sees a jazz band named the “The Dusky Devastators of the depression.” He also sees their leader and his name is Herman E. Calloway. Bud thinks he should find Herman because he thinks he might be his father. Bud meets Bugs on his journey, another orphaned boy.Bud thinks he should find Herman because he thinks he might
Music served as an escape for Josh, because, as Hunt vividly describes, being a 15 year old, in the Great Depression was not an easy task. Josh, and his best friend Howie would produce beautiful music, temporarily losing themselves in the exquisite music they created. Josh and Howie were talented past their age, and they were given a role to play for the school assembly. Though their rehearsals were beneficial, they both dreaded the thought of returning home. Sadly, Stefan, Josh’s father did not feel the love he once felt toward music anymore, so he believed Josh should not spend time on luxuries such as music.
Buds mother never did directly tell Bud who his father was, but she did give him a lot of hints. She would always look at this blue flyer. Across the top of this flyer were the words "LIMITED ENGAGEMENT", then written below this in smaller letters it said, "Direct from an S.R.O. engagement in New York City". Under that in big letters again it said, "HERMAN E. CALLOWAY and the Dusky Devastators of the depression!!!!!!" Next it said, "Masters of the New Jazz". Then in the middle of the paper was a blurry picture of a man standing next to a giant fiddle. This man was thought to be Buds father, Herman E. Calloway.
Billy Jo finds some of her hope when she can by playing her mother’s piano. The piano is a big part because it was a way Billy Jo and her mother connected. The piano was a wedding gift from Billy Jo’s father. She learns to play at a young age with her mother she describes it as “heaven” (page 22). But there is a time where that seems to line up in a time where Billy Jo was sad when she could not play the piano because of her hurt hands. This old dust filled piano has segmental value to Billy
Sonny’s brother has been distant towards him, but recently, he has been trying to understand him and help him. Sonny decides to take his brother to a concert to see if he will understand what he is trying to convey through music. Sonny hasn’t played the piano for “over a year” and he is a little bit rusty (147). Sonny also says he isn’t on “much better terms with life” than he was a year ago (147). In a way though, he is in a much better place, because his brother is there for him. When Sonny starts to play the piano, he is a little bit nervous, and he does not really feel the music that he is playing. After a while though, he starts to loosen up and play his heart out. The tune he is playing is no longer just a song; it is “Sonny’s Blues” (148). The music he plays “fills the air with life, his life,” and Sonny’s brother finally understands “he could help us be free if we would listen, “ and that Sonny “would never be free until we did” (148). By the end of the story, Sonny achieves his goal of communicating his problems though his
Though Jelly Roll Morton began his career without formal training, he grew to live an influential life. His piano style, musical notations on paper, and creative compositions thrived in the 1910s and the 1920s and even weaved its way into the later eras as musicians used Morton’s music as the foundation for their own. Even past his death, Jelly Roll Morton remains a legendary figure. His works are meticulously preserved and displayed in the prestigious Smithsonian Museum and universities around the world continue his legacy by teaching students about Jelly Roll Morton and his influential career.
Following that, Sonny invites the narrator to watch him play. The narrator hears Sonny’s struggles within the music and understands why music is life or death for Sonny. The ability to cope with suffering is explored. The short story Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” displays the theme of suffering as an unescapable cycle transformable using defense mechanisms.
In the 1930’s the dusky devastators of the depression was a band they did jazz. This group was one of the most popular at the time of the depression. 8 cities booked the dusky devastators of the depression for there music.There main players was Herman E. Calloway who started being a jazz player in the 1920’s being the first black jazz player.
After George catches Jim Donnini trashing the laboratory, he tells him that if all the schools were destroyed there would be no hope left, “The hope that everybody will be glad he’s alive”. His determination does not just touch his music students, all through the story he tries many ways to get through to Jim, finally at the end he succeeds. “George glanced at Jim Donnini, who sat at the last seat of the worst trumpet section of the wors...
Every Friday night before going off to our tents, all of the family gathered under the pavilion next to the pond. A group of musicians in my family strung guitars and led the family in singing accompanied by the bellow of bullfrogs in the background. After the final note of “Sweet Home Alabama” Vance put his guitar down. Vance served as a genealogist for our family and was always willing to tell a wonderful story of the bravery, adventures, and hardship that our family has endured. This story
“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story in which James Baldwin, the author, presents an existential world where suffering characterizes a man’s basic state. The theme of tragedy and suffering can be transformed into a communal art form, such as blues music. Blues music serves as a catalyst for change because the narrator starts to understand not only the music but also himself and his relationship with Sonny. The narrator’s view of his brother begins to change; he understands that Sonny uses music as an outlet for his suffering and pain. This story illustrates a wide critical examination.
On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, I attended a musical concert. This was the first time I had ever been to a concert and did not play. The concert was not what I expected. I assumed I was going to a symphony that featured a soloist clarinet; however, upon arrival I quickly realized that my previous assumptions were false. My experience was sort of a rollercoaster. One minute I was down and almost asleep; next I was laughing; then I was up and intrigued.
The Entrepreneurs I've gotten was the Jodrey Family. I will first talk about Roy A. Jodrey who was the one that started it then lead to his son John J.Jodrey.
At the young age of thirteen, he experienced several tragedies that would affect his life forever and would greatly impact his music later in life. Within a year, his father, his uncle, and his minister all died. He lost every important male influence in his life. After graduating from high school in High Point, he moved to Philadelphia in 1943, where he lived in a small one-room apartment and worked as a laborer in a s...
My story doesn’t start in the hospital with a the radio playing as I am first brought into this world; neither is it a story of a modern day Mozart. It is a story that starts in an elementary school in a city in the small state of Connecticut. It is a story of music becoming the boat on the ocean, the essential part of myself, which without I would drown in the stormy waters of life.