Hughes’ Blues: An Exploration of Music through the Works of Langston Hughes

Catie Freeman

Mentor: Daniel Bukvich

Background

            Langston Hughes’ poetry contains enough jazz elements that it must be read as a piece of music to be fully appreciated. I have spent much of my life drawn to the languages of English and music. When I was young and first began reading and drumming, I considered each different than the other. It was not until college, however, that I realized that the line between music and poetry is quite thin.

Thus far, I have noticed that much poetry relies more on sound than meaning. Through this realization, I discovered my interest in poets like Langston Hughes who combine the two art forms. I have read Hughes’ poetry aloud on many occasions, and have always read his jazz and blues poetry differently than everyone else. Most people, including Hughes himself, read his works as they would read any piece of poetry; I read them rhythmically as a piece of music. Much of Hughes’ poetry has a jazz, swing feel; it contains syncopated patterns parallel to that of a jazz drum-set. Due to this, I believe important elements could get lost in a traditional reading.

Current Project

            Overall, I wish to provide an examination on how Hughes combines both poetry and music, and determine what elements might get lost in a non-rhythmic reading. The project will focus on Hughes’ background and intention, and on specific pieces that exemplify his jazzy verse.

Plan for the Next Two Months

            My primary goal is to prove that Hughes’ jazz poetry needs to be read like a piece of music to be true to the type of art he intended. Although I have some idea of my thesis, I still have much to learn on both reading rhythmic poetry and on jazz music. First, I must become familiar with Hughes’ jazz pieces and their history and intention, and study different readings of each. Along with this, I will need to be able to clearly define the elements of jazz and point out anything that might get lost in a traditional reading. I will also research how Hughes’ jazz poetry was shaped by his involvement in the Harlem Renaissance, and determine other influences. Lastly, I will notate several of his poems to jazz drum-set for a clearer understanding of their musical properties.

Ideas About How to Present This Work

            To effectively show Hughes’ literary and musical genius, it will benefit me to accompany my paper with a multi-media presentation. The presentation will contain clips of readings so I can explain in depth what gets lost in a traditional reading, and some sort of performance on one or two of his pieces.

Tentative Bibliography

Anderson, TJ. Notes to Make the Sound Come Right : Four Innovators of Jazz Poetry. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2004.

"A Brief Guide to Jazz Poetry." Poets.org. 15 Sept. 2009.

Feinstein, Sascha. Jazz Poetry: From the 1920s to the Present. Westport: Greenwood, 1997.

Hartman, Charles O. Jazz Text: Voice and Improvisation in Poetry, Jazz, and Song. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1991.

Hughes, Langston. Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Vintage Classics, 1959.

Jones, LeRoi (Amiri Baraka).  Blues People: Negro Music in White America.

"Langston Hughes." Poets.org. Web. 15 Sept. 2009.

Mullen, Edward J. Critical Essays on Langston Hughes. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1986.

Patterson, Anita. “Jazz, Realism, and the Modernist Lyric: The Poetry of Langston Hughes.” Modern Language Quarterly 61 (2000): 651-83.

Steele, Shelby. “The Content of His Character.” New Republic (1990).

Mullen, Edward J. Critical Essays on Langston Hughes. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1986.