John Michael CooperLANGSTON HUGHES AND MAX ROACH, MEET JOHNNY BUTLER AND TOM TEASLEYIT’S NOT LANGSTON HUGHES’S BEST-KNOWN POEM, not by a long shot. I first encountered it perhaps ten or twelve years ago in the context of…5 min read·Mar 21, 2024--1--1
John Michael CooperBLACK REINSCRIPTION, WHITE REPRISAL: ELIZABETH KECKLEY AND MARGARET BONDS(Prefatory note: I began this first of the twelve Black History months of 2024–25 down with simultaneous COVID and flu — and the lost time…11 min read·Feb 29, 2024----
John Michael CooperSEQUINA DUBOSE: FROM “BLURRED LINES,” A MESSAGE CRYSTAL CLEAR (1 of 2)In some ways, the year 2023 was a year of revanchism and regression in classical music. Just a few years earlier, many voices —…8 min read·Feb 17, 2024----
John Michael CooperMargaret Bonds and The Ballad of the Brown KingSome Historical Errata, Corrigenda, and Addenda6 min read·Nov 11, 2023----
John Michael CooperFor Anyone Who Has Wondered;Or, How Margaret Bonds and Florence Price Came to Be My “Whys”3 min read·Nov 6, 2023----
John Michael CooperThe Tombstone’s Tale (2)This post is an update to my post of March 26, 2023.2 min read·Oct 6, 2023----
John Michael CooperRIDDLED WITH MISTAKESIn the last few years, a music-publishing industry that historically has resolutely ignored compositions by composers of color and women…10 min read·Jul 15, 2023----
John Michael CooperANTI-SEMITISM AND ANTI-JUDAISM IN ROMANTIC MUSIC (Part 4: Science’s Betrayal, Music’s Losses)IN TODAY’S POST:5 min read·Jul 10, 2023----
John Michael CooperANTI-SEMITISM AND ANTI-JUDAISM IN ROMANTIC MUSIC (Part 3: Franz Liszt and “les juifs”)n Part 1 of this multi-post I talked about the peculiar ways in which the anti-Jewish elements that were ubiquitous and probably…5 min read·Jul 9, 2023----
John Michael CooperANTI-SEMITISM AND ANTI-JUDAISM IN ROMANTIC MUSIC (Part 2: Richard Wagner)Updated: a few seconds ago5 min read·Jul 5, 2023----
