The Daily Show: Ears Edition - CP Time: The History of Black Classical Music

Episode Date: April 18, 2022

Roy Wood Jr. takes a deeper look at Black classical musicians across history, proving that classical music is not just Bach and Beethoven.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Well, hello. Welcome to CP Time. The only show that's for the culture. Today, today. Well, today, we'll be discussing black classical music. Now, I know you might be'll be discussing black classical music.

Now, I know you might be thinking that classical music is just for old white men whose hair looks like they spend a day inside of a tornado. But black musicians have been often overlooked history of contributions in the classical music space. Take our first musician, George Bridge Tower, born in Britain in 1778, George was a young musical prodigy driven into show business by his overbearing father, the 18th century version of Joe Jackson. Well, you better get back performing for kings and princes all over Europe. One concert was even attended by Thomas Jefferson. It's rumored that Thomas Jefferson was so impressed by the talents of this mixed-race

baby that he was heard saying, maybe I should make one of these for myself. Bridge Tower was so famous these for myself. Bridge Tower was so famous that Beethoven himself even wrote him a sonata, which they performed together in 1803. On the sheet music, Beethoven wrote a dedication to George, which read and I quote, Mulatto Sonata composed for the Mulatto Bridge Tower, Great Lunatic and Mulatto Composer. Keep in mind, Beethoven was famous for knowing how things sound.

Another black classical musician is Ciceretta Jones, a world-famous opera singer from Providence Rhode Island. Jones toured the world and even performed for then-President Benjamin Harrison, who like many presidents from the 1800s also worked part-time as a mall center. Despite being unable to perform in fully staged operas because of segregation, Jones was still too talented to ignore. She became the very first African-American woman to headline a show at Carnegie Hall,

which actually reminds me of the old joke. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You take the Q train to 57th Street. It's funny because it's true. Our next musician, Roland Hayes, the first African-American artist to make a commercial recording, and judging from these photos, the first Mr. Steele, your girl. Although Hayes always presented raw musical talent, his career only began because of a workplace accident.

His clothes got caught in an assembly line built and had dragged him through a machine three times, nearly killing him, and while he recovered at home in a full body cast, it was then that Roland started taking singing seriously. Hay's career took off, and at the peak of the 1920s he was the world's highest paid singer reportedly making around $100,000 a year. That's not very rich these days but back then that made Roland basically Kanye and Drake. Roland was also the first African-American concert artist to record his own record. He hired orchestras, scored the music, and hired out Columbia Studios,

and promoted himself as the great Negro tenor. He would even go through the phone book, and if he found a name he liked, he'd called that name and try to sell them tickets, which mean if he didn't call you, your name was boring. Wouldn't know Adam Jones is at those concerts. At the ticket booth, there'd be people saying, two tickets for Mephisto Bollonese, please. So the next time you think of classical music, don't just think of Bach and Chopin. Think of the iced out

players like Hayes. Well that's all the time we have for today. This has been CP time and I'm Roy Wood Jr. and remember, for the culture. See if I can do a little bit of what old Roland did here, pull a name out the phone book. Hello? Is this Cherise Dumas? Yes, can you loan me $200? Watch the Daily Show Weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus.

This has been a Comedy Central podcast. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.