Songs of the Unsung

"Songs of the Unsung" is the autobiography of Los Angeles jazz musician and activist Horace Tapscott (1934-1999). A pianist who ardently believed in the power of music to connect people, Tapscott was a beloved and influential character who touched many yet has remained unknown to the majority of Americans. In addition to being 'his' story, "Songs of the Unsung" is the story of Los Angeles' cultural and political evolution over the last half of the twentieth century, of the origins of many of the most important avant-garde musicians still on the scene today, and of a rich and varied body of music.Tapscott's narrative covers his early life in segregated Houston, his move to California in 1943, life as a player in the Air Force band in the early fifties, and his travels with the Lionel Hampton Band. He reflects on how the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (the 'Ark'), an organization he founded in 1961 to preserve and spread African and African-American music, eventually became the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension - a group that not only performed musically but was active in the civil rights movement, youth education, and community programs." Songs of the Unsung" also includes Tapscott's vivid descriptions of the Watts neighborhood insurrection of 1965 and the L.A. upheavals of 1992, interactions with both the Black Panthers and the L.A.P.D., his involvement in Motown's west coast scene, the growth of his musical reputation abroad, and stories about many of his musician-activist friends, including Billy Higgins, Don Cherry, Buddy Collette, Arthur Blythe, Lawrence and Wilber Morris, Linda Hill, Elaine Brown, Stanley Crouch, and Sun Ra. With a foreword by Steven Isoardi, a brief introduction by actor William Maxwell, a full discography of Tapscott's recordings, and many fine photographs, "Songs of the Unsung" is the inspiring story of one of America's most unassuming twentieth-century heroes.

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"Horace Tapscott was one of the finest jazz musicians of the last 40 years. That you may not know his name is due to the fact that he chose to remain at home in Los Angeles, taking music to his local communities, rather than head for New York in search of personal glory...as a gripping account of a quietly heroic life, and as a rare document about the West Coast's black cultural underground, Songs of the Unsung is essential reading."--Graham Lock, Jazzwise, July 2001 "Tapscott, a pianist and composer who died in 1999, spent most of his life under the radar of public attention, yet, Songs of the Unsung is an important book. This memoir depicts the musical, social and cultural evolution of Los Angeles over a half century, beginning with Tapscott's decision to jettison a promising career as a trombonist with Lionel Hampton in favour of mending his native Los Angeles neighbourhood, convulsed by traumas of racism and the the travails of inegration. Recalling that 1940s hotbed of L.A. jazz collegiality known as Central Avenue, Tapscott sought to recreate its essence in his Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, an avante-garde ensemble that expanded into an artistic collective, a nexus of political activism and a people's music academy. Songs of the Unsung arose out of an oral history project at UCLA, and was edited by Steven Isoardi. He preserves Tapscott's part-preacher, part-hipster paotios--in which he inflects the word "out" to describe free jazz, police brutality, injustice, good luck, violent rage, unexpected genorisity, spontaneous affection and insanity. Songs of the Unsung is a witness to hope, one man's determination to create art of lasting value and the power of music to connect people. It is, in the profoundest sense, "out"."--International Herald Tribune, 26 April 2001 "Tapscott is one of the fascinating, unsung figures in the history of jazz and political community activism ... The details and local lore of Songs are beautifully rendered, and Tapscott's modesty and perserverance are qualities to behold."--The Wire, December 2002 "Songs of the Unsung - It's about time! Horace Tapscott was one of the first guys doing it in the community. His life has been a big influence on me. He made sure younger and older people played music. He is one of the true giants of this music in the way he played it, wrote it, and lived it."- Billy Higgins "This is a splendid book, a wonderfully accessible first person narrative by an important and unusual figure in the history of jazz and the history of Black Los Angeles. Tapscott has an important story to tell and he conveys his experiences, opinions, and philosophy clearly through an engaging and conversational style filled with rich descriptions and witty observations."- George Lipsitz, author of Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernism, and the Poetics of Place

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Early years in Houston; California; setting the pace; central avenue; military service; on the road with Lionel Hampton; to preserve and develop black culture; the fire this time; in the middle of it; stayin' alive; the union of God's musicians and artists ascension; settling into the community; movements to the present; reflections and directions; postscript - from the funeral service; "For Cecilia" by Horace Tapscott; "PAPA, The Lean Griot" by Kamau Daood. Appendics: a partial list of UGMAA artists, 1961-1998; discography I - Horace Tapscott; discography II - music from the ark.

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