Jazz Country: Ralph Ellison in America

Index

abstract expressionism, 52 absurdity as a theme, 85–87, 90– 91, 103–104, 145 acculturation, 137 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain), 15, 16 Advertisement for Myself (Mailer), 120–21 Africa, 58–59, 111 “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (song), 31 Aldridge Theater, 3 alienation, 72 allegory, 103–104 Allen, Henry “Red,” 29 ambiguity as a theme, 8, 9, 89 American culture. See culture American Review, 95 American Society of African Culture , 122 Anatomy of a Murder (motion picture ), 65 Anderson, Fletcher, 43 Anderson, Ivy, 21, 33, 35–36 Another Country (Baldwin), 67, 123 antagonistic cooperation, 64 Apollo Theater, 67, 73 Arendt, Hannah, 53–54 Armstrong, Louis: Ellison on, 42– 48; in Henderson’s band, 29; influence on Bearden, 52; influence on Ellison, 1, 3, 4, 32– 42, 51; in Invisible Man, 72–73; minstrel tradition, 22; Murray on, 65; in Oklahoma City, 30; segregation and, 136; transcendence and, 146 arrogance of Ellison, 120 arson in Ellison’s works, 79, 93, 95–101, 101–104, 145 art and artists: abstract expressionism , 52; African art, 58–59; artistic ambition, 140; artistic expression , 59; Black art and artists, 57, 58–59; clichés and stereotypes, 59–60; copying masters, 54; Ellison on the American novel, 16; found imagery, 54; human condition expressed in, 60; music as, 44; visual arts and jazz compared, 61–62. See also Bearden, Romare; blues; jazz “The Art of Fiction” (interview with Ellison), 15, 125, 131 “The Art of Romare Bearden” (Ellison ), 56 athletics, transformative power of, 142–43 Auden, W. H., 62 Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Johnson), 76 awards, 5, 123, 132 Baldwin, James: criticism of Ellison, 2; criticized, 6; on Harlem, 66– 67; Howe and, 122–31; on language , 144; leaving Harlem, 142; Murray on, 67; photographs of, 62; Podhoretz on, 140; quoted, 120; transcendence and, 127–28, 129 Baraka, Amiri. See Leroi Jones Basie, Count, 62 Bearden, Romare: distinctiveness of works, 69; Ellison on, 2, 88, 125; Ellison’s friendship with, 1; influence on Ellison, 51–60; Murray on, 70; as renaissance man, 49–51; similarities with Ellison, 84; use of found imagery, 54 Bellow, Saul, 5–6 Benny Goodman Sextet, 30 Benson, George, 17 Bergreen, Laurence, 43 Berlin, Irving, 53 Berry, Chu, 29 “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” (song), 31, 146 Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington (Hasse), 32 Bible, 114–16 Bill of Rights, 12, 117 “Bird.” See Parker, Charlie Index Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker (Reisner ), 44 “black aesthetics,” 56–57, 142–43 “Black and Tan Fantasy” (Ellington ), 60 Black Boy (Wright), 19, 129–30 “Black Boys and Native Sons” (Howe), 6, 122, 124 Black Manhattan (Bearden), 61 Black nationalism, 138 Black World, 57 “The Black Writer’s Use of Memory ” (Dixon), 83 Bliss, 94, 104, 109–14, 114–17. See also Senator Sunraider The Block (Bearden), 61, 66, 69–70, 84, 95 Bloom, Harold, 141 Blucher, Heinrich, 53–54 Blue Devils (dance band), 3, 23 The Blue Devils of Nada (Murray), 65 blues: Ellison and, 1; invisibility and, 76–77; Murray on, 64; as result of oppression, 121; unique to U.S., 74. See also jazz “Blues People” (Ellison), 8, 117 Blues People (Jones), 138 Book of Prefaces and Prejudices (Mencken), 129 Book Week, 5 Books & Company, 61 “Brave Words for a Startling Occasion ” (Ellison), 132 Breaking Ranks (Podhoretz), 121 Breaux, Zelia, 3 Breughel, Pieter, 59 Brother Tarp, 82 Brotherhood, 82, 86 Brown, James, 134 “Burial of the Dead” (Eliot), 114–15 Butler, Billy, 41 “Cadillac Flambé” (Ellison), 93, 95– 101, 101–104, 145 Cadmus (mythological figure), 111– 12 Caliban, 48 call-and-response, 113 Callahan, John, 93–94 Cannon, Steve, 49–50 Carroll, Diahann, 65 Carter, Benny, 29 castration vision, 88 catharsis, 109, 131 Change of Territory (Dixon), 49 chaos, 22–25, 57–58, 83–84 character and stage persona, 35–36 characters employed by Ellison: Bledsoe, 88; Bliss, 94, 104, 109– 14, 114–17; Brother Tarp, 82; Emerson, 88; evicted couple, 80– 81; Jack, 88; Lee Willie Minifees, 91, 95–101, 101–104, 105–109, 145; Lucius Brockway, 78–79, 89; McIntyre, 95–101, 103; Mr. Norton , 88, 89; Primus Provo, 81–82; Ras the Exhorter, 86–88, 127, 145; Reverend Hickman, 2, 89– 90, 94, 95–101, 104, 106–109, 109–14, 114–17, 119, 145; Senator Sunraider, 94, 101–104, 109–14, 118–19; solos of, 77–78; Tod Clifton, 82 “The Charlie Christian Story” (Ellison ), 17–22, 25, 135–36 Chicago Defender, 5, 41 Chicago’s South...