"In Sentinel Musicians of the Ethiopian American Diaspora, Kay Kaufman Shelemay shares more than forty years of research among Ethiopian musicians in the midst of a widespread and evolving diaspora. Beginning on the eve of the Ethiopian revolution in 1974 all the way up to the present day, Shelemay follows musicians as some leave Ethiopia for the US, setting up essential networks of support in cities such as New York, Boston, and Washington, DC. Throughout this profound transition, Shelemay shows how Ethiopian musicians serve a critical function in social and political life by both safeguarding community identity and challenging authority within Ethiopian society. She coins the term "sentinel musicians" to express musicians' double capacity to guard culture and guide it through periods of change, transforming the world around them under political pressures and during times of extreme social stress. While musicians held this role in Ethiopian culture long before the revolution began, it has taken on new meanings and contours in the Ethiopian diaspora. Some sentinel musicians have quite literally led the way as they migrated to new locales, establishing transnational networks, founding new institutions, and undertaking numerous initiatives in community building. Ultimately, Shelemay shows that musicians are uniquely positioned to serve this sentinel role as guardians and challengers of cultural heritage"--

"Black," "African," "African descendant" and "of African heritage," are just some of the ways Africans and Africans in the diaspora (both old and new) describe themselves. This volume examines concepts of race, ethnicity, and identity as they are ascribed to people of colour around the world, examining different case studies of how the process of identity formation occurred and is changing. Contributors to this volume, selected from a wide range of academic and cultural backgrounds, explore issues that encourage a deeper understanding of race, ethnicity and identity. As our notions about what it means to be black or of African heritage change as a result of globalization, it is important to reassess how these issues are currently developing, and the origins from which these issues developed. Global Africans is an important and insightful book, useful to a wide range of students and scholars, particularly of African studies, sociology, diaspora studies, and race and ethnic studies.

Includes record reviews.

Musical Creativities in Practice explores the social and the cultural contexts in which creativity in music occurs. It begins by considering what constitutes creativity - taking a cross cultural view of music, while investigating creative processes far beyond just the classical music genre - including electronic media, popular music, and improvised music. In addition it looks at creativity in both writing and performing. The field of musical education is a key focus - examining why creativity is important within the educational environment, and looking at how schools might sometimes stifle creativity in their music teaching, rather than encourage it. The book is packed with case studies and real-life examples taken from studies across the world, providing a powerful corrective to myths and outmoded conceptions which privilege the creative practice of individual artists. Musical Creativity in Practice argues the need for conceptual expansion of musical creativities in line with vital contemporary real world practices. It explores how different types of musical creativities are recognised and communicated in the real world practices of a diversity of professional musicians. The book covers creative practice issues underlying composing, improvising, singer songwriting, originals bands, DJ cultures, live coding and interactive sound designing and the implications of creativity research for music education and for the assessment of creativities in industry and education. Musical Creativities in Practice will be valuable for those in fields of music psychology and music education, from advanced undergraduate level upwards.