Includes bibliographical references (p. [339]-342) and index.

A griot's art : the story of everything -- Canaries, canarios : a ne w music in an old world -- Go down chariot : The Georgia Sea Islands an d Fanny Kemble. The slavery spirituals, Lydia Parrish and Zora Neale Hu rston -- Skiffles, tubs and washboards : good time music before the Blu es -- Red Clark's list : New Orleans street jazz and the Eureka brass b and in the 1950s -- A dance in ragged time : "Shake the world's foundat ion with the maple leaf rag!" -- Gal, you got to go back to Bimini : Th e Bahamas, its rhymers, and Joseph Spence -- Pretenders, caressers, lio ns, and a mighty sparrow : Trinidad's sweet calypso -- It be like thund er if a man live close : nights in Trinidad's pan yards -- Reggae is a new bag : Kingston streets, Kingston nights -- To feel the spirit : Gos pel song in the great churches of Harlem -- A prince of zydeco : Louisi ana's zydeco blues and good rockin' dopsie -- Como se llama este ritmo? : Bebo Valdâes, the music of Cuba, and the Buena Vista social club -- Bahia nights : Carnival in Brazil's black world.