VocalEssence – Philip Brunelle, artistic director

Videos on Youtube

Billy Taylor's Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Abraham, Martin and John Performed by Ray Charles
Abraham, Martin and John Performed by Dion
Abraham, Martin and John with a photo essay

Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream
The Drum Major Instinct
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
14 Additional Speeches

Additional Websites

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute
Comprehensive site for resources on Martin Luther King, Jr. The site includes an interactive timeline, curriculum materials, lesson plans, and primary and secondary research resources.

Martin Luther King Historical Document Library
Provides links to historical documents and speeches from Dr. King's life.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Newspaper Archive
Searchable database that provides links to newspaper articles about Martin Luther King, Jr. and events from the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King's Philosophy of Nonviolence
Explains the origin of Martin Luther King's philosophy of nonviolence. In addition, the six points of Dr. King's philosophy are detailed with information about agape love, or human understanding and compassion for other human beings.

Books

I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s classic speech is creatively illustrated by 15 Coretta Scott King Award-winning artists. A foreword by Coretta Scott King is included. A biographical sketch, preceded by a black-and-white photograph, highlights critical events in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life.

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luth King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport, 2001
Doreen Rappaport combines her lyrical text with King's own words for an effective portrayal of one of the world's greatest civil rights leaders

My Dream of Martin Luther King
by Faith Ringgold, 1998
Ringgold paints a vivid, powerful picture of King's childhood and strong family life, along with glimpses of prejudice, segregation, and protest. The book moves on to highlight Dr. King's work in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

 
A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard, 2001
This book contains eleven of Dr. King's most important and memorable speeches. 

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Clayborne Carson, 2001
Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson is the director and editor of the Martin Luther King Papers Project; with thousands of King's essays, notes, letters, speeches, and sermons at his disposal, Carson has organized King's writings into a posthumous autobiography.

Why We Can't Wait
Martin Luther King, Jr. , 1963
Dr. King's account of the Birmingham campaign

Ellington Resources

It Don’t Mean a Thing performed by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (1943)
A Train performed by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (1969)
Caravan performed by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (1952)
Interview with Duke Ellington
Sir Duke (tribute by Stevie Wonder)

Websites
Composer's Datebook Page - Ellington/Strayhorn (May 31, 2007)
The Composers Datebook is a daily two-minute program produced by American Public Media in association with the American Composer's Forum, designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present with appropriate and accessible music related to each.

Drop me off in Harlem
Discover themes and works that emerged when creative and intellectual voices intersected during the Harlem Renaissance through this website developed by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration
This collaboration between ARTSEDGE, The Music Educator's National Conference and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History features lessons and activities, an annotated scrapbook, resources, student gallery and a timeline.

Jazz Profiles on NPR (Duke Ellington)
NPR's Jazz Profiles is a weekly one-hour documentary series profiling the legends and legacy of jazz. Hosted by singer Nancy Wilson, the program brings to life the vibrant history of the genre through music, interviews and commentary.

New Orleans and the Birth of Jazz
There has been a heightened awareness of New Orleans since the devastation of hurricane Katrina. This site contains excellent resources and bibliographies as well as tools for further investigation of the birthplace of jazz.

PBS Kids Jazz
Includes a timeline of jazz history, information about some of its greatest musicians, and a make your own music feature at the Improvisation Station. Based on the Ken Burns Jazz series

Duke Ellington at Franklin Music Magnet
Franklin Music Magnet School's tribute to Duke Ellington on the word wide web. Includes facts, links, quotes and musc.

Books
Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington, by John Edward Hasse. The first biography to draw on the vast Duke Ellington archives at the Smithsonian Institution, this book recounts the entirety of his remarkable career.

Duke Ellington by Richard Terrill. This biography tells the story of Duke Ellington and how his perseverance and unique qualities continue to set examples today. Readers will be inspired to learn how Duke overcame adversity and hardships, while making his mark in the world of jazz.

Duke Ellington: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers, written by Mike Venezia.
Conveyed in an upbeat, if slightly irreverent manner, this book allows children to see the composers as real people. Black-and-white, full-color photographs and period art reproductions appear throughout, in addition to numerous colorful cartoons.

Duke Ellington-Jazz Composer, by Judy Monroe. This biography introduces Duke Ellington, whose 2000 compositions influenced American jazz and the popular music that followed. This title, like the others in the "Fact Finders" biography series, features carefully-controlled vocabulary, short and direct sentences, photos that match the text to aid in comprehension, and an uncomplicated design.

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkey
A royal introduction to the Piano Prince. Told in a swingy conversational tone and highlighting the musician's childhood, early ragtime days, and stellar rise to popularity, this is a jazzy treat. It is rare to find text that describes music so well. Phrases such as "sassy ride on his cymbal," "musical stream," and "purple dash of brass" carry the auditory experiences of the Duke's music right off the page.

Ellington Was Not A Street written by Ntozake Shange and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
The text of this picture book for older children is a tribute to Shange's family home and the exciting men who gathered there, everyone from W. E. B. DuBois and Paul Robeson to Dizzy Gillispie and Duke Ellington. Taken from Shange's 1983 poem "Mood Indigo," the words here recall, from a child's perspective, what it was like to listen "in the company of men / politics as necessary as collards / music even in our dreams."

The Frog Who Wanted to Be a Singer, written by Linda Goss and illustrated by Cynthia Jabar
This upbeat pourquoi tale has definite soul with Boogie-woogie undertones. Youngsters will relate to Frog's feelings and will admire his initiative to turn a failure into a success, just by being himself. This picture book has some backstage notes about Frog's "dooba dooba" tune and explains the roots of Rhythm and Blues. Traditional Boogie-woogie patterns appear on the endpapers. Jabar's clever scratchboard illustrations complement the lively text with vivid colors and bold use of line. This creative selection is also conducive to storytelling.

From Miss Ida's Porch written by Sandra Belton and illustrated by Floyd Cooper
People from the street gather on Miss Ida's porch to hear stories, especially stories about important Black musicians (Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, Marian Anderson) and their personal connections to them. The stories are both heartfelt and instructive in terms of the personal side of history.

Hip Cat written by Jonathan London and illustrated by Woodleigh Hubbard
A cool, saxophone-playing cat from the sticks heads for the bright lights of the big city to find fame and fortune. His music begins to be the talk of the jazz scene, and that hip feline becomes the coolest cat of all. Here is a one-of-a-kind book with a great message encouraging youngsters to do what they love and to work at it to the best of their ability. Hubbard's vivid illustrations sparkle like the paintings of Matisse and offer just the right accompaniment to the jazzy text, which jumps across the pages and takes an occasional twist. It will work just as well with older children because of its sassy style. Just pop in a CD by Dizzy or Miles, and read, man, read.

I See the Rhythm written by Toyomi Igus and illustrated by Michele Wood
The author and illustrator introduce the reader to an overview of jazz from its African origins through to hip-hop. Each two-page section includes a prose poem, an historical timeline of important events, and a painting. Included are ragtime, birth of the blues, new Orleans jazz, swing, jazz women, bebop, cool jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, funk and rap.

Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits written by Wynton Marsalis with Phil Schaap and illustrated by Paul Rogers.
This electric collaboration between Marsalis and Rogers is an insider's A to Z guide through the greats of jazz. Each poem brims with words that showcase the letter in the alphabet and the accomplishments of its subject (e.g., Armstrong with his "angular aural arabesques aplenty"). The passion for jazz shared by this book's creators emanates from every page - and it's contagious.

The Jazz Fly written by Matthew Gollub and illustrated by Karen Hanke
A fly gets lost on his way to a performance, so he asks several animals how to get to town. The frog, the hog, and the donkey don't understand Jazz Fly, but, fortunately, the dog does. Arriving at the club, Jazz Fly sits down at his drums and begins to play, incorporating the animal sounds into his music to great audience response. The story is slight but bouncy, especially as the author tells it on the accompanying audio CD, with the narration heightened by the music of a jazz quartet. The illustrations are mostly black, white, and gray, with splashes of color to accentuate the jazzy style.

Knockin' on Wood, by Lynne Barasch
Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates was one of the legendary tap dancers of the twentieth century. As a young boy, Clayton loved to dance, but when he lost his left leg in a factory accident at age twelve, no one thought he would ever walk again, let alone dance. But Clayton's musical spirit was still alive. Soon he was dancing using crutches, then a peg leg. Within a short time his peg leg matched the dancing ability of his other leg. Sprightly ink-and-watercolor art ably depicts both the poverty of Bates' early life and the colorful world of entertainment. Peg Leg Bates performed throughout the United States and Europe, touring with the orchestras of Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

The Life and Times of Duke Ellington by John Bankston
Includes five short chapters focusing on different aspects of Duke Ellington's life and career. Each chapter includes an historical one-page information sheet and color photos. A timeline in history, selected works, chronology and suggested further reading are also included.

Music Is My Mistress by Edward Kennedy Ellington Duke Ellington-one of the greatest jazz musicians of the past century-tells his own story of his life and music. Passionate about his music and the people who made music, he counted as his friends hundreds of the musicians who changed the face of music throughout the world: Bechet, Basie, Armstrong, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, to name a few of them

Stompin' at the Savoy written by Bebe Moore Campbell and illustrated by Richard Yarde
Nervous about her jazz recital dance, Mindy follows a magical talking drum to the Savoy Ballroom in 1920s Harlem, where she moves her happy feet to the loud, joyful music of the legendary jazz bands, and joins the dancers shaking and stomping, swinging and strutting. The watercolors, with sharply etched white outlines and shapes, express the magical realism and rhythms of the shimmying dancers and musicians lit up in the night. Mindy's return home becomes just as magical when her three great-aunts inspire her with their own dance moves.

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin written by Lloyd Moss and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
An exuberant tribute to orchestra instruments. Each musical portrait (in quatrains) abounds with perfectly chosen, alliterative sounds. Thus the flute, notes Moss, "sends our soul a-shiver; flute, that slender silver sliver."

Annotations courtesy of Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and Booklist