FILMAKERS LIBRARY
African-American Studies
Didn't We Ramble On
The Black Marching Band
Narrated by Dizzy Gillespie
Produced by Billy Jackson
- "Informative and entertaining. ...Highly recommended for schools
to further awareness of African influences and achievements in the world"
- AFVA Evaluations
This
joyful film will delight people of all ages. It shows how the spirit and soul
of the West African people has been passed down, generation by generation, through
the black marching band. As long as seven hundred years ago, the Yorubas had
musical processions at funerals to celebrate the passage of the spirit into
the next world. By the l7th century, African musicians were seen in Turkish
marching bands and their skill was admired by the monarchs of Europe. In the
United States, black fife and drum bands played during the revolutionary war
to keep up the spirit of the troops.
In modern times, the tradition of the black marching band continues on the
football fields of America. Dizzy Gillespie proudly introduces us to the skillfully
orchestrated maneuvers of the Florida A&M Marching Band. He points out that
this contemporary band is the direct fulfillment of an ageless ancestral idea.
In New Orleans today, a jazz procession is an integral part of the funeral observance.
No matter how rich or how poor, the deceased is celebrated with a grand and
festive send off. Even the children have learned to use the music of their bodies
and dance to the spirit within. They will pass this tradition on to their children.
Director's Citation, Black Maria Film Festival, 1992
Denver Film Festival, 1992
Atlanta Image Festival, 1992
Blue Ribbon, American Film & Video Festival, 1991
CINE Gold Eagle, 1991
Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, 1991
14 min. Video or DVD. Sale $195; Video rental $50.
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