Word: rhythms
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Johnson, who in collaboration with James Weldon Johnson has written two books of American negro spirituals, says about these "finest examples of folk-art in the world", as he terms them: "There is material in these spirituals worthy of use by our best composers. With their infinite variety of rhythm, their plaintive melodies and unusual harmonies, they can furnish inspiration for the highest music....The negro has been largely unable to express himself except in song. Perhaps that is why his music has such powerful appeal....I have termed this music noble, and I do so without any qualifications...
...until his turn comes. Bets are made on teams, on separate matches, on the length of time one player will hold the court. In a doubles match the players move so fast that without their bright shirts in solid contrasting colors you could not tell the teams apart. Two rhythms work in jai alai like the separate yet dependent movements of a fugue. One is the sweep of the cesta. catching the ball on the back swing, throwing it the same second with a stab or a sweep, depending upon whether the player wants to make a long shot...