Run, Old Jeremiah

Joe Washington Brown & Austin Coleman · 1934 · ring shout, Lomax collection for the Library of Congress

Context

Ring shout recorded in 1934 in Jennings (Louisiana) by John A. and Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress, sung by Joe Washington Brown and Austin Coleman. A religious form inherited from a West African dance pattern, the ring shout has the faithful move in a circle in single file, shuffling their feet, over a counter-rhythm clapped by hand. Practiced during slavery, it remained alive into the 20th century.

In the genealogy of jazz

This track belongs to Afro-diasporic roots.

Sources

• historymatters.gmu.edu

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