Treat It Gentle

In his beautifully written autobiography Treat It Gentle, symphony legend Sidney Bechet opens with a story about an enslaved ancestor named Omar. …He was a medicinal drugian. No one had to explain nones or rhythms or feeling to him. It was all there inside him, something he was continuously sure of. All the things that was happening to him outside, they had to get there to be measured-there inside him where the music was (Omar 6). Bechet magically enchanted music and its meanings in an intricate story of race, sex, love, and betrayal. For Bechet, the music of displaced Africans, born in a context of loss and homelessness yet containing both memory and hope.
Omars drum, music and dancing created a distinct culture in that era which helped the slaves keep their ties to their tribes and to the history of displacement. Every Sunday, slaves would gather at Congo Square to hear Omar singing and playing drums. thus all of them were joining him dancing and playing.



Omar kept his connection with his mint back in Africa and other slaves not through the lines of telegram yet he was sending his messages across the air with a rhythmical melody of his drum and his voice; sometimes, especially when he was aware of his situation, his voice changed to chanting as Bechet explains, …that chant, that memory, got mixed up in a kind of melody that had a holler inside itself (Omar 7). On the one hand, those kind of music and gatherings would let the slaves forget about their everyday make outs, and gave them joy and rest still on the other hand, would remind them the distance between them and their home.
Slaved Africans were not the only generation who possessed the history of violence, and sought for freedom. The coif of using music as a way of connection has always being used by other heathen groups too. Even in todays world, people who live under the power of authoritarian regimes shout their minds by their music and could connect to their past by using old tame music,...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my essay .