“A substantial and well-documented new biography . . . The authors detail his long career meticulously, as well as his complicated private life.” —BBC Music Magazine
“This incredibly well-researched book (with impeccable notes) brings to light the complexities of the periods in which Roland Hayes and his contemporaries lived and operated . . . an excellent and engaging read.” —Portia K. Maultsby, Laura Boulton Professor Emerita of Ethnomusicology, Indiana University
Roland Hayes The Legacy of an American Tenor CHRISTOPHER A. BROOKS AND ROBERT SIMS 2014 GOLD WINNER OF INDIEFAB’S BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD
Performing in a country rife with racism and segregation, the tenor Roland Hayes was the first African American man to reach international fame as a concert performer and one of the few artists who could sell out Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall, and Covent Garden. His trailblazing career carved the way for a host of African American artists, including Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson. Performing the African American spirituals he was raised on, Hayes’s voice was marked with a unique sonority which easily navigated French, German, and Italian art songs. This engaging biography spans the history of Hayes’s life and career and the legacy he left behind as a musician and a champion of African American rights. It is an authentic, panoramic portrait of a man who was as complex as the music he performed. CHRISTOPHER A. BROOKS is Professor of Anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is author (with Shirley Verrett) of I Never Walked Alone: The Autobiography of an American Singer and several other publications. ROBERT SIMS is Professor of Voice in the School of Music at Northern Illinois University. World Available 424 pp., 49 b&w illus. cloth 978-0-253-01536-5 $40.00 ebook 978-0-253-01539-6 $39.99
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