We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wide as Heaven: A Century of Song by Black American Composers via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15.99 USD or more 

     

about

Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), pupil of Florence Price and a formidable
pianist herself, shows us “The Way We Dance (in Harlem)” by way of Langston Hughes and a boogie bass line. In “To a Brown Girl Dead”, Countee Cullen’s dark text is supported by Bonds’ rich, slow-moving harmonies.

lyrics

The Way We Dance in Harlem
(Langston Hughes, from Tropics After Dark)

Ain’t you heard about the music Chicago style
The kind of music that drives you wild
Ain’t you heard about the way we dance it out
Then lemme tell you what it’s all about
First, you grab your gal like a her-cat, Jack
And jitterbug her lightly then you throw her back
Let your hips swing loose when you’re moving
Swing most anyway long’s you groovin’

You take it slow while she gets way down,
You’re feelin’ acrobatic then you throw her round,
Then you separate and take a solo
That’s the way we dance in Chicago!

Jump back and boogie!
Aw, boogie woogie!
Pack a little
Truck a little

Now if anyone here is still in doubt
As to what this jitterbuggin’s all about
I’ll expostulate all that I know
’bout the way we dance in Chicago!

credits

from Wide as Heaven: A Century of Song by Black American Composers, released March 1, 2024

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

New World Records image

New World Records Brooklyn, New York

Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc., which records under the label New World Records, was founded in 1975.

We are dedicated to the documentation of American music that is largely ignored by the commercial recording companies.

contact / help

Contact New World Records

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like New World Records, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now