JENELL TAYLOR
Staff writer
At 10 p.m. tonight in Roe Green Theater Center, inaugural African American Heritage House Distinguished Fellow Kwame Alexander will entertain and enlighten Chautauquans with a special musical storytelling performance featuring jazz accompaniment.
The performance, titled “On Being American,” will take place during Chautauqua Institution’s Week Nine theme, “The Importance of Gathering,” and consists of Alexander’s original stories, partly intended to reflect his background.
“When I do presentations,” he said, “It always involves some poetry, storytelling, talking and interacting with the audience — and this time, there will be some music.”
Alexander is a Newbery Medal-winning author who has written 45 books, including the acclaimed children’s book, The Undefeated, which received a 2020 Caldecott Medal. Tonight’s performance celebrates the U.S.’s 250th anniversary, and for Alexander, that celebration would not be complete without acknowledging the stories that have been shared and retold over the course of the nation’s history.
As he thought about the premise of the performance, Alexander said he mulled over one question in particular: “What are the individual stories that make up this country?” To address this query, the author reflected on the core functions of storytelling, its purpose for existence and the passage of stories through generational lineages.
“I think one of the things that stories do is connect us,” Alexander said. “It makes us feel like we’re more of a community and helps us understand and relate to each other.”
He said people are more connected than they know — and much more alike than their differences make it seem.
“On Being American” mirrors that interconnectedness and is Alexander’s way of examining what democracy and community mean in America.
“I feel like the best way to do that is by getting personal,” he explained. “My goal is to make my personal [business] the business of the audience — and what better way to do that than with music?”
Thinking back on the function of storytelling, Alexander said the mind of an adult begins in the imagination of a child. He described how his first book — and subsequent animated series — Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band, was inspired by and written for his then-1-year-old daughter, Samayah.
“She was crying a lot, and I wanted her to stop, so I played jazz music,” he said. “I played Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, and she stopped crying.”
Because he had already written several books for adult audiences at the time, Alexander said he wanted to expand and write a poem explaining jazz to his daughter.
“So I wrote a picture book: a poem about jazz music, and it ended up being Acoustic Rooster, my first children’s book,” he said.
This experience was eye-opening for Alexander and led him to the distinct realization that he wanted to “develop kind, empathetic and connected human beings.”
He said storytelling helps children understand what’s possible, and books do so by opening up a world of possibility.
“They can see themselves and what’s possible. It’s a window — they can see you better,” he said. “They’ll feel more connected to you.”
“On Being American” is a collaborative performance; Alexander’s friend and frequent performance collaborator, jazz bassist Amy Shook, will join him.
The two met in 2023 when Shook voiced a bass-playing kitten named Kitty Shook on the PBS Kids animated short-form series “Acoustic Rooster: Jazzy Jams,” a companion show to the “Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band” animated series.
“We needed some musicians to do voiceovers,” he said. “And so we got Herbie Hancock — a jazz musician — then we needed a bassist.”
In addition to lending her voice to children’s entertainment, Shook co-leads jazz quartet SR4tet and the all-female band, 3D Jazz Trio; she also plays in the Temporal Taal Collective ensemble.
The performance’s musical element serves as a story in itself, and the addition of jazz points to a much deeper history of musical storytelling.
“Jazz is a mirror for democracy,” Alexander said, quoting acclaimed jazz trumpeter and Chautauqua lecturer Wynton Marsalis.
Marsalis made the observation that, similarly to democratic societies, jazz music requires individual freedom and creative expression that cannot be separated from collective responsibility.
“If you think about all these different jazz musicians on stage together — saxophonists, the trumpet, drums, the keyboard, the vocalist — they’re all playing together,” Alexander said. “They all have to know their role and make it work so it sounds beautiful and create[s] a story.”
He said at the same time, at one point or another, some of the musicians step back, and allow a fellow performer to have a solo.
“They gracefully do it,” he said. “They allow them, they support and encourage them because they know the soloist is going to add to the story.”
The moment after the soloist steps back holds a palpable energy; Alexander said, “It’s a respectful moment, and they all have a chance to shine.”
He said this demonstration reminds him of his personal philosophy and mantra: “I am the greatest, not because I am better than anyone, but because no one is better than me.”
Alexander said his upbringing was a defining factor that led him toward his journey in writing and played a key role in how he learned to communicate and share stories with others.
“My father was a Baptist preacher, writer and storyteller,” he said. “My mother was a storyteller and poet, so I bring all these things together.”
He said when he thinks about what he does, it can at times feel like church. “It feels like music, inspiration, message, storytelling, call-and-response, fellowship and gathering,” he said.
“Yeah, I think that’s what it is!” he laughed. “It’s the church of Kwame.”
As Chautauquans join Alexander and Shook for “On Being American,” he hopes they feel part of something larger and leave feeling changed for the better.
“I want them to feel some hope,” he said. “I want them to feel some joy, and I want them to feel some love.”
