Joe Boyd joins PW Director of Publishing Joshua Jelly-Schapiro to discuss the legendary producer’s long-awaited new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain
Sep 8, 4 PM ET • Brooklyn, NY: Pioneer Works Media Lab • 159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Joe Boyd will be appearing at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn on September 8 for a live conversation with writer, geographer and Pioneer Works Director of Publishing Joshua Jelly-Shapiro to discuss Boyd’s new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey through Global Music. The conversation, part of Pioneer Works’ ‘Second Sundays’ programming, will be broadcast live as part of the venue’s Broadcast Radio Hour.
About the Book
“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.
About the Author
Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career.
After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.
About the Interlocutor
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose books include "Names of New York," "Island People: The Caribbean and the World," and, with Rebecca Solnit, "Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas." He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books, and he has also written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, The Nation, and Artforum, among many other publications. He speaks and lectures widely, and currently directs the popular Author Talks series at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Jelly-Schapiro has taught at Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, and NYU, where he is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Public Knowledge, and teaches in the program in Cultural Reporting and Criticism.
About the Venue
Since 2013, Pioneer Works has hosted Second Sundays, a free monthly open house. Highlighting our programs, artists in residence, and Red Hook community members, Second Sundays features open studios, exhibitions, workshops, live music, and food across all three floors and in our garden. Join us on September 8th for our reopening weekend, following an exciting period of construction and improvements to our home. It’s an all day affair with previews from a new Met Opera commision, an exhibition tour led by artist Alejandro García Contreras, live music and more! As always, Second Sundays are free and open to all. Food and drink by Brooklyn Curry Project and Pioneer Works Bar.
For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reach out to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.
From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.
Release: Sep 24, 2024
Hardcover ISBN: 9798988670025 • 960 pages • two 16-page full-color photo inserts
