Carrie Jacobs-Bond’s Black Gospel Standard
Christopher Reynolds
23 November 2021
Black singers and churchgoers have a long and deep tie to Carrie Jacobs Bond’s “I’ve Done My Work” (1920). Why this song?
Music, Voice, Message
People who identify as women
WSF is an online forum devoted to women’s voices in song, to the many songs by women, and to the many female musicians working in and with song, who have yet to be given the attention they deserve. The Women’s Song Forum provides an opportunity to expand and enhance knowledge and understanding of this rich and significant area of musical practice and scholarship, and – as the name “forum” suggests – aims to encourage discussion and debate across different interest groups. It is also hoped that the forum will give access to performances of music that are otherwise hard to access.
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Black singers and churchgoers have a long and deep tie to Carrie Jacobs Bond’s “I’ve Done My Work” (1920). Why this song?
My efforts as a volunteer working with music for a group of mild Alzheimer’s patients led me, unexpectedly, to recover musical memories of my own.
From accounts of individual women or performances to historical essays, from interviews with songwriters and performers to discussions of gender, race and culture in and through song.
