Katherine Dunham: Dancing A Life is the in-depth biography of Katherine Dunham, a truly talented, remarkably gifted, and influential twentieth century dancer, choreographer, and founder of the first self-supporting African American dance company. Incorporating Dunham's published memoirs, archival documents, and extensive interviews with Dunham's colleagues, students, and dance company members, Katherine Dunham: Dancing A Life by Joyce Aschenbrenner (Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville) is a meticulously researched, objectively presented, accessibly written, biographically based revelation of what a life of dance is truly like, as well as revealing the heart and soul behind the graceful movements on stage.

I read A Touch of Innocence as research for a project on black dance in America and found myself lost in a different world. Dunham's autobiography of her early years is a work of art. Her descriptive prose reads like that of one who writes for a living instead of as a diverting side-line to the dance. This book should be on the nightstand of every person interested in great black literature.

Made in GER in 19??, Serial# 833-129-2, Playing Time 48:32

If you're looking for a calypso record, continue shopping: this is KS's 3rd album, an electronic journey through space.

The first track ("Ways Of Changes") is probably his most enthusiastic to date, and besides the layers of keyboards, also includes percussion and 12-string guitar. His "charmiest" track to date.

The second track, the short (by his standards) 8+1/2 minute "Some Velvet Phasing", is soft, spacy, and almost lethargic, perfect for relaxation or to induce sleep.

The third/last track, "Voices Of Syn", contains in the early section some vocals of Verdi's "Collage" by the bass-voice of Ernst Walter Siemon. It's, to my tastes, the weakest track on the album: some drone melody that left me wanting for greater development and more elaborate textures.

It's nonetheless a good evolution in "polish" from its predecessor, "Cyborg".

1974's "Blackdance" is Klaus Schulze's third or fourth album depending on which was you look at it. "Picture Music" was recorded first but was released after "Blackdance" for contractual reasons.
With this album, Klaus expands his musical horizons abundantly. Besides his usual array of synthesizers and organs, Klaus shows off his versatility on 12-string acoustic guitar, trumpet, piano and percussion instruments. This gives "Blackdance" a more varied sound than previous albums but still provokes the same dark atmosphere as heard on "Irrlicht" and "Cyborg".
The opening track "Ways of Changes" begins with a quiet organ intro followed by a quiet 12-string guitar. This shifts into the main section of the piece consisting of a fast-paced rhythm box pattern accompanied by congas, organ and spaced-out synth oscilations.
The next track, "Some Velvet Phasing", is a lush orchestrated piece much like "Synphara" from the "Cyborg" album but with less emphasis on weirdness. It is quite possible that an orchestra was used on this track although it's not credited on the cover. The strings almost sound like a mellotron. This is a very peaceful track with a lullaby-like quality to it.
The closing piece, "Voices of Syn", is a long epic which opens with an opera singer. Klaus sets up the mood for the piece while the singer does his thing out front. Another primitive rhythmbox pattern enters as the vocals fade out and this carries the piece the rest of the way. The majority of this piece sounds like an improvised jam as opposed to a fully realized piece of music. Klaus is heard mostly jamming on his electric organ with the drum machine. It does get rather tedious after awhile but it still is an amazing listen.
"Blackdance" appears to be a bit more low-key than titles like "Irrlicht", "Cyborg" or even his later works like "Timewind" or "Moondawn". This is not his greatest album but it is still quite good and innovative. It's worth checking out.

I think this is a masterpiece record. It reflects the best of the best in the Schulze's music. It brings darkness and light. Beautiful