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Interview with Maurice 'Moe' Shorter 2010

Anacostia Community Museum
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Object Details

Creator
Anacostia Community Museum
Names
Anacostia Community Museum
Place
Barry Farms (Washington, D.C.)
Anacostia (Washington, D.C.)
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Topic
African Americans
African American musicians
Musicians
Go-go (Music)
Civic leaders
Communities
Creator
Anacostia Community Museum
See more items in
Community and Creativity Project Records
Community and Creativity Project Records / Series 2: Oral History Interviews
Extent
1 Video recording (MiniDV)
Date
2010
Archival Repository
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
Identifier
ACMA.01-007.16, Item ACMA AV005229
Type
Archival materials
Video recordings
Interviews
Citation
Interview with Maurice 'Moe' Shorter 2010, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form
Video recordings
Interviews
Note
010035
Scope and Contents
As a long-time resident of Washington, D.C.'s Ward 8, Maurice 'Moe' Shorter - impresario for Junkyard Band - talks about the history of Junkyard Band and go-go music; and the marketing and management of go-go bands, particularly Junkyard Band. Shorter details the origin of Junkyard Band, which was formed by a group of children in the Barry Farms community of southeast Washington, D.C. He describes the band's various rehearsal spaces in the community; involvement in the community; creativity in regards to the creation of their improvised instruments and later the writing of their music; and the growth of their audience and change in performance venues over the years. He talks about working with Derrick McCraven, who brought two neighborhood bands together to create Junkyard Band. Shorter describes go-go as a musical experience and the community intertwined; he explains why Wards 7 and 8 of Washington, D.C. were attracted to go-go music. He talks about the evolution of go-go music and go-go bands from Chuck Brown to Junkyard Band to those of the late 1990s and 2000s; the subgenres of go-go music which include gospel go-go, bounce beat (beat-ya-feet), traditional, and grown and sexy; differences in the crowds who attend the various sub-genre performances; what influenced the development of go-go music; the improvisation and freestyle of go-go rappers; and the change in venues for go-go performances over the decades. Shorter talks about his ability to take the tools he learned at Howard University and use them to the best of his ability to promote and manage bands; he is able to combine his business skills with something he loves - music. In addition to managing bands, Shorter served as a commissioner for D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities for 12 years.
Interview. Dated 20101203.
Restrictions
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1562713206584-1562713206656-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa7a82ca2f9-b99b-4c4b-abce-df24562b8b97

Related Content

  • Online Finding AidCommunity and Creativity Project Records

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