Albert Murray
Albert Murray was a major theorist of African American culture and an accomplished novelist whose Train Whistle Guitar is a lyrical account of a Black boy's coming of age in Alabama informed by the blues aesthetic. He was a central figure in the later career of Ralph Ellison.
Works
- Train Whistle GuitarBlues musician and storyteller reflects on boyhood, love, and manhood
- The Spyglass TreeComing-of-age novel set in the American South following a young musician
- The Seven League BootsNovel tracing a young man's journey through jazz and personal discovery
- The Magic KeysSequel exploring identity and artistic transformation through music and travel
- South to a Very Old PlaceMemoir of a return to the American South exploring culture and heritage
- The Omni-AmericansEssays on blues music, American culture, and the African American experience
- Stomping the BluesCritical study of blues as an art form expressing the American struggle
- The Hero and the BluesEssays exploring heroism through the lens of blues music and culture
- The Blue Devils of NadaPhilosophical meditation on existentialism and jazz in American life