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The Wade in the Water exhibit tells the story of African-American religious music, beginning with indigenous African musical and spiritual traditions. The Crossroads and A Love Supreme exhibitions (the latter borrows its name from the iconic album by jazz pioneer John Coltrane) focus on blues and jazz, respectively. One Nation Under a Groove (the title of the classic Funkadelic) tells the story of R&B from World War II to its contemporary counterpart. The final exhibition The Message (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five) traces the development of rap / hip-hop from its origins in the South Bronx to its global impact.
NMAAM is also home to several mini-exhibitions, including The Business Behind the Music. Sponsored by Sony Music Group, the exhibit highlights pioneering black industry leaders such as Logan H. Westbrooks (Capitol, Mercury, CBS and Source Records), as well as labels and publishers who have played important roles in the history of music.
Lewis joined NMAAM in 2018 after serving as a Research Assistant to the Curator of Music and Performing Arts at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History. Together with NMAAM President H. Beecher Hicks III, the museum’s advisory committee, and two additional curators, Lewis has spent the past three years collecting over 1,400 artifacts for display. Once a framework was established for what the museum might include, says Lewis, “we looked for elements to illustrate and interpret the story we were trying to convey.
For example, museum visitors will see a trombone donated by Helen Jones Woods, a trombonist with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm – the country’s first all-female interracial orchestra. (Woods, the mother of Cathy Hughes, founder and president of Urban One, passed away last August.) Other artifacts include a guitar on loan from the BB King Museum, as well as a cape and wig donated by George Clinton, the leader of the Funkadelic Parliament.
Equally significant is the impact African American artists have had in NMAAM’s hometown. “The stories of Nashville are woven throughout space,” Lewis says. Among those who feature prominently in these stories is Dr. Bobby Jones, host of BET’s longest-running series. Bobby Jones Gospel and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Lewis adds that a future temporary exhibit dedicated to the Fisk Jubilee Singers will take a more in-depth look at black history in Nashville.
NMAAM is currently open on Saturdays and Sundays; visitors must book their tickets at the appointed times. Visit nmaam.org for more information.
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