Roland Hayes

about

Roland Hayes (June 3, 1887 – January 1, 1977) was an American lyric tenor. He is considered the first African-American male concert artist to receive wide acclaim both at home and internationally. Critics lauded his abilities and linguistic skills with songs in French, German and Italian. Hayes was born in Curryville, Georgia, near Calhoun, on June 3, 1887, to Fanny and William Hayes. Roland’s parents were tenant farmers on the plantation where his mother had once been a slave. Roland’s father, who was his first music teacher, often took him hunting and taught him to appreciate the musical sounds of nature. When Hayes was eleven his father died, and his mother moved the family to Chattanooga, Tennessee. William Hayes claimed to have some Cherokee ancestry, while his maternal great-grandfather, Aba Ougi (also known as Charles) was a chieftain from Côte d'Ivoire. Aba Ougi was captured and shipped to America in 1790. At Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Curryville (Founded by Roland’s mother) is where Roland first heard the music he would cherish forever, Negro Spirituals. It was Roland’s job to learn new spirituals from the elders and teach them to the congregation. At the age of twelve Roland discovered a recording of the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. Hearing the renowned tenor revealed a world of European classical music. Hayes trained with Arthur Calhoun, an organist and choir director, in Chattanooga. Roland began studying music at Fisk University in Nashville in 1905 although he

top songs

albums

The Art Of Roland Hayes

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...I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces

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I Listen To The Wind That Obliterates My Traces

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A First Time Buyer's Guide To American Negro Spirituals

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Lost Sounds: Blacks and the birth of the recording industry 1891-1922

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LIFT EVERY VOICE! Honoring the African American Musical Legacy

I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces: Music in Vernacular Photographs 1880-1955

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The Best of Black Jazz Records 1971-1976

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...I Listen to the Wind That O

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Blacks and the birth of the recording industry-1891-1922 [Disc 2]

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Great Tenors Of The 20th Century

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I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces, Vol. 2

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