Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with over 240 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
Epiphany, which comes from the Greek word “epiphaneia” meaning “reveal,” is celebrated by many Christians 12 days after Christmas on Jan. 6. The holiday honors the three biblical wise men, or Magi, who followed a star to visit the newborn baby Jesus. In Spanish, Three Kings Day is called Dia de los Reyes Magos, which is celebrated not only in Spain, but throughout the Spanish-speaking world. This holy day, the star, the wise men, and their journey has been immortalized musically in multiple genres.
Calypsonian singer, actor, and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte first recorded “A Star in the East” in 1958 which opens with these lyrics:
There's a star in the east on Christmas morn
Rise up shepherd and follow
It'll lead to the place where the Savior born
Rise up shepherd and followLeave your ewes and leave your lambs
Rise up shepherd and follow
Leave your sheep and leave your rams
Rise up shepherd and follow
Most people are more familiar with “We Three Kings,“ written by John H. Hopkins around 1857, based on the narrative of the journey of the magi in Matthew 2:1-12. It has been beautifully interpreted by multiple singers and instrumentalists since then. Two of my favorite vocal versions are from Ella Fitzgerald and Roberta Flack.
Fitzgerald recorded “Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas” in 1967, which included her classic version of “We Three Kings”:
In 1997 Roberta Flack released “The Christmas Album” which included “We Three Kings” with a version I have rarely heard played. Give it a listen.
In a different vein—Miles Davis joined forces with Larry Carlton, David Sanborn, and Paul Shaffer to record this version, which was in the 1988 movie “Scrooged” starring Bill Murray. YouTuber Manolis notes Miles’ “smooth electro-jazz version of ‘We Three Kings of Orient Are’ which sounds very much ‘of its day,’ while still managing to present a fresh take on an old classic.”
Soul saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. recorded “The Magi’s Song /A Child is Born” in 1997 on his album “Breath Of Heaven - A Holiday Collection.” It was his last release before he died in December 1999.
It’s truly hard to pin a label on the type of music Trans-Siberian Orchestra makes. The group is still touring with its Christmas extravaganza.
I admit I love the lyrics of "The Three Kings And I (What Really Happened)":
Now you all heard the story about Bethlehem
How the child was born and the three wise men
Heard the preacher tell it like the preacher does
But let me tell you, children,
That's not how it was
Now you might ask me what I'm talking about
But I know the part that they all left out
Yes, I do
Now do you hear what I said
That Herod wanted those wise men dead
But on that blessed evening
My great great great great great great granddad
He saved those kings
Now granddad made his living
Playing jazz you see
But jazz wasn't big around one A.D.
So he got himself a job in the palace band
Where he heard about three kings
In the desert sand
(You can read the rest here.)
Sony Pictures released an animated film for family viewing, “The Star”, in November 2017, which included songs from Mariah Carey and the Reverend Kirk Franklin.
Also from the world of gospel, Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers recorded his song, “In the Presence of a King.” The soloist is Arnetta Murrill-Crooms.
Not just dealing with the Magi is this magnificent symphony from Duke Ellington, in three parts. Part one is for Balthazar, the Black king of the Magi. Part two is King Solomon and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the third king, who we will be celebrating later this month. Violinist Timothy Judd wrote for The Listeners Club:
Three Black Kings (Les Trois Rois Noirs) was Duke Ellington’s last composition. The orchestral triptych was left unfinished at the time of Ellington’s death in 1974. True to the spontaneous spirit of jazz and guided by superstition, the American composer, pianist, and band leader frequently left pieces incomplete until the day of the first performance. Ellington’s son, Mercer, pulled the pieces together, and Luther Henderson arranged and orchestrated the score. Alvin Ailey choreographed a ballet to accompany the music, which was performed in 1976.
The American Composers Orchestra performs the entire symphony here:
Read here for a taste of Three Kings and how they are celebrated in Latino cultures.
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