This Q&A appears in Issue 26 of The Mockingbird print magazine.
To watch Ruth Naomi Floyd perform is to see an artist bear her soul onstage. When you listen to one of Floyd’s sacred jazz compositions, prepare to be immersed in the sounds of love, longing, reckoning, and redemption—all expressed with resonant boldness. It is like witnessing the Spirit itself interceding with groanings too deep for words. As the Times of London wrote, “Floyd’s voice highlights not only her superb dynamic control, flexibility and faultless diction, but also her most important asset: an unmistakable emotional integrity that conveys her music’s power.”
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As a jazz vocalist and composer, Floyd has recorded six albums, seamlessly blending themes of theology, history, and justice. Her latest project is the Frederick Douglass Jazz Works, a collection of speeches and writings by the great abolitionist and statesman set to her own compositions. Illuminating the tragedy and injustice of American slavery, the FDJW also reflects hope and triumph, grounded in faith. Douglass himself described the significance of African American Spirituals with these words:
They breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains … Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.
As Floyd explains below, the liberating news of the Gospel — and the presence of the Holy Spirit — were the animating forces behind African American Spirituals, which later gave birth to Jazz, the Blues, and more.
A longtime music educator, Floyd is the first African American woman to serve as Founding Director of a University Jazz Studies Program in the United States. The Orrin Evans Trio, featuring Ruth, was named one of NPR Music’s Best Live Sessions of 2021. Ruth is also an award-winning fine art photographer, and for more than two decades has provided care and spiritual support to people affected by HIV and AIDS in Philadelphia and Africa. In December 2019, Concordia College New York awarded Ms. Floyd an honorary doctorate.
We were lucky to catch up with Ruth during a busy season of travel, between lectures in the UK. This Q&A was exchanged over email.
Can you tell our readers a bit about your upbringing and background?
I am the middle daughter of urban missionaries who worked in the Philadelphia community during the 1970s. My parents were actively involved in combating gang warfare and the drugs that plagued the area. My father, a decorated policeman, was recognized as one of the “Ten Outstanding Policemen in the World.” However, after witnessing the impact of crime, drugs, and violence on and in the community, he resigned from the force to become a minister and missionary on the streets.
My parents believed the best way to address a community’s social issues was to become immersed in that community. Consequently they moved their three young daughters into one of the most troubled neighborhoods to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One of my most profound memories is accompanying my mother to the sites where rival gangs had killed young boys. I remember the early mornings spent with her at these locations. We would wash away dried blood and place flowers or beautiful items where the boys had died, so that when their mothers visited the places, they would find beauty amid the tragedy. The gift of serving others remains with me — I would not have created a body of sacred and historical work without these profound principles shaping me during my childhood.
What first piqued your interest in music?
I cannot remember life without the sounds of music. My parents were products of the Great Depression, and as children they wanted to learn music and play instruments. Before ever meeting each other, they vowed to learn music if they married and had children. So my sisters and I each sing and play the piano and two instruments. My parents filled our home with African American Gospel and European Classical music.
Romare Bearden, Out Chorus, 1979-1980. Photo Etching on Arches, 22 × 30 in. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Ronald E. Patterson and Thomas R. Corbin.
Who were some of your earliest sources of inspiration?
The African prisoners of the forced labor system in American Slavery have always greatly inspired me. Their story is about endurance, faith, courage, fight, and resilience. In the midst of the deepest despair, with no liberation in sight — dehumanized, oppressed, and abused — they lifted their heads, composed songs, and sang.
Their music became the very root of American Music. No other body of musical works has birthed and contributed so much fruit: Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Country, Pop, R&B, Rap, Hip Hop, and more. I am amazed at what they created, and how they reached for beauty in times of horrific darkness.
How did Frederick Douglass Jazz Works first get started?
I have always been passionate about history, primarily American and African American history. After studying several historical figures, I settled on the life, mission, and writings of Frederick Douglass. After eight years, I composed a piece for two double basses and voice. This composition differed from my other compositional work, so I set it aside and thought I might use it in the future. Months later, while on a long train ride, to celebrate the end of my study of Frederick Douglass, I read my favorite of his speeches. One of these had a similar rhythm to my composition, and I realized then that his words worked well as lyrics. The music continued to flow, and the Frederick Douglass Jazz Works was created. All the lyrics I sing are the actual words of Frederick Douglass.
History is the pattern of human behavior. As a society, knowing where we have been and where we presently find ourselves is crucial to understanding how to pave the way for the future. Frederick Douglass’ prophetic voice guides us as we wrestle with historical truth. Telling the truth and taking the opportunity to stop false narratives, myths, and lies about history is what pushed me to create this project.
Can you share about how your belief in the power of the Spirit compels you in this project?
Amid the tragedy, grief, despair, and injustice of American Slavery, there is the undeniable spirit of liberation, hope, beauty, perseverance, triumph, and defiant joy. I could not share the message of Frederick Douglass’ words without the Holy Spirit to guide me — I trusted the Spirit for wisdom and discernment.
Frederick Douglass’ writings and speeches remain remarkably relevant to today’s socio-cultural context, and they both compel and inspire us to examine America, our culture, and the world. Frederick Douglass brought the hammer of truth with his words, but he ended with a sense of hope. It was a risky hope. It was a costly hope. It was a hope which pressed on against hope. It was hope during what appeared to be a hopeless time. There are risks and rewards when communicating historical truths, and I know I need the Holy Spirit to do it.
Jazz would not be jazz without the spirituals that preceded it. How is the Spirit alive in jazz music today?
Scholars, critics, educators, musicians, and historians have said Jazz has been dying or dead for decades. History shows us that when we think Jazz is “dying,” its spirit is still alive. This music is protest music — that is the spirit of Jazz, which is the spirit that was embodied in the creators of the African American Spirituals. In captivity, the ancient Hebrews lamented, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” In their fight for liberation, the enslaved Africans in America sang because their souls and spirits would not allow them not to sing. That spirit is sacred, and it remains in Jazz today.
Jazz is a very democratic musical form, with individuals interacting together to create a unique musical statement. Each musician takes their respective instruments and voices and collectively creates a thing of beauty. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his foreword for the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival program:
Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. Jazz is triumphant music.
Dr. King leads us straight to Jazz. We do what we have always done in the face of evil. We improvise, work, love, and do not allow anything or anyone to steal our defiant joy. Jazz illustrates the inventive, free spirit of the Blues while grounded in the creativity, profound messages, polyrhythms, and spirit of the African American Spirituals.
What are your hopes for the future of your work, especially in a time when the fight for justice is so pressing, and the need for hope so great?
Like most humans, I am affected daily by life’s offerings, whether deeply troublesome and incensing or winsome and awe-inspiring. As an artist, I take it all in and use it to create, respond, and experience. I hope my work reflects the light of the First and Greatest Artist, God. I hope my work encourages people to reach for hope even when life seems hopeless. I hope my work continues to point to redemptive beauty through the lens of theology and history. I believe that when we do not tell the historical truth, we lose the opportunity to show God’s redemptive beauty to the world. And our world needs more redemptive beauty.
