The statement from Mel Watkins below represents perfectly what Baldwin means in his description of revival meeting that African-American, the society in the
story specifically, has different purpose in performing the revival meeting to the other Christian believers:
The goal of black preachers in fact, of most religious interpreters is to adapt mythic scripture to the mimetic needs of their congregations
—making the tenets of Christianity relevant to the reality of the black experience.
Watkins, 1988: 122 Although Christianity or the revival meeting does not originally belong to
African-American, it is performed in African-American society in such a way that it suits the African-American experience. The performance of the revival meeting
in African American society is not really to spread the gospel of the life of Jesus Christ or His
“rescue work”, but it expresses the despair and the hope of freedom, their experience since the age of slavery.
The other metaphor found in the verbal music of the revival meeting is the statement
“the tambourine turned into a collection plate again.” p.129-130. The separate context can be seen as „tambourine‟ is a musical instrument, but also
some pieces of plate. Through the metaphor, the author wants to say that the musical instrument has a power if it is played, as described in the verbal music of
the revival, how it can “heal” people.
3. The Horizontal Analysis of The Jazz Performance
The horizontal sequences the jazz performance develop from the description of the club; the first playing set where Sonny struggles; the second playing set,
“Am I Blue”, where the band delivers the message; and the effects or the triumph
of music. This chain of events makes the special order that represent the way of delivering the message of the music.
The first sequence shows the spatial relation that moves from the location of the club, until the bandstand: “nightclub on a short, dark street, downtown.”, and
“entrance of the big room, where the bandstand”.p.135, the location indicates the poor and dark situation in Harlem. Strengthen by some statements like “the
lights were very dim in this room, and we couldn‟t see.” p.135. The next sequence shows the relation of synecdoche as Baldwin describes
the people in the club : “some were musicians, working there, or nearby, or not
working, some were simply hangers-on, and some were there to hear Sonny play p.135. The musicians introduction is started from introducing Creole. The fact
that he is described as “enormous black man” p.135 and “had a big voice” p.136 asserts his domination later in the performance where he plays bass.
Another musician described is the drummer: “a coal-black, cheerful-looking man,
built close to the ground.” p.136. Another same relation seen in the descriptions of the people who watch the
performance. the statement like „some were there to hear Sonny play‟ indicates that Sonny is well-known in the bar for his playing. This indication is also
described in “A woman voice called Sonny‟s name.” p.136
The next sequence describes spatial relation, as Baldwin describes the narrator‟s position: “a table in the dark corner.” p.136 and the movements of the
musicians: “below the bandstand”, “moved into the light and crossed the bandstand
”, and “jumped into the bandstand.” Baldwin also mention some
instruments udes in the performance that indicates relation of synecdoche drums, piano, bass, and horn.
Then Baldwin puts the first playing set sequence. In this part there are two main descriptions: the role of Creole that is described and Sonny struggle to find
the right tune. Creole is described as the leader of the performance as Baldwin states: “it was Creole who held them all back”, “keeping the beat with his whole
body”, and “he was listening to everything.” p.138. While the part of Sonny is described as “He and the piano stammered, started one way, got scared, stopped;
started another way, panicked, marked time, started again; then seemed to have found a direction, panicked again, got stuck.” p.138, thus indicates that he is
struggling. After the first playing set, the sequence goes into the playing of “Am I
Blue” in which the playing is described to be a contrast with the first playing. This time the music
described as “beautiful, calm, and old.” p.139 and “it wasn‟t hurried and it was
no longer a lament” p.140. The final sequence of the jazz performance shows the temporal relation as
stated: “then it was over” p.141 and “after a while I saw the girl put a Scotch and milk on top of the piano for S
onny.” p.141 this is a consequence of the narrator ask the girl to take the drinks to the bandstand
4. The Vertical Analysis of The Jazz Performance
The verbal music of jazz performance uses richer verbal evocations compared to the verbal music of the revival meeting. Therefore, it gains more
retarding effects than the verbal music of the revival meeting. The verbal music of jazz performance also features a lot of metaphors compare to the revival meeting.
In the first playing set, there is statement “But the man who creates music is hearing something else, is dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing
order on it as it hit the air” p.137. The metaphor shows how the creative process of the musician. The inspiration or the emotion
is described as a „roar rising from the void‟ to show that it is wild and very strong. But the job for musician is to get
them under control so that it can be evoked through the music. That is why Baldwin also states “What is evoked in him, then, is of another order, more
terrible. . . and triumphant too.” p.137 Once the musician get the emotion under their control, he can share it to the audience. When the audience felt the emotion,
it can be said as a „triumph‟. The
second metaphor found is the „dialogue‟ of Creole and Sonny in the first playing set.
The statement “He wanted Sonny to leave the shoreline and strike out for the deep water” p.138 indicates that Creole encourages Sonny to
overcome his past. The „deep water‟ means the strong emotions as the result of past experience and Creole wants Sonny to conquer it. To leave „shoreline‟ means
to have courage. Creole as the senior musician must have experience this. That is why “He was Sonny‟s witness that deep water and drowning were not the same
thing —he had been there, and he knew.” p.138. Drowning means different
things. It means to have no courage or helplessly cannot stand the emotions. The other metaphor is the description of the musical instruments, especially
the piano. In the verbal music of jazz performance , the narrator states “And a
