Preview: ‘Children of Bronzeville’ Song Cycle

  I  
Image

Joy performs the track “Dekoven” on Children of Bronzeville.

(Photo: Courtesy of Savage Content)

In honor of Black History Month and Samara Joy’s Grammy Awards success winning for Best New Artist and Jazz Vocal Album, the online platform Savage Content has provided a first look into its upcoming Children of Bronzeville project with one of Joy’s extraordinary performances as well as two other outstanding performances featuring Joshua Banbury and Vanisha Gould. Joy is accompanied on the track by jazz pianist Aaron Diehl.

Children of Bronzeville is a song cycle based on children’s poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, a Chicago native who was born in the Bronzeville neighborhood of the city’s South Side in 1915, and in 1950 won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. The songs, written by jazz/classical composer Patrick Zimmerli, tell an allegorical tale blending elements of jazz, pop and classical music.

View the promotional videos by clicking on the following song titles:

• Joshua Banbury, “Dave”

• Vanisha Gould, “Rudolph Is Tired Of The City”

• Samara Joy, “Dekoven”

Children of Bronzeville is a celebration of the joy, imagination, beauty and freedom of childhood. DB



  • KP2_Print_copy.jpg

    ​Peplowski first came to prominence in legacy swing bands, including the final iteration of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, before beginning a solo career in the late 1980s.

  • John_Hammond_courtesy_johnhammond.com.jpg

    Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.

  • Screenshot_2026-02-03_at_5.17.03%E2%80%AFPM_copy.jpg

    ​“I play what I want and what I like,” said Andrew Cyrille. “I use my knowledge artistically and professionally.”

  • Wynton_Marsalis_by_Frank_Stewart.jpg

    Marsalis will, if he chooses to use it, have a strong voice in perpetuating his vision through a role in choosing his successors.

  • Lettuce_by_Sam_Silkworth_2026_copy.jpg

    Lettuce, from left: Eric Coomes, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom, Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall