Series:

Black Music and Musicians in Los Angeles: Spirituals, Gospel, Jazz, and Spoken Word

Topic:

African American History

Music

Biographical Note:

Educator, school psychologist, composer, musician, conductor, church and community leader with a focus on gospel music. CEO of the Heritage Music Foundation and founder of the the Gospel House.

Interviewer:

Patterson, Karin

Interviewee:

Douroux, Margaret

Persons Present:

Douroux, Patterson, and Adriana Montenegro (videographer).

Place Conducted:

Douroux's home in Agoura, California.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library’s Center for Oral History Research. Original digital video cassettes were deposited with the Department of Ethnomusicology. Additional materials relating to these interviews are located in the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

The interview was conducted by Karin Patterson, UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology; B.A., Ethnomusicology, UCLA, 1997; M.A., Ethnomusicology, 1999; Ph.D., Ethnomusicology UCLA June, 2007.Patterson prepared for the interview by initiating an introductory phone conversation and a pre-interview meeting at Douroux's residence. Patterson prepared for the interview by obtaining a Los Angeles Timesbiographical profile on Douroux (Larry Gordon 10/16/2006) and consulting various web publications.

Processing of Interview:

The transcript is a verbatim transcription of the recording. It was transcribed by a professional transcribing agency using a list of proper names and specialized terminology supplied by the interviewer. Douroux was then given an opportunity to review the transcript and made a few corrections and additions. Those corrections were entered into the text without further editing or review on the part of the Center for Oral History Research staff.

Length:

6 hrs.

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

These interviews with African American musicians provide details about the narrators' background, training, influences, and musical choices and discuss their contributions, and connections to the music of black Los Angeles. The series was a collaborative project of the UCLA Center for Oral History Research, the Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, with funding from an Arts Initiative grant from the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture. UCLA Professor Jacqueline DjeDje was the principal investigator and defined the scope and selected the individuals to be interviewed. In addition to the audio recordings housed with the UCLA Center for Oral History Research, the interviews were all captured on video, and those videos can be accessed at the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive.

Douroux family heritage– Grandparents background and life in Louisiana–Maternal and paternal grandparents' profile–Her parents' background and early community environment–Douroux’s relocation to Los Angeles and her early life in Los Angeles schools and neighborhood.–Life in the Douroux household–Early musical and religious influences in Douroux’s life– The world of the church in her childhood–Church and social relationships–Relocation to other neighborhoods in Los Angeles after integration–The effects of integration on Douroux’s high school years–Douroux family values and those of the larger Black population.–Musical relationship with her siblings.

College education and the influence of the Black college environment on Douroux’s sense of identity–Young adulthood and beginning of composing and choir conducting– Other figures in the Gospel world–The differences of styles of Gospel– The secular influences in Gospel– Gospel music in the world of entertainment–Move to Agoura and the family’s adjustments to relocation– The university experience and Gospel–Academe and Gospel music– Composition and motivation.

Gospel and the secular world.– Influential relationships in Douroux’s career– Generational differences–Gospel House and its mission–Various honors and experiences– Flying and airplanes–Ladysmith Black Mambazo–Mother’s influences in the church and family–Brother Earl’s evangelism–Inspiration and compositional process.