Lawrence Brownlee: NPR Music Field Recordings

Opera singer Lawrence Brownlee is known for portraying kings and princes. But lately he’s been thinking about real people: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, to name a few. He’s been thinking about the Black Lives Matter movement and an old spiritual called “There’s a Man Going ’Round Taking Names.“ Decades ago, singers like Paul Robeson and Lead Belly recorded it. Brownlee, with jazz pianist Jason Moran, revives the old song to tell a new story for the 21st century. “Jason and I chose this s