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Didn’t we Ramble on is the culmination of ten years of research by Dr. Carl Atkins, Didn’t We Ramble On traces the evolution of the Black marching band from 14th Century West African Egungun processions to present-day marching bands. The music, the pageantry, and the many uses of current marching bands have been irrefutably traced to centuries-old Yoruba processions by Dr. Atkins and confirmed by noted ethnomusicologists Dr. Eileen Southern and Dr. John Szwed.

Narrated by Dizzy Gillespie, this visually and aurally exciting film features performances of a West African procession, New Orleans jazz funeral procession and the Florida A&M University Marching Band. Archival photographs, depictions and music from Africa, Europe and the United States are used to underscore similarities in the evolution of this ancient art form. Didn’t We Ramble On won the “Best Film” Award in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and National Black Programming Consortium competition in 1991. It also won, among other awards, a CINE Golden Eagle, a Blue Ribbon at the American Film & Video Festival, and a Director’s Choice in the Atlanta Image and the Black Maria Film competitions.