Fatimah Halim, contributes to the narration of Hughes’ poem, a twelve part epic which was scored with musical cues drawn from blues, Dixieland, gospel songs, boogie woogie, bebop, progressive jazz, Latin "cha cha," Afro-Cuban mambo music, German lieder, Jewish liturgy, West Indian calypso, and African drumming – a creative masterwork left unperformed at his death.