I like to put things in musical terms, likely because I am a musician. For me, the most valuable aspect of all of these Seminars, has been the ability to compare the art, history, science, and sociology of New York, and other urban areas, to musical development and progression. Throughout its history, music has functioned to bring the community together in some way. Jazz, which flourished in the areas most susceptible to urban renewal, has consistently been a product of the people playing it and listening to it. You can even track the gentrification of Jazz music around this time.
When Fullilove discussed the Essex Chorale I immediately saw it as the clearest example of a consistant community for the citizens of Essex County. Their music is able to emotionally sync with its listeners; this characteristic that singers strive for is inherently present in this choir.
So, what role does music play in the establishment of community?
Music, especially jazz and blues in African American communities, has been central to constructing community in many low income areas. The Hill in Pittsburgh, Harlem in NYC, and the South Side of Chicago, all had jazz clubs that not only provided central gathering places for their own communities but were one of the few points of truly social contact between blacks and whites in the 40s and 50s. Church music and marching bands have also been ways that smaller, non-urban communities came together.