Starting tomorrow, January 1 (hopefully just after midnight CST), I'll be releasing a series of twelve videos, roughly one hour in length each, that will collectively serve as an introduction to what you might call blues studies. It's not a traditional "history of the blues," and I say almost nothing about blues harmonica in the videos. I just felt that something was missing from the cultural conversation, so I'm doing my best to serve the community.
In the largest sense, the twelve lectures form a response to the call issued by the "Blues and the Spirit" symposium, especially the irritable remarks made by Sugar Blue, Deitra Farr, and Billy Branch. I mention that symposium in my first video and in several subsequent videos. I take the irritable--indeed, anguished--remarks for what they are: one important perspective, expressed forcefully. I take it seriously. I then do my best to think critically about the issues they raise. But my videos as a whole do a lot more than that. Among other things, they serve as an introduction to blues literature written by W. C. Handy, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and the folkloric, theoretical, and other critical work that's been done on the blues over the past century. I speak like who and what I am: a longtime blues musician and music teacher who also, as a professor, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in blues literature and culture.
The videos will be released on Tuesdays and Thursdays, two a week for the next six weeks. I've created a new forum in which folks--a few of you guys, I'm sure, but also a host of new folks--will have the space to talk about them and the issues they raise. (Your current handles will enable you to log in and participate there.)
Here's the homepage for the series. It explains what I'm trying to do.
The first video is still private; it'll go live tonight.
I should reiterate that the videos are oriented towards a somewhat different audience than my instructional YT videos, and I don't assume that most or all of you guys will be interested. But it's clear from the conversations that we've had here over the past several years that some of you WILL be interested. I'll encourage all of you to take a look at the first video tomorrow, regardless.
Last Edited by on Jan 01, 2013 3:23 AM
Adam, you might want to think about injecting this series into the Podcast world. ---------- Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy. -Dan Castellaneta
@Frank - If you want to get educated, listen to the music. It's in the music. If you like to read, start with a book called Chicago Breakdown by Mike Rowe and work your way back from there.
Interesting idea. The comments made by Branch, Blue and even Skoller noted in the symposium web reports seemed to rekindle the age old "blacks as second class" citizens argument. I'd hope that they weigh in on the discussion otherwise the series will be very one sided. Can't wait to hear the series. Excellent idea and It will be good to hear your views on this. Thx ---------- "Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
Looking forward to this. Dan Lynch was truly a great blues joint, with heavy NYC mojo. That place was magic. ---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
I watched those videos. I didn't find anything irritable in them at all. I understand the message each artist was attempting to convey. I thought Matthew Skoller's monologue was quite accurate.
@Joe: I don't know what videos you're talking about. Mine? Or videos from the symposium. If the latter, please supply links and I'll definitely link to them on the appropriate webpage for my videos. Better yet, post them here.
When I use the words irritable and anguished, I'm merely reporting, not judging, on the basis of the evidence supplied by Howard Reich. Here's the article. I'll encourage all forum members to judge for themselves whether the words irritable and anguished apply to what Sugar Blue and others were reported to have said:
I like Matthew Skoller a lot--we've had our share of phone conversations--and love what he's doing with the "Chicago Blues: A Living History" stuff.
Last Edited by on Dec 31, 2012 5:38 PM
Actually, here's the video. That wasn't hard. The YT search engine is a great thing:
Joe, I'm delighted that you made me aware that we could find video of the symposium online. I'll view it when I get some time on New Year's Day. It's sad, frankly, that the video only has 153 views. I'll encourage all forum members to view it in its entirety and share their thoughts.
Best wishes, all! I'm off to fry up some catfish and drink some champagne.
Last Edited by on Dec 31, 2012 5:43 PM
I may have misinterpreted your message. I thought you found their messages irritable, not that the artists were irritated. I totally understand the perspective of the artists. They live it everyday.
Sugar Blue: "These blues are not OF you, or FOR you, though some are about you. These blues are in spite of you, Mr. Charlie. These blues are mine, and my children's, as they were my grandfather's and his father's. THIS is blues power: the literature of an unlettered people that gave birth to the sentiments that inspired the writings of Douglass, DuBois, Wright, Parks, Washington, King, Tubman, and those who will follow. Listen, learn, and one day, if you understand what is hidden in the rhymes, it may free you enough so that the rhythm can move you to a place so that we may truly share this music."
I agreed with pretty much everything he said up to this statement; I spend a lot of time in my 12 videos talking about the social history that he sketches very quickly here.
Joe, you better throw down those harps right now--if you endorse the Mr. Charlie crap he's dishing here. I don't doubt that he feels it, and if it drives his creativity, more power to him. It just leaves out a whole lot of the story. It's time to wake out of the trauma, develop some toughness of spirit, and acknowledge, for example, that B. B. King cried when he was booed by younger black audiences at at least one soul concert during the mid-1960s, and insisted in his autobiography that his performance in front of the hippies at the Fillmore West in 1968 was "perhaps the greatest performance of my life." Why would B. B. say such a thing, unless it felt to HIM like the truth?
When Muddy Waters and B. B. King were racking up the best performance fees of their lives at "white" colleges and universities in the late 60s, King told Time that the historically black colleges and universities were refusing to book him. Howard University finally booked both men for the first black-run blues festival in 1970, and the audience, according to newspaper reports, were mostly white!
Lawyers call these sorts of stories the "bad facts." It's the stuff that cultural nationalist ideology can't explain. But it's the stuff that helps explain some of the pain visible and audible at the Blues and the Spirit symposium: a huge opening created for the mainstreaming of the blues by a wholesale loss of interest from younger black audiences after the mid-1960s. The intellectuals had a significant residual interest, of course--although Maulana Ron Karenga (the founder of Kwanzaa), Sonia Sanchez, and Haki Madhubuti (the last of whom helped shaped black intellectual life in Chicago for many decades) insisted during the 60s that, as Karenga put it, "The blues are invalid." "We ain't blue, we are BLACK," etc. A more intellectually honest assessment of the situation in which the blues (and black blues people) find themselves these days would place some blame on the schism within black intellectual circles regarding the social utility of the blues.
But engaging with THAT problematic would require letting go of easy insults like "Mr. Charlie."
The truth is far more interesting than the ideology. There's an EMOTIONAL truth in insisting that the white folks are up to the same old tricks, of course. But there's a virtual in coolness, too: in maintaining your balance when the rhythms are hot.
I'm really glad that this video surfaced when it did. My video series is going to do some needed work.
Last Edited by on Jan 01, 2013 3:00 AM
What is it exactly they want, other than pity? More money? better gigs? respect? damn, who doesn't want that...get in line.
The reason there are no black artists at blues festivals is, because they've all joined the rap tribe where things are much more fertile. It's not to blame the promoters or Bruce the record man. IMHO.
I just watched the entire video of the symposium... what a pleasure and much food for thought... I look forward to what you have to share Adam. ---------- Warren Bee Marketing & Harmonica Raconteur
as I ponder this discussion it brings to mind one thing that really struck me when I went to my first SPAH convention and the next 8 as well... very few people of color...both on and off stage... I also have pondered about the great divide that has historically haunted the SPAH world of "real harmonica players" and then the "diatonic harmonica players" ... they say that the divide is getting smaller but that reality is based upon the fact that most of the "real harmonica players" are dying off and fewer are carrying on in that tradition... it is the diatonic harmonica players that are now the life blood ($$$)of SPAH .. many are blues oriented and there are many other genres coming out of those ten holes... what does all of this pondering mean? I'm not sure but it makes me very interested in these discussions... I cannot help but think that SPAH has had some racial issues under the radar that have been around a long time and have lead to the current state of affairs.
FYI: I am no longer a member of SPAH (as of midnight) and I do not plan on attending any more conventions.
---- Warren Bee Marketing & Harmonica Raconteur
Last Edited by on Jan 02, 2013 12:08 AM
Adam - I didn't say I agreed with everything the man said. I do agree with some things he said here and some things he has said in the past. What Sugar Blue has said on that date I'd very consistent with what he has said in interviews for the past 30 years.
I grew up on the south side of Chicago during the late 60's and early 70's. As a kid, I was around some very ugly race based discrimination. To think those time periods don't leave scars on people, both black & white, would be very short sighted. It was a very ugly time for many people. History exists. It can be white washed, but we shouldn't forget where we have been as Americans.
Sugar Blue is entitled to his opinion. He is entitled to express it. I have no doubt that he has experienced the ugly side of racism. I don't doubt that it still exists.
As Dietra Farr and Billy Branch said, I've seen Blues Festival lineups that didn't featured one black performer. Blues is black music. It came from the conditions surrounding the experiences of black people.
I've been to blues festivals that feature elder black artists as some sort of novelty act. I've seen legendary black artists flown across the country for a 15 minute spot, when white artists of less historic significance are given a full set with full pay.
What was said about the former WC Handy Awards is true.
Removing WC Handy's name may not have been an intentionally sinister idea by the white man, but there is little doubt that most new listeners to the music will probably never be exposed to the importance of WC Handy.
The racial background of the nominees and winners of the former WC Handy awards are fact. Not fiction. That can't really be debated. In the harmonica category, many black nominees receive their nomination posthumously in the year of their death.
People may not like the way the message was presented. The directness may be hurtful to some. At least, the participants at the symposium have the freedom to state their feelings. Seventy years ago, those feelings had to be hidden and delivered in very powerful music.
I watched that video. Nowhere did anyone say white people shouldn't play blues music. Some of the performers there lead multiracial, multi-ethnic bands.
You're friends with Sugar Blue, Matthew and Billy. You've hired two of the three for Hill Country Harmonica. Why not just ask them to clarify their comments, especially the more incendiary comments?
In the past week, people on your forum have thrown out acronyms like ODN and ODBG. That's offensive. If blues is a music that we all claim to love, such acronyms minimize the contribution to the formation of the art form by the true originators. When a person lumps Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and a multitude of others into a category called Old Dead Blues Guys, their work is marginalized and classified as less important. Their names no longer matter because there is a category for their body of work. It may have been intended to be funny, but the end result is the same. It minimizes the importance of black artists in black Blues music.
Each of the artists featured in the Symposium live with "consequences" of their statements every day just like every one else.
"The reason there are no black artists at blues festivals is, because they've all joined the rap tribe where things are much more fertile. It's not to blame the promoters or Bruce the record man."
That's a pretty ignorant statement and not one based in reality. There are a lot of black blues artists. "They" haven't all joined the "rap tribe". I live near a city that runs a two day Blues festival which features almost exclusively black blues artists. It's a rare event that the same band has been featured twice. The festival has been running for over ten years.
Each of the artists in that Symposium have been working for decades. There area long list of artists who weren't speaking in the symposium. Several artists signed the letter that went to in response to the comments by "Bruce the record man". The vast majority of those artists are black.
Wonderful! That`s exactly what I`m looking for. Thanks for your list of all the books you are talking about. Not all of them are available for me. Example: Your Text about "Where is the Love" - I wish I could read it in complete (PDF or so). The white man from Parchman farm you are talking about is Mark "The Muleman" Massey. I had the honour to play with him at the Ground Zero Blues Club, Clarksdale 2011. He is awesome! great musician, a voice full of feeling. Go and buy his CD. My favorite song is "Master of the Blues".
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/markmulemanmassey
Again: Thanks Adam...I will follow your lectures. BTW: I come to Mississippi April 2013 again! Take care Mario Hemken
Joe, you and I agree on far more than we disagree. I wasn't aware of the ODBG/ODN acronym until you mentioned it just now. The forum search engine doesn't show a single appearance of the latter acronym, but the former acronym certainly does show up, and I agree with you: it's disrespectful, not attractively jaunty. I expected better of folks on this forum.
Jinx, I hope you'll take the time to watch my Blues Talk videos. I don't believe you'll be looking at things the same way by the time the series is through.
Here's David Whiteis's profile of Bruce Iglauer and Alligator Records' 40 year anniversary. Bruce is a complicated man; I wish he hadn't said what he said about drug and alcohol issues, since he was sure to get hammered for it. On the other hand, I suspect that he's actually dealt with such things among some of his artists. (Blues musicians as a group, white and black, deal with such issues.) As for his insistence on scrupulous honesty in the matter of royalties: I believe him. I also think it's basically impossible to keep a label like Alligator together these days in the face of file-sharing; I'm amazed he's done so. He's done more than his share of good deeds, in any case, and no good deed goes unpunished.
I'll urge forum members not just to read the article, but to read all the way down the long chain of comments, which include an open letter signed by many black Chicago blues artists and some white allies; a long response by Iglauer; a brief note by the author of the article, David Whiteis (who is a terrific, thoughtful writer and really knows the music); and a condemnation by Janice Monti. Lots of drama. Important issues are raised.
Last Edited by on Jan 01, 2013 3:42 AM
Sugar Blue: "These blues are not OF you, or FOR you, though some are about you. These blues are in spite of you, Mr. Charlie. These blues are mine, and my children's, as they were my grandfather's and his father's. "
No worries Sugar. Rest assured you will not see me at any of YOUR shows or listening to any of YOUR recordings.
kudzurunner: "I wasn't aware of the ODBG/ODN acronym until you mentioned it just now. The forum search engine doesn't show a single appearance of the latter acronym"
The "OGN" acronym was used quite recently -- I wish I could remember the thread. It was quickly called out as out-of-line.
----------
They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
The racism will never subsist. Even in a community of supposed togetherness. If you wonder what's going on in the mind of Sugar Blue, then you're a little out of it.
We're not going to forget this. We're not going to let what happened for hundreds of years, decade by decade go. Because the minute we turn our heads down or shake off that pain, we become "ODN" on a forum post. I'm hurt. My two cents. ~Afro ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
Last Edited by on Jan 01, 2013 10:08 AM
Afro Blue, please don't let one idiot spoil this forum for you. And don't miss the fact that the post in question was immediately called out by JD Hoskins, who wrote:
"ODN is way over the line, and angers me deeply!"
Just to be clear, I also found it deeply offensive. However, after JD's rebuttal, I didn't see the need to chime in with "me too".
----------
They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
"Idiot" is a word we can do without, but AfroBlue's dismay is entirely justified. I've said my piece and locked the thread. It would be the height of depressing ironies of this forum became a place where casual race-based disrespect finds a foothold, much less a home.
It's a new year, everybody. We can do better.
Last Edited by on Jan 01, 2013 11:12 AM
Dear Adam ~ THANK YOU for this series. So very grateful, sir. What a New Years gift!!!!! I can't wait for the 2nd video.... Hurry, please!!!!!! Best, Jamey
Funny, I never thought to consider that there might be a race element to SPAH. After all, isn't the mass production harmonica an invention of those fun loving Germans for the playing of their traditional folk music. I think that I saw more people of color at SPAH than people attired in lederhosen was a sign of real progress.
Afro, I want to know what's going on in the harmonica world from your perspective. As far as those making the ODBG/ODN comments, I say we give them some lederhosen, a crusty old Echo and send them on their way.
I am born all alone The pan horns and fanfare did not sing me Never do I go home Because you hide the components that be
Making it hard to free Calling my black skin a misprinted wrapper Turning my age forward Like a dial that makes children dapper
And I, Anomaly Differing from the deferred dumb classmates Thinking further than talk Speaking faster than failures of my dates
I tire from the morgue I tire of sleeping-life done with God Life shuts its ears closed sore And condemned, my ways are a shallow job.
-------------------------------------------------------That is not a song, that is a poem describing my life. Is it a blues? Perhaps? Could it be one?
This is white man's burden. I see little difference than John Locke's 'Property' and how the Blues is treated. Locke states in his text 'Property' that if one mixes their labor with something natural (an apple for example) that they can make it their property. If one grows an orchard, then that is their orchard. If one plays some blues, then that is their blues. If one has a blues concert and decide to not decide to be all white, that is theirs.
Coincidentally, intellectual property was mentioned in the symposium. That is what this is. White man's burden. The white man likes the blues, he is going to take the blues and even if HE does not like the blues, he is going to claim that whatever he is doing is blues and that will be as it is.
@Thievin' Heathen This man asks what's going on in the world of harmonica from my perspective. I've only been playing harmonica for two years. I've been a jazz buff for three years and a blues buff for two years. But I haven't quite started playing the blues yet. I am playing what Adam Gussow calls blues harmonica and participating in what you lovely fellows have decided is a blues harmonica forum, but I am still learning the harmonica so that I may present my blues through that instrument effectively and appropriately.
The harmonica world is bigger than it has ever been. I've obsessed about this world. I am in love with the harmonica. But in the harmonica world, although it is growing with great people like Jason Ricci, Adam Gussow, and many others who are pushing what harmonica can do by far, the harmonica world has not improved the blues world recently. Adam Gussow has made ultimate and unprecedented incredible contribution to the world of harmonica, but his contribution to the Blues is short.
The blues isn't about a flat fifth or for us harmonica players, a "blue third" sustained in an overblow on the six-hole blow. But hell, some of the greatest blues artists are not even in key.
I agree with everyone on the symposium. You're scared Mr. White Man (I am not pointing to anyone specifically, but that is my version of a contemporary Mr. Charlie). I see for some of you that ODN is your version of our Mr. Charlie or Mr. White Man. Well I've been called nigger all my life. No, not a budding "Wassup nigga?" from a fellow African American that many want to say is the highlight of the use of that world. No, I've been called nigger riding my bike around town, in arguments that I didn't get myself into at my university, and apparently by "blues harmonica" players. I need you people who hate ODN's because according to Adam Gussow, if that empowers us in our own right, then the more power to us.
I don't mean to twist Adam's words, I know he's not a racist, he couldn't have been. But this is how I feel and I invite you to ignore me or shut me out as I suspect Honkin' on Bobo will do because you're tired of an ODN complaining about what hasn't come to him yet.
I love Charlie Musselwhite, he has one of the best slow blues I ever heard. Butterfield is all right. But when I hear Butterfield is the master or the genius, I feel sometimes that because people can relate to him racially, he's a hero. I can't apologize for feeling that way.
Mute me, I invite you to erase my post or close this forum. But I am 19 years old and I have a long road of this shit to go. So bring it on administrator. I used the "n" word. I can because unlike how Joe L claims that Sugar Blue is entitled to his opinion, I am stating facts. It is the first day of 2013 and I am telling you that this day foreshadows more struggle. I am telling you this day will not go by without another racist slur thrown MY way.
I guess I am asking for it right? I play harmonica, that's not nigger-music or even white music anymore. We are an anomaly in pop music my fellow harmonica players, but we don't care about that. And maybe I'm asking for it with my Austrian-German girlfriend? Or my dialect, or accent, you know, trying to pretend to be educated and all. Whom should they expect me to be other than a person posing as a white man.
"Why can everyone else claim their heritage other than black people" form the symposium, David Whiteis. Stop telling me this isn't my music. Stop telling me this is everyone's house. I'll admit you're helping everyday Mr. White Man by perpetuating the conditions that cause for this kind of music, but don't sign your name on something we wrote.
THERE, I've said it. ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
I am not targeting anyone specifically other than using Adam Gussow as an example. I do that because all of you know him, all of those of you who are reading this. You all can related better perhaps if I use him. But I want you to understand that I found the blues looking into my heritage. And I embraced blues AND jazz because they are mine. Muddy Waters wanted to give it to US.
AND THIS IS NOT RACISM or REVERSE RACISM! Because even Muddy Waters said, these kid can play, these white kids can play. Search an interview by him. He did claim that they will never be able to sing like him, but they can play and he hired them.
I'm sorry if this is going to hurt you guys. But I am hurt. Because I never thought to find some of the things I've found here. Many believes this is one sided. But if you check some of our greats, they did not exclude white men from the blues. Nor women if you count Bonnie Raitt. Come on people. What the fuck?
But if this is the atmosphere of this forum, then Honkin' Bobo can rest assure that I'll leave before he has the chance. I'm tired of this. To an extent I am ranting. But perhaps you'll hear this melancholy melody as you would a blue third followed by a minor seventh.
I'm going to end this with the way I began my first post when I asked last month for some critique from you very people. "I love all of you." I love all of you and I hope your new year omits these turmoils and that you may enjoy your blues as a hobby and not an active biography as our blues forefathers did. I wish you all the very best because maybe I've too young and naive, but I believe in human fellowship.
Hi everybody-- I watched the first part of Adam's video (the first one) and am tickled that we can explore this, although it does become fatiguing. I am 60, and have wrestled with something like this for decades--and I do not even primarily play blues, this music fills our American popular music and has for over a century. Let's stay together and keep sharing our ideas--we have made it this far!
I think maybe part of it is the blues means different things to different people, and 'owning' the blues therefore means different things as well. You get into signifiers and the signified.
In the general world of copyright, there are two conflicting points of view- the copyright supporters, and the open-sourcers (open-sorcerers? hmm, I'll explore that typo some other time). I'm pretty far into the open source camp. I believe that ideas are best when they are shared. I also, in literary terms, tend to do a lot of Marxist reading (in literary theory that has more to do with seeing things as economic conflict that it would in economics, where Marxist would imply a solution). In Marxist reading, you look at the deep hatred between African-Americans and Irish historically, for instance, as economic competition, played off against each other by the wealthy. Today you might look at the anger targeted at illegal immigrants and people on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.
I grew up in a fluctuating household. We moved around a lot, but we were fairly economically secure until my parents split up when I was about 12. We never went without dinner, but even routine doctors visits got prioritized with that sort of 'well, it will probably get better' so let's not go to the doctors sort of gamble. After my parents split up, we rented instead of owning a house. My brother wore hand-me-downs and I often wore high-water pants. Still, I went to college and my parents helped out. We weren't poor. Life certainly wasn't perfect. My dad moved out of state. He kept in touch, but he wasn't really there after 5th grade. Still, that's pretty basic American life.
I'm going to get depressing here for a moment, but it's toward making a point. Towards the end of college some mental health issues caught up with me. I couldn't hold a job. I slept on friends couches and in the back of my beat up car. I maxed out my credit cards on medication and food. I often am insecure and feel inadequate and sometimes I feel like I'm worthless. Most of the time though, thanks to medication, I feel pretty good. Do I have the blues? Well, not the African-American blues maybe, but I sometimes have a deep malaise that is helped music. For a while it was grunge. Sometimes it's blues. Sometimes it's T.S. Eliot.
So, getting back to signifiers and signified, which are just silly ways of saying 'what words we use to mean things', in the context of the vernacular 'I'm feeling blue' yeah, I have the blues. In the terms of the racial memory of slavery, I don't have that. I'm part Irish, so I've got the potato famine, although in truth, I wasn't really raised that Irish. We had corn beef and cabbage once a year like lots of other Americans, but so do a lot of other people who are appropriating Irishness.
I have faced, and do face, discrimination sometimes, and sometimes it's self-imposed, and I'm certainly poor, (and again, I'm not saying this as a part of a self-pity thing, but part of a larger point). We all look at the world through our own lens. I'm a Marxist/Deconstructionist reader. I've seen white people who had virtually no chance to succeed because of poverty and African-Americans who had money and opportunity. As a whole, I recognize that if you are white, you are still much more likely to have opportunity, but my particular lens is more focused on poverty and location. You combine that with my 'open-source' view of intellectual property and I end up seeing blues as a struggle against hardship as well as a matter of race. We all self-identify differently. I identify with the hardship of the blues, even if it's different flavor of hardship. I had days, after college, when I didn't know if I'd eat that night. In one world view lens I could exclude anyone from the blues who never was hungry. I prefer looking at the world through a variety of lenses though. I think you get a better idea of what other people are seeing.
After 4 am, I have no idea if that makes any sense.
I want to know from your perspective because you are relatively new to harmonica, 19 years old, getting a lot of what you are learning from the internet and I think you might be in Chicago. Also, because in 4 years you will probably pass me up in ability and music theory. I watched your youtube clip.
Without even knowing anything else about you, these things elevate the value of your contributions to the conversation above others who disparage the players who laid the foundations for the music most current harmonica players consider the origins of the instrument.
I was not presuming to fill in the blanks on the rest of your perspective.
Last Edited by on Jan 02, 2013 4:58 AM
@nacoran - Well said. That makes sense. I understand your point of view. I think personally sometimes MY one-sidedness comes from trying to find a side at all amiss many viewpoints and theories and lifestyles. We all have to start somewhere. Not to justify ignorance or one-sideness in general. Not by any means. Thanks nacoran.
@Thievin' Heathen - I see. I am in Chicago. I didn't mean to over-saturate my answer with a lot of personal problems. I just have a lot of race related grief going on around me lately, nothing unusual. Because of a certain kind of evolution, the later generations will always be more technically skilled than the previous generation if they study the trade effectively. I am privileged to be able to see so many great players on a computer and learn many things without meeting anyone. That's the glory of this generation. Free omniscient and copious amounts of information available.
After doing as I've been instructed and that is to learn the greats for what they are and others too and try to get a rich understanding of the music, I think we've strayed slightly from the path in our search for modernity. It's not like we're making mistakes necessarily, but things in my mind just don't add up. That is all. I could be more specific, but I don't want to skip any animadversions.
I thank you for being interested however. I thank you for taking a look at my eager work, a culmination of rigorous study over the past two years. If I could more specifically adhere to your inquiry, please notify me.
If you want a real good education in racism and how it affected music and culture in the 40's, 50's, 60's, etc (jazz and blues), read interviews with Miles Davis and his autobiography. Miles, to his credit, led the way in ignoring the color of the skin and hiring musicians based on their musicianship, even when being taken to task by his contemporaries.
He used the word "n.....r" a LOT. It is just a lexicon of this time period and still exists today. As a matter of fact, at least in Detroit, this word is still used a lot within the contemporary black community - perhaps more than it was used in the old days in the prejudiced south.
My time spent as the only white piano tech that would venture into the inner city of Detroit for 20 years gave me quite an education. When I learned the correct attitude, I was accepted by this closed black community and often found myself the only white face in a sea of black - at gospel churches, nightclubs that catered to only black clientele, concerts, and was the piano tech on call for the black jazz community at most of the concerts and clubs.
What I found interesting via my own personal experience was that a lot of the contemporary black culture in and around Detroit has moved past holding onto the old stereotypes - sure, some of the older folks are still angry at history, but many have accepted it as a series of unfortunate events and, in their own way, instead of holding onto anger and have it fester inside, look towards the future and have let go of a lot of this past.
Sometimes I feel that "white people" really are the devil. We can focus on the blacks, but I just finished reading "I Left My Heart at Wounded Knee", a historical book from the standpoint of the Indians. We also treated this race with the same "less than human" disdain. In many ways, they were obliterated by our bad attitude even more than the blacks (or African Americans).
I spent time living in Germany in the 70's (even being Jewish) and, once again, assimilated into daily life learning to speak fluent German. There's quite a history of segregation in this part of the world, believe me, but most contemporary German folks I met are ashamed by their series of unfortunate events and, even though history can't be changed, they don't want to be beat up about it forever. They don't want to hold onto the anger and let it fester inside.
It's not a perfect world. Each race has its own share of bad history. The true test is if a slow evolution away from the badness is evident. Sure, some will insist that the evolution is too slow and a few outspoken public figures or artists will still inject their emotional attachment to the past into their current interviews. There are probably grains of truth to all statements of this kind.
Personally, I've learned that things move slowly over time, much slower than I'd like in my own personal perfect world. I've also learned that huge mistakes have been made and large segments of populations have bought into bad mojo and acted on it. This is the human condition. Some residue will always remain of the past, but we may now choose how this will affect us personally as we move forward - do we hold onto it or let it go?
Also looking forward to Kudzu's new project. ---------- The Iceman
I haven't visited the forum since the moment when, alerted to the acroynm-laden thread by Afro Blue's first pained comment here, I took a look at THAT thread, was mortified, agreed with those who were offended, posted my own comment, and locked it.
I'm happy that AfroBlue, brave and feelingful, has posted what he's posted above. AB, I urge you to share your experience here. You'll teach us all a few things about the blues. I do hope you'll make a point of watching the twelve videos in my series, though, because you'll learn a lot about the blues--not harmonica, but the blues--that you don't know.
Don't worry about hurting my feelings or pushing my buttons. I know what I know, I continue to learn, and I don't pretend to know what I don't know. I seek the truth, and I respect blues dialectics enough to know that anybody who is convinced that they've got THE line on the blues (including Sugar Blue) is probably leaving something out of the picture.
Here's a truth that rarely gets spoken: There are, broadly speaking, two sorts of African American blues artists these days: those who make their livings playing mainly for black audiences, and those who make their living playing mainly for white audiences. The former are generally placed in the "soul blues" camp. Bobby Rush and Denis LaSalle are perhaps best known, but Marvin Sease, Peggy Scott-Adams, Sir Charles Jones: all have solid black followings, especially in the South, and you rarely hear them complaining about the sorts of things that Sugar Blue and the panelists at the Blues and the Spirit symposium were complaining about. Their black audiences sustain them; they're not worried about their blues being "stolen." They write songs--often remarkably, hilariously obscene songs--that the soul blues audience wants. Whites don't want to sing those songs; there's little white audience for such stuff. The stylistics aren't such that white singers can easily cross into this particular repertoire. And instrumental prowess is much less the point in soul blues--a reason why white blues players tend to be less interested in the genre.
The complaints are coming from African American artists who, except for modest neighborhood followings in places like Chicago, are essentially gunning for white audiences, mainstream audiences. Sugar Blue and Billy Branch clearly fall into this category. They're out in the world, not tied to the chitlin' circuit. They want the big money that's out there, and they thus want the approval of white audiences. It would be fair to say that they're dependent on that approval for their livelihoods. That's an awkward fact. They're also dependent on the organizational structure of that "administered" blues world--the festival and club bookers, the journalists, the Blues Foundation and other folks who give out the awards.
This places such artists in a difficult situation--not just financially, but emotionally. The hand that feeds them is indeed, more often than not, white. And since they're mixing up with a wide range of blues artists--African American, but also white, Euro, whatever--in the mainstream "scene," the gigs they get and the awards they win are inevitably inflected by the tastes of that audience and the (often white) folks who administer, so to speak, that world.
I certainly don't blame the soul blues audiences--black audiences--for overwhelmingly preferring African American performers. But part of what's going on in our scene--the black-and-white mainstream scene--is that majority non-African-American audiences (and the fact that they ARE majority non-African-American is indisputable; I trust that we may stipulate it) are being blamed by African American artists for the fact that they actually....oh, I don't know....LIKE white blues performers.
There, I said it. White folks have been singing, playing, and composing the blues for more than a hundred years. As Gil Scott Heron said, it ain't no new thing. I happen to believe that affirmative action is important. I agree with Billy that all-white...
Last Edited by on Jan 02, 2013 8:54 AM
....blues festivals are a weird, bad idea. I think festival bookers should work a little harder for diversity than that. Certainly that was my guiding principle when I assembled the programs for the three Hill Country Harmonicas: leading AND lesser-known African American performers on our stages. Not every blues harmonica event cares about this. There is an annual blues harmonica event in Chicago that has had virtually no African American participation for the past two years. I think that's a mistake. I happen to really like and be friends with the superb player who organizes it, which is why I have thus far said nothing.
But there's another reason I've said nothing: I'm hesitant to cast aspersions on promoters who assemble programs consisting of musicians who more or less resemble themselves and their audiences. That sort of racial uniformity is certainly a little weird when "blues" is in the subject line of the festival--but then again, when it's a black-run festival with 100% black performers and a 99% black audience, which is the sort of large blues festival I've attended several times here in Mississippi, what's not to like? And those black blues artists are NOT holding symposia in which they complain about Mr. Charlie. They're singing earthy, gritty, lyrical, sometimes sexed-up songs about courting each other, cheating on each other, and having a ball on Saturday night. So if a big blues festival in California wants to book Walter Trout and Marcia Ball as headliners--well, I may not agree with their choices, but I'm not paying the bills. And their are many mainstream blues festivals, including NOLA, Long Beach, and Poconos, that have fantastic lineups with the full spectrum of African American blues talent.
It's a big, evil world. Life is hard. Some of us try, in a range of ways, to do justice to both the blues and the imperatives of African American history. The relationship between those two things is significant, important, and complicated.
Please watch my 12-part series, y'all. I do my best to find new angles on what might seem like clearcut issues. The blues are simple AND complicated. But you all already know that.
Last Edited by on Jan 02, 2013 8:52 AM
When I was much younger I was idealistic and naive enough to think that a lot of what we humans needed to know was worked out. It was organized, we had a system. Most of the important things were situated and we'd just keep getting better at it. Oh. Now, in terms of technique, listening is the most important thing I know. I literally keep a string around my finger that reminds me to shut up. I would suggest it but that would be a little to close too saying it. Too late. But that's ok because I can be here too, as long as I keep listening. A lot.
Last Edited by on Jan 02, 2013 8:51 AM
@kudzurunner - Well in your response here, don't give too much away! You might spoil an episode or two in that you're so laden with enthusiasm. I did watch your first episode. I actually downloaded it first as to complete it in its entirety without buffer. I watched the symposium first, commented here, and then watched your video. It wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought you may try to mediate sides since you overtly pointed out the dichotomy of this subject and you have members of both sides in your modern blues harmonica realm. But you appear to lead us in this debate wherever the facts lead you and I can respect that. I didn't feel as if it was one side or the other and I hope others who are watching it feel the same. I enjoyed it.
This is the best thing you've done yet in your contribution to the blues. As I stated earlier, your contribution to harmonica education and performance is definitely a 21/10, but I feel we'll all grow if we couple this great new knowledge directed toward the genre of music rather than a single (great) instrument in that lake of music.
Best regards, Afro
Hunger is the best spice.
Last Edited by on Jan 02, 2013 9:02 AM
FWIW, as a college kid (I guess I should add 'white") in the 70s, enjoying and playing blues (and later reggae) felt to me like aligning with the oppressed rather than with the economic and cultural oppressor. Of course both musics are also very enjoyable on a less political visceral level (but even that has some political aspect -- being raised to be less visceral/physical and enjoying being free of that -- hmmm -- maybe the desire for freedom/liberation is a theme here? -- looking forward to the upcoming series.)
Last Edited by on Jan 02, 2013 9:00 AM
The "scary" topic of culture basically. Culture certainly tends to foster a sense of self-pride, self-esteem, determination to do well for your "class" (ughh), your fore-fathers, your nation, all that sort of thing. Culture / competition involves a necessary dividing of me v. them thing and most would agree that competition is an important aspect of human progress if done in a respectful manner.
Strong cultural feelings that bolster hard-line extremist baddies to do what they do, also has certain good elements of what enabled a number of nations to endure and oppose Hitler for instance. There are two sides of the coin. In that light, I applaud these lectures. Certainly a rather brave endeavour to say the least. It would be a shame that we would not be able to have forums and the like to openly discuss the more important life issues. Unfortunately the people that should be listening / reading about these issues are often not willing to do so when the going gets touchy.
Culture is complicated as it often embodies elements of nationalism, genetic origins, even to what sport, job, trade or profession you belong to, marital status, cosmological beliefs or sexual orientation or whatever you have embraced. Advertisements would even have a sort of culture to include the type of car you drive and the clothes you wear so creating artificial boundaries between people. ... and now even to what music you identify with or feel best applies to you apparently. When we speak of "ownership" of music, it certainly gets interesting.
As you can easily tell, culture is not one of my personal favourites unlike the Joseph Campbell types. Is Culture worth it overall? Although necessary unfortunately, and certainly unavoidable largely, I think in general it should be avoided but I want to hear the lectures first before weighing in on this particular cultural issue. Maybe I need this. Maybe it will change my mind some or a lot. To see.
I have been to Mississippi 3 times specifically to see African American Blues artists perform the blues live because I find it a more authentic experience. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate and admire the talent of white artists. Although I can understand the anger and frustration portrayed in the lecture above, I think, based upon my own experience, that many white musicians admire, respect, worship and envy african american blues artists. More so than they will ever know!!
Moreover, I wonder what the end game is here. What is going to be accomplished, what is the positive message to all. I am going to reserve my other opinions on this. I am very glad Adam Gussow is giving his own lecture series on this.
I also want to thank Gussow for teaching me more about the blues heritage in the last 4 years than anyone else I know and setting me on my own journey to understand and truly appreciate the African American Culture and their contribution to this country and the world.
