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[Pictured: Senator Lincoln] Let's Celebrate the Year of the Blues
If you haven't heard, the United States Senate has declared 2003 as the Year of the Blues. I don't know about you, but I've been mighty skeptical of many things that the Senate has done over the years. This time, though, I'm very pleased that a bi-partisan team has worked together to shine a bright light on the blues.
Last year, two Democrats and two Republicans led their colleagues in devoting unprecedented attention to the blues. Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) joined with Tennessee Republicans Bill Frist and Fred Thompson to celebrate the blues in America. Seattle-based Experience Music Project and the Memphis-based Blues Foundation sparked the Senators' efforts and will be the twin engines of a national blues celebration with events honoring the past, present, and future of the blues. This year also commemorates the 100th anniversary of W.C. Handy's first experience with the blues, and I'm pleased to promote such an ambitious blues undertaking as your blues correspondent here at Cosmik Debris.
By the time this column reaches the screens of Cosmik Debris, our world will have changed. There's looming terrorist threats, possibilities of war, and economic troubles all across the front pages of our newspapers. I'm also pleased to report that despite these very difficult situations across the world and across the country, our leaders have endorsed a bi-partisan blues promotion plan.
Where else could leaders on both sides of the political aisle agree than on a bill promoting the blues as "the most influential form of American roots music, with its impact heard around the world in rock and roll, jazz, rhythm and blues and even classical music?"
Any way you slice it, North or South of the Mason-Dixon Line, Republican or Democrat, 2003 is going to be a great year for the blues. Let me tell you why.
The Year of the Blues will be celebrated by bringing together blues events, multimedia projects, radio and film series, concerts, festivals, and education initiatives. Spearheaded by Robert Santelli, CEO and Director of Seattle-based Experience Music Project (EMP), and the Memphis-based Blues Foundation, the Year of the Blues aims to raise awareness of the blues, its unique American stories, and its influence in America and around the world. Last year, I had the good fortune to meet Pat Mitchell, the Executive Director of the Blues Foundation, and she told me that she was working on a national touring exhibit called Sweet Home Chicago to bring the blues message home to America. She's been working with Experience Music Project, in the shadows of Seattle's Space Needle, to spread the blues word through schools, colleges, and clubs across America. As I learn more about the Sweet Home Chicago exhibit, I'll pass on opportunities to experience it right here in Cosmik Blues.
Martin Scorsese is producing a PBS series called The Blues, consisting of seven 90- minute films that tell the story of the blues as it originated in Africa to the present day. He's enlisted some top directing talent to tell the story of the blues in their own way, including Clint Eastwood and Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas), Marc Levin (Brooklyn Babylon), and Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club, Wings of Desire). Scorsese's contribution is "From Mali to Mississippi," as he features the work of Ali Farka Touré, Salif Keita, Habib Koité, Taj Mahal, Corey Harris, Othar Turner, and others.
For more information on this exciting opportunity to honor the legacy of blues in America, go to www.yearoftheblues.org. This web site is truly a blues treasure trove. Players will enjoy the Fender Players Club, sponsored by Fender Guitars, which includes .PDF and MP3 lessons for blues guitar. The "Riff Interactive" section features a blues guitar lesson of the day, including classic 12-bar blues.
[Pictured: Muddy Waters]
Next month, we are going to enroll in the Muddy Waters School of Management. Stay tuned, 'cause we'll be learning more about one of the true giants of the blues, the late McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters.
While I've enjoyed self-help books like "Who Moved My Cheese" or "The Tao of Pooh," I think it's about time that we learn some of life's lessons from men and women who've shaped the blues. Muddy Waters will be the first in a periodic series of how Cosmik Blues will expand your blues education. A sort of blues seminar, if you will. Get ready to sharpen your pencils. Save the date. Class will be in session, as we'll review some of Muddy's life lessons for these screens in Cosmik Debris.
In the spirit of the Year of the Blues, join me in celebrating the blues by checking out some new releases over in this month's CD Reviews section.
(C) 2003 - Eric Steiner