From todays Guardian.....I tend to agree this point which is why Im uncomfortable with the term Blues for describing the music of the (white) artists I manage. In fact none of them call themselves Blues artists - its the media who do that. (start of article quote). “I have a very particular take on things,” says Janice Monti, professor of sociology at Dominican University in Illinois, and director of the Blues and Spirit Symposium. “I’ve been arguing for a long time that the blues has been jacked. Most [new blues musicians] are white males, American, European, Australian – and that’s not to take away at all from the talent and the innovation of these young people, but there is this little-addressed but important issue: if we’re looking at blues legacy, blues aesthetic, it’s a history of a legacy of oppression, but also a black aesthetic. “Blues is celebrated, but there are no black people at the party. That kind of colour blindness results in yet another blues revival that almost exclusively ignores and marginalises black artists. White males are predominant. The black artists are not there. It’s reflective of a false postracial mentality that it’s whites who are the ones who are innovating. Who gets to tell the story? And what story are they telling? It’s interesting to me that this salient cultural product, which is the backbone of all popular music, has been so disrespected.” (end of article quote)...Personally, me (Mark) I dont wanna make this a black/white thing as making anything a black/white thing is seldom particularly helpful in my view; however I do think its about showing some cultural and social respect, myself. At very least there ought to be some grown up discussion on the issue. With Bill Sims, Orphy Vibes, Ed Mitchell and co!
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 12:01:49 +0000
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