Jazz for aficionados

Blues and social commentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGbwoMIKxm0

Charenee Wade --

Not Blues, and the 'social commentary' escaped me. Nice tune and very good band. The music of Gil Scott-Heron??? I didn't think he or his work would rate someone 'doing' his music.

Cheers

Acman, this is the very fist time I've heard this lady; she's as good as the great jazz divas of the past. What I like is no exaggerated scatin, everything just flows naturally.
I'll have to get this album.

Gil Scott Heron was a man who always had something heavy to say, he was no lightweight; I'm sure he would be proud of her interpretation and presentation of his words. It's good to hear there is new stuff out that I need to add to my collection.

"Peace Go With You Brother"

Rok, the slides on my first clip told us a lot about the Delta; those juke joints weren't as big as a lot of folks living rooms, and judging by the coats worn, they were only suitable when it was cool. The most deprived people in the United States of America came out of the Mississippi Delta.

"I see a resilient people that contributed great things under trying conditions." Crap! Even when Black people were "resilient" enough, and worked hard enough to buy their own land, politicians made laws to to take it from them. Other people hear the music, I hear the denial of an education; that's probably the most authentic thing about "Delta Blues"; but the best thing about the Delta is all that deprivation made them leave in droves. Here's Albert KIng's "Cadillac Assembly Line",

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfO1MhbJqsE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOQE41oeHaY

One of the clips is for you to see Albert King, the other is for you to hear Albert King. I saw him so many times in the late 50's and early 60's, that I can close my eyes, see and hear him now.

I saw some of those people after they caught that jet to Detroit and went to work on somebody's assembly line making top wages in the middle 60's to early 70's. People I visited lived in nice homes, drove new cars, and dressed elegantly. All people need is an opportunity, they'll do the rest.

Today it's not just the people from the Delta who don't have the opportunity to earn an "honest living".

Enjoy the music.

*****The most deprived people in the United States of America came out of the Mississippi Delta.*****

Ever heard of Appalachia? Probably not. No one had, until LBJ went there in 1960, while running for office. Of course, poverty in this country HAS to be Minority. Otherwise it's invisible to the politicians..

BTW, Black people in Mississippi were at the bottom of society legally, but not necessarily on the bottom socially. You had to be there to understand.

*****I saw some of those people after they caught that jet to Detroit and went to work on somebody's assembly line making top wages in the middle 60's to early 70's. People I visited lived in nice homes, drove new cars, and dressed elegantly. All people need is an opportunity, they'll do the rest.******

Been to Detroit lately? Better be able to speak Arabic. Many of those nice homes are now abandoned, and used as crack dens. No one works anymore. The women are all married to Uncle Sam. You would be amazed at the number of children fathered by the Government. I applied for a job in that department(baby making) once, but never received a reply.

So, what happened?? The Great Society happened. People sold their families and their souls for a welfare check. Ain't progress grand!!

Many people in Mississippi were poor in material wealth. They were not poor in spirit or Character. That would come later, in the Northern Inner-Cities.

Who left the South for the North, and who did not, is a fascinating discussion.

Cheers

Gil Scott-Heron still sucks.