What has happened to African American Blues?  A number of years ago, Zondra Hughes wrote an article asking if whites were stealing Rhythms and  Blues. Today that is not so much the question;  many say they are not only "stealing" Rhythms and  Blues, but they have taken it, extracted the Blues, and are using it as a new musical dimension. Whites are flocking to Blues Festivals, Blues venues, and into stores to purchase this music recorded by white artists. 

And as Blues festivals are sprouting up in vast numbers across this nation, their white attendance is strong, and whites bands and performers are outnumbering black performers, some say, two to one;  white performers are being paid handsomely because sponsorship of these festivals are often  Fortune 500 companies like Anheuser-Busch, Coco Cola, Mondavi, etc., and they donate huge sums of money to promote them. Today, white bands and performers are singing the songs that blacks originated as the result of the sweat of their labor and the afflictions of an oppressive society.

Isn't it strange how this society works?  Through white affliction of blacks the Blues was born, and the Blues was a form of music whites did not appreciate or listen to--no doubt it reminded them of the harshness of their oppression, while maintaining a duplicitous moral standard--until groups from Europe, like the Beatles, hailed the Blues as a musical form they embraced and lauded highly. Now this music, born out of oppression and rejected as "jungle music," is  embraced and celebrated as a extension of a new white musical form. And their artists are being paid highly to perform it. 

Zundra Hughes writes, "Today, Whites are not only playing that funky music, but they are also dominating record sales, triggering a glut of new White acts that are giving Black artists a run for their money."  

But herein some say is the problem. The Blues is a musical form that is caching white artists large salaries at various venues throughout the nation, but Black Blues Festival organizers are having a hard time getting sponsorship. Second, Back Blues performers are not capitalizing off the music they created and perform best. Furthermore, this problem is being shielded from the light of day, so that most who buy the DVDs and DCs, attend the festivals, and the public generally are unaware of these inequities.

Last Saturday, I attended the Second Annual Vallejo Blues Festival, Vallejo, California, promoted by Black Promoter Ronnie Stewart. There I experienced a blend of Black and White performers. But this blend was probably because of promoter Ronnie Stewart . Yet there are few black promoters and many Blues festivals that are raking in huge sums of money yearly; this is big business! 

The sound track that you hear on this page is one of the white Blues acts from Napa, California that played at this Vallejo Blues Festival.  Under  black promotion, you will usually have exposure to all Blues (white, Black, Latino, etc.) but that becomes one of the issues associated with what is happening to the Blues. 

While at this festival, I was exposed to many issues surrounding the Blues and Blues festivals that are not generally covered by local media. And the issues locally are current issues throughout Blues festivals and concerts in America. Therefore, in the coming weeks, Gibbs will be looking at the state of the Blues in America and the issues that attend this old, once black only music genre.

FAJones
10/3/05

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