Skip to main content

Bennie Green - Cool Struttin

Today, young African Americans find strength in hip hop music, which I consider a modern evolution of the blues. Hip hop was born out of the same conditions that gave birth to the blues. Poor and disenfranchised black and brown youths were seeking ways to express their humanity amid poverty and abandonment. If the blues was our healing, today, hip hop is a more potent medicine meant to help cope with today’s societal struggles. The line that connects blues and hip hop is strong and clear.

It was not uncommon for me to perform Blues festivals as the only African American act on the bill. Many times I’d see major Blues events featuring acts that are not even blues, much less featuring African American acts. That’s not to say non African Americans shouldn’t participate in the celebration of blues culture, but imagine having a Celtic music festival without featuring a traditional Scottish, Irish or Welsh act or a mariachi music festival without a Mexican mariachi band. Ideally, blues festivals should be settings meant to celebrate and showcase the music and its rich culture. Admittedly, I made the mistake of thinking African Americans had abandoned the blues genre.


Bennie Green - Cool Struttin
  • Recording in: New York, NY
  • Genre: Jazz
  • Release on: September 27, 1960

"Bennie Green was featured on recordings made at the Newport in New York festival in the early '70s. He recorded as a leader for Jubilee, Prestige, Blue Note, Enrica, Time, and Vee Jay."

See Previous Song of the Day 

Labels:
Location: United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau - Long Before

Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau - Long Before Recorded in: December, 2005 Recorded in: New York, NY Genre: Jazz "Pat Metheny has participated in the academic arena as a music educator. At 18, he was the youngest teacher ever at the University of Miami. At 19, he became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music, where he also received an honorary doctorate." See Previous Song of the Day  
Post a Comment
Read more

Dusty Springfield - Something In Your Eyes

Dusty Springfield - Something In Your Eyes Released in: September 1987 Genre:bPop Backing Vocals: Richard Carpenter "Dusty Springfield presented many episodes of the popular 1963 - 66 British TV series and between 1966 and 1969, hosted her own series on the BBC and ITV. She has been inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the UK Music Hall of Fame." See Previous Song of the Day 
Post a Comment
Read more

David Sylvian - The First Day

When the story of Blues is told to the world, the small town Holly Springs, Mississippi and the North Mississippi region as a whole, is often left out. But, those who know, know that this region is the Hill Country, and it is the home of a style of blues unlike others and continuing to shape popular music culture. Mississippi Hill Country Blues, like all forms of the blues, is deeply rooted in the cultural memories and experiences of those who first performed it. It builds upon the African and diasporic emphasis upon rhythm as not just beats and timing, but giving syncopation and polyrhythm both rhythmic elements, an elevated role in music much like that of the melody. The driving rhythm and aggressive groove, established primarily by sitting on one chord for long phrases, set Hill Country Blues apart from other forms like Delta Blues. Hill Country Blues is the soundscape of the region that includes several counties and towns around Holly Spring, Senatobia, and Como, Mississippi. The r...
Post a Comment
Read more