mvbs.org - Education

Hearing the blues changed my life.

- Van Morrison

Blues Education News

Guy Davis Blues in the Schools Residency April 7-11

Guy Davis

Blues guitarist, harpist, composer, writer, story teller, singer, actor and educator Guy Davis will be the fourth and final blues educator to be a part of the 2007/2008 Blues in the Schools Artists in Residency Series. He will conduct workshops at nine schools plus three open to the public performances during the week of April 7-11, 2008.

Free open to the public performances will be held at the Davenport Fairmont Public Library, 3000 W. Fairmont St., Davenport on April 8, Mojo’s (in the River Music Experience) 129 Main St., Davenport, on April 9, and the Quad City Arts Center, 1715 2nd Ave. Rock Island, Friday, April 11. All shows begin at 7 p.m.

Guy Davis was born May 12, 1952 in New York City, the son of the world renowned actor and activist Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. They insisted their son Guy get a good education but allowed him to seek and cultivate his own interests and ambitions, which eventually turned out to involve the blues. Davis’s parents led by example in their careers in theater and movies while befriending and working with the likes of Paul Robeson, Sidney Portier, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Robeson and Portier often visited the Davis’ home in the northern suburbs of New York City to discuss their latest civil rights movement. Their passions and talent made a big impression on young Guy. Davis has said that Portier would walk around the neighborhood in his bare feet for he was just a country boy from the islands. Davis has also said that Huey Newton, the founder of the Black Panthers, stayed at their home from time to time. “In my house, every day was Black History Month,” laughed Davis.

Fruteland Jackson

Beginning in the year 2000 with the John Jackson February Black History Month Blues in the School Residency and continuing from year to year until the 2007 February residency of Hal Reed and Donald Kinsey we could have not been more forthright with the good weather we had during each of the eight residencies. But winter weather finally caught up with us for Fruteland Jackson this February during the week of the 4^th through 8th. It began snowing during Fruteland’s workshop at St. Paul the Apostle School in Davenport Tuesday afternoon and continued off and on until late Wednesday afternoon. There were twelve inches of snow on the ground, causing cancellations of Fruteland’s workshops at Rock Island High School and Audubon Elementary School on Wednesday. The weather greatly affected attendance at the free open to the public performances at the Bettendorf Library on Tuesday and River Music Experience on Wednesday.

The Lodge Hotel and Conference Center will provide rooms for Mississippi Valley Blues Society Blues in the Schools Artists in Residency for the second consecutive year. Thanks to our friends at The Lodge!

Up the Mississippi - A Journey of the Blues Anthology/CD Project

Blues Anthology

After many months of hard work by the Education Committee, the Anthology/CD project has been completed. The 127 page blues anthology is intended to be an introduction for readers whose knowledge of this uniquely American musical form may be limited. As the story of the blues and how it has evolved is far too complex to be contained in a single book, the anthology is offered as a collection of chapters by educators, historians, and performers themselves in the hope that it will encourage readers to further explore the blues.

The anthology includes chapters by such writers as Dr. Richard Raichelson, a PH.D in folklore and anthropology, who writes on Memphis and its role in the history of the blues, by Sally Stevens, founder of the New Orleans Blues Project, covering Louisiana Blues, by Bob Koester, founder and owner of Delmark Records, writing on the Blues in St. Louis, and many other authors. In addition there is an introduction by Dr. Karen McFarland, poetry by Dr. Sterling Plumpp, and a brief history of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society.

2008

Fruteland Jackson	February 2008
Guy Davis	April 2008

2007

Hal Reed	Feb 5th to Feb 10
Bill Bell	April 23rd to April 28th
Catfish Keith	June Summer Residency
Hawkeye Herman	October 2007
Rich DelGrosso	November 2007

2006

Sam Butler	February 2006
Robert Jones	April 2006
Kevin Burt	Oct 2nd to Oct 7th
Alabama Blues Project with Carolyn Shines	Nov 6th to Nov 11th

Hawkeye Herman's Blues Bibliography

Hawkeye Herman

Dear Friends,

I’m sure most of you have noticed the interest in “alternative” types of music that has taken place in the last few years. I’m not going to try to analyze the phenomena, but I rejoice in it. When the consumer demands variety, the wise shopkeeper responds. Have you noticed how many more blues recordings are available at Coop Records stores? Even large chain stores are catching on; Best Buy, and others are responding to your demands for music that is “out of the mainstream.”

Hawkeye Herman’s list of blues related books on the Mississippi Valley Blues Society web site is a very impressive and nearly complete resource for blues reference material. I say nearly complete only because there are new books coming out all the time and also there are a few other areas that people really interested in the story of the blues could investigate to get a complete picture.

You do not have to know the why or when or how of the blues to appreciate the music. It is not the thinking side of the brain that is first to react to the music. Blues is a feeling. It just is. That is really all you have to know. But if you have a real passion for the music you may get to the point of wanting to know more about how it is and was made. It is like enjoying a painting and wanting to know more about the painter. Or, when the guy hits a home run in the World Series you may want to check his batting average. Ok, enough analogies, you get the picture.

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