Tag: History
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Let’s take a ride down memory blvd: Kendrick Lamar’s Squabble Up
Art by Author The excitement I felt when I heard the Debbie Deb sample on Kendrick Lamar’s Squabble Up off his new GNX project was overwhelming. It took me right back to being 12 and starting to navigate the treacherous teenage years with the help of music. The first record I remember buying was Fascinated…
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Harmonies and healing Frequencies: Musician Cinamon Blair carries On the musical legacy of her grandfather, left-handed Banjo & Guitar jazz musician Lee Blair
As I was recovering from the flu last week I decided to watch the documentary American Symphony on Netflix and it was absolutely heart-wrenching and timely and spoke to the incredible creativity required to survive a history as brutal and violent as American history. The story really reminded me of the healing and survival power…
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The Cosmic Heart of Fiddler Anne Harris
I first discovered singer/songwriter, roots fiddler Anne Harris, through her work with trance Blues innovator Otis Taylor, who I had seen play at the Doheny Blues festival more than a decade ago. Anne recorded and toured worldwide for nearly a decade with Otis Taylor. Long time readers of this blog know how central the Blues…
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South Dakota’s Bazille is Wakinyan Cante Waokiya Wicasaon
Whether its the Bronx or the Black Hills, All Rap is Local I’ve always thought of rap as a form of folk music or street journalism such that it is a localized art form that springs forth from a specific community to define a specific time and place and the lyricist, a poetic scribe, shares…
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Collective memory making and healing among GuateMayan survivors of state inflicted violence through embodied testimonies, public art, and music.
Two weeks ago, I published a blog post on the mural & graffiti art and hip-hop music of Lakota artists Derek Smith and Talon Bazille, respectively. As I was writing that post I was simultaneously working on a collage art piece for my cousin’s dissertation to illustrate the concept of cuerpo territorio amongst Indigenous GuateMayan…
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Multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-winning songwriter Dom Flemons illuminates hidden American history in his music.
in Bluegrass, Blues, Chicago, Country, Cowboys, Folk, Guitarists, Harmonica, Nashville, Piedmont bluesDom Flemons, the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter is a veritable musicologist of American folk music. I first heard Dom in his work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops back in my days working as the American Roots genre manager at the Grammys. Many of his solo albums since the days of that band have been…
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Beats, rhymes, & life along the journey… & goodbye to Facundo Cabral
My good friend DJ Moonbaby was spinning some gems tonight and she inspired me to write a blog post and share some of the musical wealth with you. Some beats, rhymes and life to help push us through as we walk along this sometimes bumpy and unexpected road…Speaking of journeymen, I have to acknowledge the…
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