African Music Links to the American West

Subject: African Music Links to the American West
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 01:06 AM

In looking for something else on google, I came across African Music Links to the American West..

I have not read all of it, nor followed the links, but it looks interesting and as though it would be a good idea to make note of it, here.

kat

Subject: RE: African Music Links to the American West
From: Darowyn
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 03:54 AM

You might like to hear of some direct evidence from an African perspective. I was giving a lecture on the orgins of the blues in the USA, and I was playing some of the earliest recordings I have, including Robert Johnson.
One of the students that year was Noel, from Dakar in Senegal- a djembe player and brilliant all round musician.
He arrived a few minutes late, and having missed the intro, did not know exactly what I was playing.
I could see that he was looking confused, so I asked him what the problem was.
"Why are you playing music from Mali?" he asked, "that was ......."
I wish I could remember exactly what he said but it was something like "Al Valous music from Mali".

I should say that, at that time, Noel spoke Wolof, Arabic, French and as a poor fourth, English - he was not always easy to understand.

Two things strike me- one that even by the early years of the 20th century, blues still was recognisably African, to a native African musician.
Secondly- did I just hear the original name of The Blues?
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: African Music Links to the American West
From: Paul Burke
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 04:27 AM

In these days of pervasive communications, the Blues could just have easily travelled in the reverse direction and become assimilated with other local traditions. I don't know when radio stations available there first broadcast Blues, but I'd like to bet it was a generation or more ago.