Them Ole Blues.and All That Jazz...

"Where does

this music

come from?

Not seeking truth

sure seems wrong.

Where did

this music start at?

Not with some crazy,

stiff cat.

Did it start

with the sax,

or

some other ax?

Or,

was it cow bells

and

sea shells.?

Where did this music come from?" -

"This is That"

lyrics by G. Djata Bumpus

music by Wil "Soye" Lettman

Dear friends,

The history of Black music in America is the history of the first secular songs played here. For example, during the War of Independence, basically, all fiddlers who led the troops were Black men...

Lorenzo Johnston Greene further confirmed this assertion in his timeless book, The Negro In Colonial New England, "Zelah, a Negro of Groton, Massachusetts, who later fought in the American Revolution, became famous in his neighborhood as a musician." Greene also refers to Newport Gardner, "...the slave of Caleb Gardner of Newport, Rhode Island, was given music lessons. He soon excelled his teacher and later opened a music school of his own on Pope Street where he taught both Negroes and white persons."

Thje link below points to a tradition that has gone on for centuries. Please enjoy!!!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92423408&sc=emaf