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Story ideas? Questions? Comments? that blues, rock ‘n’ roll and country
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com * are just about a beat apart.”
100 years after its ‘discovery ’ at a
Mississippi train station, blues music is
still going strong. Columbia’s 9th-annual
Blues Festival celebrates the storied genre
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Before B.B. King wowed crowds as a standout blues musician, he recorded advertising jingles and worked as a radio
station DJ. King is one of the many artists whose contribution to American music is being celebrated in 2003.
• BY MEG MOORE
TllBliAMECOCK
The music genre has attracted
the attention of “Gangs of New
York” producer Martin Scorsese
— blues music was the topic of his
documentary that aired this week
on PBS.
The style’s most celebrated per
formers have become recognizable
names in American pop culture,
from B.B. King to Muddy Waters.
Why has there been so much hul
labaloo lately concerning the
blues?
In a supreme expression of mu
sic appreciation, the U.S. Congress
dedicated 2003 as “The Year of the
Blues.” Rock might have made its
• comeback, and bluegrass might be
all the rage, but blues music has
officially taken precedence this
year.
A Senate resolution described
the genre as “the most influential
form of American roots music,”
noting blues music’s impact on the
formation of popular styles such
as rock and country.
Yet to many Americans, the
blues remains an obscure style of
song rarely mentioned in conver
sation and actually listened to
even less. It is simply categorized
as the genre perpetuated by B.B.
King and buried in the back of mu
sical memory.
Blues was first “discovered” by
W.C. Handy, who heard the emo
tive style of music in a Mississippi
train station. Ever since, it has im
pacted and evidenced its influence
in the work of countless artists
over the past century.
Handy was nicknamed “Father
of the Blues” for his work in com
posing the first blues-music
manuscript, which allowed the in
• novative style to be played and
adapted by artists around the
country.
Since Handy’s chance discov
ery 100 years ago, American mu
sic has been defined by and has
built upon the blues formula, from
rock ‘n’ roll to R&B.
Celebrating this milestone year
in music, area artists and blues lis
teners will gather for the ninth-an
nual Columbia Blues Festival this
weekend at M.L.K. Park in Five
Points.
Organized by Word of Mouth
Productions, a local nonprofit cor
poration dedicated to diversifying
the livemusic scene, the event
brings an impressive lineup of
acts, many locally grown, to the
outdoor stage.
Scheduled acts include Drink
Small, a South Carolina native
and 1999 inductee into the South
Carolina Music & Entertainment
Hall of Fame. Nicknamed “the
blues doctor,” Small will make his
fifth appearance at the festival,
having headlined in the event’s in
augural year.
Small’s musical talent has tak
en him from his rural hometown
of Bishopville, S.C., to the stage at
such storied events as the World’s
Fair.
Cool John Ferguson, another
South Carolina-born bluesman,
has been performing profession
ally since age 5, accompanying his
gospel-singing sisters on guitar
early in his career and recently
playing on a pop recording'with
his niece Esperanza.
Ferguson’s lifelong immersion
in music has allowed him to play
with a variety of artists and per
form an assortment of musical
styles.
Juxtaposing the old with the
new, the Columbia Blues Festival
will include performances from
seasoned artists such as Small and
Ferguson as well as sets from up
and-coming musicians.
One such newcomer is
Richard Johnson, a Houston
born performer who has helped
invigorate in newer artists an in
terest in the fusion of country,
rock and blues. Johnson released
his debut solo album in 2002. On
several of the album’s tracks, as
well as during his live show, he
plays the drums with his feet
while simultaneously working
another instrument with his
hands.
Also taking the stage this week
end is Big Bill Morganfield, the
son of music royalty. His father,
McKinley Morganfield, was the
famed Muddy Waters. His festival
appearance' comes on the heels of
his latest album, aptly titled
“Blues in the Blood,” which was
released Sept. 22.
The Rev. Marv Ward will open
Saturday’s festivities at noon with
his R&B-infused tunes. Small,
Ferguson, Johnston and
Morganfield will follow. The festi
val will close with a set from
Lonnie Brooks, who has headlined
the Chicago Blues Festival and
played with Eric Clapton.
With such an impressive list
of performers, the Columbia
Blues Festival will expose area
residents to the heart, soul and
sound of blues music. After all,
2003 is indeed “The Year of the
Blues.”
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CD REVIEW
Costello sleepily heads ‘North ’
“NORTH”
Elvis Costello
★★ out of ☆☆☆☆&
BY BEN ANGSTADT
THE GAMECOCK
Elvis Costello is certainly a
man who has made an exciting
name for himself. For decades,
he’s been creating rock music
that has made him a staple for
the fans of his distinctive, origi
nal sound.
But first-time listeners to
M , Costello’s latest album, “North,”
W could easily come away never
knowing he’s ever sung anything
close to rock music. In a surpris
ing move, the entire work is a
collection of somber, mellow jazz
tracks.
Of course, Costello has made
similar music in the past. His
compilations with Burt
Bacarrach and his 2001 release
“For the Stars,” with Sophie
Vonotter, have all embraced a
jazzy approach.
But considering that his most
recent solo release’“When I
Was Cruel,” went in a strictly
different album now seems like
a non sequitur.
Costello has described his lat
est album in an interesting way.
According to the album’s theory,
when things go bad in life, they
go south. As he puts it, the title,
“North,” is meant to represent
the opposite of that phrase.
Surely he has much to be hap
py about', including—and most
relevantly—his engagement to
jazz musician Diana Krall.
Unfortunately, this has left
his listeners with a sappy, 11
track love letter to Krall; mak
ing all of the songs sound simi
lar at best. After a few minutes
of “North,” song changes be
come almost indistinguishable,
save a few bright spots of inno
vation scattered throughout the
album.
More importantly, the
straight-up,jazzy sound ulti
mately doesn’t work for
Costello. Despite his years in
the music industry, Costello
does not necessarily possess the
type of singing voice that
should be the sole, featured ele
ment on an album — but his vo
cals are exactly what “North”
emphasizes.
In a way, it seems like he just
lifted Krall’s smooth jazz style
and transplanted it onto an im
petuously released record.
The album does not begin
with a bang, but instead it opens
with a symphonic whimper. By
the time the orchestrated violins
that open the first track, “You
Left Me in the Dark,” have fin
ished playing, “North’: is already
making the listener’s eyelids feel
the opening song does little more
to cure this bout of Costello-in
duced narcolepsy.
Ironically, when the third
track — “When Did I Stop
Dreaming?” — rears its head, the
vast majority of “North” listen
ers are probably immersed in a
dream even as the song plays.
“Fallen” and “When It Sings” fol
low and do little to change or
even excite the painfully dreary
tone.
Thankfully, the album is
stirred awake with “Still,” whose
melody actually resembles some
thing that Costello would have
written in the past. It is jazzy as
well, but the glimmer of
Costello’s previously distinctive
style keeps it from emitting the
same tired sound as its musical
company.
Sadly, at a pitiful two minutes
and 24 seconds, this brief flirta
tion of consciousness is fleeting
to say the least. It ultimately
does little to shake the listener
from the rest of the album’s
malaise.
Four more tracks come and
go, and “North” ends, leaving lit
tle satisfaction and a lot of ques
tions — questions that mainly
concern exactly which direction
Costello’s next album will take.
It seemis that “North” is noth
ing more than a listener-subsi
dized love note that accom
plishes nothing more than one
good song. Well, not unless it en
ters the market as a cheap al
ternative to prescription sleep
aids.
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‘Urban Realism’ visits
Columbia art museum
BY HILARY SCHRAMM
THE HAMMOCK
The Columbia Museum of Art
on Saturday will open its new ex
hibition, “Edward Hopper and
Urban Realism.” Traveling from
the Whitney Museum of American
Art in New York, the show dis
plays influential works from an
important transitional period in
American art.
The exhibition focuses on many
of the major works of Edward
Hopper’s early career. As one of
the most important American
artists of the 20th century, Hopper
used soft brushstrokes and solid,
bold fields of color to portray
scenes of modern city life.
Importantly, Hopper focused on
individuals, often leaving the
viewer with the feeling of isolation
that he used to describe life in his
society.
Hopper was joined in the early
20th century by American realists
known collectively as the Ashcan
School. These artists abandoned
the natural Western landscapes
that had formerly captivated au
diences and instead took inspira
tion from the gritty urban scenes
found in their everyday lives.
Known for their socially conscious
themes and aesthetic renderings
of the constant change within the
city, they combined the soft edges
and hard themes of impression
ism with the realist tradition of
American art.
Works by Ashcan artists such
as Robert Henri, John Sloan,
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
“Queensborough Bridge” by Edward Hopper is one of the works
that will be featured at the Columbia Museum of Art.
and George Bellows round out this
exhibit as complements to
Hopper’s works, exemplifying the
many approaches used to describe
and glorify the American city.
The exhibition represents some
of the strongest works of Ashcan
artists, and is also unique because
of the rarity of Hopper’s early
paintings.
It also portrays an important
turning point in American art.
While these artists kept the classi
cal realist style of previous gener
ations, they created a new genre
that mirrored and even celebrated
American ideals and modernity.
Throughout the course of the
show, the museum will offer many
related programs and events.
These include a “Gallery vfalk” to
morrow at 2 p.m. with Evelyn C.
Hankins, assistant curator of pre
war art and special projects at the
Whitney Museum of American
Art.
The exhibition also features lec
tures by USC professors Brad
Collins and Dan Streible. Collins,
an art-history professor, will
speak October 24 at 7 p.m. about
the Ashcan School. Streible, a pro
fessor of film studies, will speak
on “The Ashcan School at the
Movies” in January.
Admission to the museum,
which is located downtown at
Main and Hampton streets, is $2
for students Wednesday through
Friday and on Sunday. Admission
is free on Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m.
and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m.
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