Category Archives: Cultural Heritage
Celebrating Roberta Flack
A child prodigy, Roberta Flack began studying classical piano at age nine. Flack got her big break while performing at Mr. Henry’s Upstairs, a jazz club on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
American Masters: Roberta Flack tells Flack’s story in her own words. The documentary features interviews with, among others, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Angela Davis, Valerie Simpson, Les McCann and Peabo Bryson.
American Masters: Roberta Flack premieres on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 9pm ET. The documentary will be available on PBS, PBS.org and PBS Video App. Check your local listing here.
Origin of the Blues
The King of the Blues B.B. King famously told us why he sang the blues.
Legendary blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker contemplated an Origin of the Blues flow chart.
The Queen of the Blues Dinah Washington said “the blues ain’t nothin’ but a woman cryin’ for her man.”
Whatever the origin, all I want to hear is some down home blues.
Gospel Music Heritage Month 2022
September was designated Gospel Music Heritage Month by Congress in 2008. Rooted in the African American oral tradition, gospel music helped us get over.
On Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 2:00 pm, the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University will hold a panel discussion focusing on gospel pioneer and 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
The panel discussion will be moderated by Dyana Williams, National Museum of African American Music board member. Panelists include Louis Massiah, documentary filmmaker and founder of the Scribe Video Center; Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter and arranger Dana Sorey; and Rev. Joseph Williams Jr., an original member of the Sons of the Birds.
The program includes a performance by singer and songwriter Treena Ferebee. The event which will be held at Bright Hope Baptist Church in Yorktown is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged. To register, go here.
DownBeat Readers Poll
The 87th annual DownBeat Readers Poll is open for voting. The first DownBeat music poll was published in 1952. Past winners with Philadelphia roots include John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Lee Morgan, Jaco Pastorius, Sun Ra, Bessie Smith and Jimmy Smith.
Voting is open to subscribers of DownBeat magazine or their free weekly newsletter.
The Blue Note Show
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. So I will close out Black Music Month with “The Blue Note Show” which aired on PBS’ Soul! television series on January 26, 1972.
The episode featured Blue Note Records artists Horace Silver, Bobbi Humphrey, Cecil Bridgewater, Bob Crenshaw, Billy Harper, Harold Mabern, and Andy and Salome Bey. Philadelphia natives Lee Morgan and Jymie Merritt, and long-time resident Mickey Roker were in the house. At 33:58 Silver tells host Ellis Haizlip that he formed his quintet after “the fellow that owned the Showboat in Philadelphia called me and said he wanted me to get a group together and come in for a week.”
Lee Morgan’s appearance on Soul! was one of his last performances. He was shot and killed less than a month later. But his legacy lives on. We have nominated the legendary trumpeter for a Pennsylvania historical marker. We are hopeful the nomination will be approved when the committee meets in September December 2022.
All That Philly Jazz 