Bluesman AI Generated Stickers

Lately I've been spending way too much time generating images using various AI image generating software.  It is crazy the things you can do.  I tried to generate some of my favorite Bluesmen (and women too), sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not.

Let me know what you think.

It took a few tries, I will show a few more in the next few post.

Bela Fleck - Throw Down Your Heart (2008) - Full Movie

Here is another video/movie about the Banjo. I really enjoy how Bela Fleck goes back to Africa in this video and takes a look at the roots of the instrument. The quote below comes from about page @ Bella Fleck.Com

“Béla Fleck has taken banjo playing to some very unlikely places — not just bluegrass and country and “newgrass,” but also into classical concertos, jazz and a documentary about the banjo’s deep African roots, not to mention the time he toured with throat singers from Tuva. He’s also baffled the Grammy awards, winning for country and jazz in the same year and also winning in pop, world music, classical crossover and, yes, folk. That’s a lot of territory for five strings.”

— JON PARELES, THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Banjo and Black American Folk Music

The banjo is a musical instrument that has a long and complex history in America. The origins of the banjo can be traced back to West Africa, where instruments with similar features and playing styles were commonly used. During the era of the transatlantic slave trade, African people were forcibly brought to the Americas, including what is now the United States, and brought with them their musical traditions and instruments. 

The early forms of the banjo in America were made from gourds, animal skins, and plant fibers. They were played in African American communities in the Southern United States, and were used for a variety of musical styles, including folk music, gospel music, and spirituals. The earliest known depiction of a banjo in the United States was in an 1807 painting by William Sidney Mount, which showed a black man playing a banjo in a rural setting. 

During the 19th century, the banjo began to be popularized among white Americans, who began to incorporate it into their own musical traditions, including minstrelsy and popular songs. The first banjo manufacturing company was founded in the United States in 1850, and the instrument continued to gain popularity in the decades that followed. By the turn of the 20th century, the banjo had become a popular instrument in jazz and other forms of popular music. 

Despite the banjo's widespread popularity, it has also been subject to racism and prejudice over the years. During the era of minstrelsy, the banjo was often associated with negative stereotypes of African Americans, and was sometimes used to caricature and denigrate black people. However, in the hands of skilled musicians, the banjo has also been used to celebrate and preserve the rich musical traditions of African Americans and other marginalized communities. 

Today, the banjo continues to be a popular instrument in a variety of musical genres, including bluegrass, folk, and country. It is also used by many musicians as a way to connect with and celebrate America's diverse cultural heritage. 

Check out this video by VOX "Why this instrument explains Black American folk music" that outlines the history of the banjo.

Ike & Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits (1973)

Here is a question for you, do you consider this a country song, a rock song, or a soul music song. Let me know in the comments.

Frances Taylor Davis, dancer and wife of Miles Davis

 There is not enough time to learn about all the beautiful people from Jazz and dance.  Frances Davis is one of them, I wasn't looking for this video interview.  But I am glad that I found it.  I think you will find it as interesting as I did.

She lived a very interesting life, including her time with Miles, but her dance career was so wonderful.

It is a sad story for those of us who think highly of Miles Davis, he could be such an ass, and in this case he was!

 

Video Notes;

Frances Taylor Davis shares her life history as a pioneering dancer with Katherine Dunham dance company, her marriage to Miles Davis and renewal after as a survivor. Recorded at the Italian Cultural Center, Los Angeles. 50min feature. Jonathan Bewley producer. Rick Bowman videographer. http://snapshotsfoundation.com/

 

Hope you enjoy it.

Jazz And Its Discontents: A Francis Davis Reader

Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Vintage Photo

Here is a vintage picture of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells tweeted from Buddy Guys Twitter account.  

https://twitter.com/TheRealBuddyGuy/status/1336758145822154752?s=20

The Chambers Brothers With Joan Baez - Just A Closer Walk With Thee

This brings me comfort in these crazy times we are in.

Music and Politics

One of my favorite News blogs (at least the is what I consider them) fivethirtyeight.com. I mention that because they are a Stats based site that writes about politics, sports, science & health, economics and pop culture.  They lend the power of statistics to stuff that we often think about.

A July 14 article, titled Hip Hop is Turning on Trump examined hip hop lyrics and how Trump and Clinton are referenced in rap music.

I thought this article was interesting because I was surprised by the response of many of the comments.  I left a comment;

I'm not a fan of most rap (surprise I'm sure to some people who think that Black people are a monilith) but I would also like to know if other music geners make political references, I know that early blues and folk music were often political, and I would guess that a lot of country and western music also have political messages. It would be cool to see you all do some stats on other music genres. Good article, keep up the good work.

Which brings me to a few blues / folk songs that have politics as their theme.

Woody Guthrie -- I Ain't Got No Home/Old Man Trump by the Missin' Cousins - This song is very interesting, From the YouTube notes, "Woody Guthrie wrote these lyrics in 1951, and 65 years later, the Missin' Cousins, a County-Western music group from Oakland California, present a recording of these new lyrics to I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore."

Mr. Hitler - Leadbelly - (notes from YouTube) "Huddie William Ledbetter(Lead Belly or Leadbelly, January 1888 December 6, 1949) was an American folk and blues musician. This song was recorded in 1942.

Big Bill Broonzy - I Wonder When I Will be Called a Man - Includes the lyrics.

John Lee Hooker - Welfare Blues 

Jimmy Dawkins - Walfare Blues  

BB King - Why I Sing the Blues

Some lite reading on the subject;

wikipedia Music and politics Nice overview.

5 best blues songs with political slants Songs by Woodie Guthrie

Got those politician blues.

I usually follow a rule that my mother taught me, don't discuss politics or religion in public.  And since this is a music blog, mostly, that rule is easy to follow.  Unless you like all those Gospel videos I have posted over the years.

So anyway, one of my favorite blues harmonica mentors and all around blues musician Adam Gussow  posted a political post on Facebook.

While I would much rather listen to him playing his harmonica, or jamming the blues I thought he made an interesting point here >>> Adam's Post On Trump Being a Singularity.

It makes for a cool read, and he also posted a video with two of my heroes Neil deGrasse Tyson and Ray Kurzweil.  One for physics (which is probably my religion) and computer science (which is my other religion).

Come to think of it, Adam should be commended just for getting those three gentlemen in one post. (OK, Trump might not be a gentlemen, LOL).

Louisiana Blues - The Best Louisiana Sounds

Tracklist :

00:00 - Clarence Frogman Henry - I Ain't Got No Home

02:19 - Little Walter - My Babe

04:49 - Clarence Garlow - New Bon Ton Roulay

07:38 - Bobby Charles - Take It Easy Greasy

09:50 - Louisiana Red - Alabama Train

13:07 - Muddy Waters - Louisiana Blues

15:59 - Slim Harpo - I'm a King Bee

18:56 - Big Bill Broonzy - Southern Flood Blues

22:12 - Big Joe Reynolds - Third Street Woman Blues

24:52 - Little Walter - Come Back Baby

27:54 - Bobby Charles - See You Later Alligator

30:42 - Slim Harpo - I Got Love If You Want It

33:26 - Lightnin' Slim - It's Mighty Crazy

35:53 - Warren Storm - Mama Look What Your Liitle Boy's Done

38:12 - Lightnin' Slim - My Starter Won't Start

41:00 - Lazy Lester - I'm a Lover Not a fighter

43:42 - Little Walter - You'd Better Watch Yourself

46:45 - Muddy Waters & Little Walter - Forty Days and Forty Nights

49:50 - Louisiana Red - You're Gonna Need Me Baby

53:08 - Big Bill Broonzy - John Henry

56:26 - Big Bill Broonzy - Key to the Highway

59:27 - Guitar Slim - The Things That I Used to Do

01:02:25 - Smiley Lewis - I Hear You Knocking

01:04:56 - Al Ferrier - Hey Baby

01:07:19 - Big Bopper - Chantilly Lace

01:09:42 - Boozoo Davis - Paper In My Shoe

01:11:54 - Muddy Waters - Meanest Woman

01:14:11 – Hawketts - Mardi Gras Mambo

01:16:19 - Earl King - Those Lonely Lonely nights

01:18:43 - Huey Piano Smith - Rockin' New Pneumonia

01:20:55 - Cookie & The Cupcakes - Mathilda

01:24:06 - Lazy Lester - Sugar Coated Love

01:26:50 - Huey Piano Smith - Don't You Just Know It

01:29:17 - Rod Bernard - Pardon Mr. Gordon

01:31:22 - Lightnin' Slim - Rooster Blues

01:33:51 - Frankie Ford - Sea Cruise

01:36:33 - Rod Bernard - This Should Go On Forever

01:39:17 - John Fred - Shirley

01:41:08 - Al Terry - Watchdog

01:43:12 - Joe Jones - You Talk Too Much

01:45:43 - Slim Harpo - Rainin' In My Heart

01:48:14 - Big Boy Myles - New Orleans

01:50:34 - Charles Sheffield - It's Your Voodoo Working

01:52:17 - Clarence Frogman Henry - But I Do

01:54:34 - Jimmy Clanton - Just a Dream

01:57:03 - Warren Storm - Prisoner's Song