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Perhaps the greatest living blues singer today is B. B. King. Listen to his performance of "Everyday I Have The Blues." How has B. B. King taken the blues progression and updated it to contemporary times? Is it possible to have the blues everyday? Discuss or explain your answer. |
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David Margolick's "Strange fruit: Billie Holiday, Café Society, and an early cry for civil rights" (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2000) is an excellent exploration of the times surrounding the making of this extraordinary song. After reading this book, how have your views of this song changed? |
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"Wild Women Don't Have the Blues" (San Francisco, CA : California Newsreel, 1989) is a documentary about women blues singers in the 1930s. It is a delightful and informative study of the women who really "made" the music. Why have these performers disappeared today? |
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Paul Whiteman commissioned George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Though many of us are familiar with this piece few have actually heard the original version of this piece. Listen to it on Historic Gershwin Recordings (BMG 63276) and discuss how the original sounds compare to the typically "slick" orchestral versions appearing on CDs today. Do you think the original sounds more like jazz? |
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Gershwin's "American in Paris" was originally a concert piece that was later turned into a movie starring Gene Kelly (Warner Studios DVD). Listen to the concert version first and compare it to the film — are they in agreement with each other? |
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