[Slowhand] (OT) SAVING DALLAS BLUES: If not, we'll always have our records....

[An English Boy]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-gromer_30edi.ART.State.Edition1.24c57dc.html

Gromer Jeffers Jr.: Losing the Dallas blues

Don't let this American art form - and our city's cultural heritage - just
slip away

July 30, 2006

A small band of people filed past the jukebox at Booker's Arandas Club in
South Dallas and sat at the bar.


>From there they could see the vintage portraits of blues legends like Z.Z.

Hill, Johnnie Taylor and Little Joe Blue. With the club's license gone, Greg
McGill couldn't serve liquor, so he flashed a smile, assuring patrons that
Arandas, which had been one of the last standing raw blues venues in the
city, would be back.

These are sad times for blues in Dallas.Once a mecca for the gritty, urban
music that became known as the South Dallas sound, the city has but a small
handful of blues venues. And those places are rarely true to the blues,
having to lean heavily toward rock or pop influences to satisfy a clientele
that's become disconnected from the authentic African-American art form.

That's forced numerous blues performers still calling Dallas home to travel
elsewhere, most notably to Europe, to work their craft and earn a decent
living at it. They either have to leave the city or make do with the paltry
pay most club owners offer traditional bluesmen.

Blues in Dallas is past a crossroad. Absent a miracle, it faces certain
death.

"Change is constant. People from the '40s and '50s were saying the same
thing about blues from the '20s," said Brett Bonner, editor of Living Blues
magazine. "They said Muddy Waters doesn't sound like Son House. The tastes
of young music listeners have changed."

The current evolution of the blues sound is more radical than at any time in
its history. In the Dallas area, that change has nearly wiped out the genre.

There was a time when Dallas blues was known all over the world.

In the first half of the last century, Deep Ellum was home to the likes of
Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, T-Bone Walker, Mance Lipscomb,
Alex Moore, Charlie Christian and Huddie Ledbetter, better known as
Leadbelly.

Robert Johnson, who legend says sold his soul to the devil for unrivaled
talent, cut his landmark 1937 recordings at 508 Park Ave., three blocks from
City Hall.

In the 1980s, when the post-World War II blues revival had succumbed to the
more popular soul sounds of Motown, Atlantic and Stax Records, Dallas-based
artists like Z.Z. Hill and Johnnie Taylor kept the genre afloat. Mr. Hill's
1984 Malaco album, Down Home Blues, reintroduced prodigal fans to the music
and injected fresh sounds and urban storytelling that attracted new
listeners.

Though on life-support, that sound still can be heard in Dallas today, but
you have to look hard to find the performers.

"There were so many awesome musicians in Dallas," said bass guitarist Hal
Harris of Hal Harris & the Lo Lifers show band. "They're still around.
Sometimes, it's just hard for them to find work."

True blues artists that still play around Dallas include Tutu Jones, Andrew
"Jr. Boy" Jones and Lucky Peterson. The bulk of their exposure, however,
comes from gigs out of town.

The illness that's killing the blues is not hard to diagnose. Young
listeners, particularly young blacks, don't like it. They prefer hip-hop or
R&B. For them, blues is considered antiquated and irrelevant. Others lament
what they consider depressing or sad music, not realizing that, at its best,
blues provides a healing stream to a listener that's both therapeutic and
uplifting.

"There is certainly a large contingency of younger African-Americans who
have zero interest in the blues," Mr. Bonner said. "They just hate it, and
for many, it represents a time they want to be past. For others, it's not
relevant for anybody but their grandmother."

Young African-Americans have oversimplified the message in the music. Blues
is more than sad songs about someone's baby leaving him or her. And even in
those gritty tunes, the precision and technical mastery of the musicians are
far superior to anything put down by artists who play the shallow R&B
frequently heard on black radio. In the traditional South, where blues still
gets significant radio play, younger listeners have learned to appreciate
the sound. That's why most of the under-40 blues musicians hail from the
Delta.

The terminal state of blues has occurred somewhat naturally. Music
constantly evolves; no one listens to the ragtime music of Scott Joplin
anymore. And the modern country sound has trumped the music played by Patsy
Cline and Hank Williams. Who would you rather see in concert, B.B. King or
Beyoncé Knowles? It's certainly hard to find Mr. King's or any blues
musician's music on the radio.

But despite its drop in mainstream popularity, blues still has a toehold in
some cities.

Younger performers like Sir Charles Jones, San Antonio's Mel Waiters and
Chicago's Willie Clayton tried to inject R&B elements into traditional blues
without losing too much of the original sound. Mr. Waiters' breakout hit,
"Hole in the Wall," was powered by radio play in Houston. And the places Mr.
Waiters describes in his songs are reminiscent of modest haunts like RL's
Blues Palace, the club that features the last vestiges of South Dallas
blues.

Some cities have found unique ways to keep the music playing. Chicago,
Kansas City and cities in the Mississippi Delta all have marketed their
trademark sounds. Beale Street in Memphis has introduced blues to new fans
and generated tourist dollars. The clubs on Chicago's North Side are
touristy, but they keep the many blues artists who migrated there working.
Chicago's legendary Checkerboard Lounge, once home to Buddy Guy and Junior
Wells, has reopened in the hip Hyde Park neighborhood.

So what about Dallas?

There's talk of a Texas music museum opening in Fair Park next year, but
that won't result in more performances or radio play for blues. To that end,
City Council member Leo Chaney Jr., who represents South Dallas, has pushed
for the establishment of an entertainment district near Fair Park. He's
secured $500,000 for the effort. But Mr. Chaney leaves office in May, and
his dream of a place to showcase blues and soul music is in jeopardy.

"Blues can survive here," Mr. Chaney said. "But we have to promote it more.
We have to market it."

It's going to take bold action from city leaders and the private sector to
save Dallas blues. That means more public dollars earmarked for the
preservation of blues and other history related to Dallas.

Blues is not just another form of entertainment. It speaks directly to the
history and culture of African-Americans in Dallas and elsewhere. The works
of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly and others provide insight into the
heritage and evolution of a city.

More broadly, while many influential people understand the importance of
subsidizing classical music performance as a way to keep our cultural
heritage alive in difficult times, they are slower to grasp that the blues,
like jazz, is one of two wholly original American music forms. It deserves
the same level of respect and support from an enlightened cultural
leadership that knows the true value of art is not determined solely by the
marketplace.

Sure, non-blues enthusiasts could argue that taxpayers have no business
subsidizing projects that feature a fading genre. And the political climate
in Dallas is not conducive to giveaways of any kind - the city's budget
seems to tighten every year. But a clean, safe entertainment district could
revitalize blighted areas, generate tax revenue and provide a venue where
blues could be reintroduced to a city where it once thrived, and could
again.

To that end, just as restaurant owners from New Orleans were given special
incentives to locate in Deep Ellum, club owners should receive help in
developing blues venues there and in the southern sector.

Still, the greatest action to save the blues must come from music lovers and
bar owners. Fans should seek out clubs that feature the blues and support
them with their dollars.

It won't be easy. Some blues joints are in dangerous areas, so club owners
must provide security, lighting and parking. Owners also have to feature
quality acts instead of spending a couple of hundred dollars on crap.

And audiences should appreciate the authenticity of the blues and not force
musicians to make forays into stale pop offerings. Please, give the music a
chance.

If everyone does their part, we can enjoy blues for a little while longer.

If not, we'll always have our records.