Re: [Harp-L] RE: Obama Sings Sweet Home Chicago

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

African Islam is thought to have had a strong influence on the music that became blues in America, and those connections are being explored both by academics and by musicians (witness the interest in the late Ali Farka Touré).

Whether we have any Muslim or Black Muslim blues harmonica players out there is an interesting question.

While the president is not a Muslim and has so stated, it's true that he did spend part of his childhood amid Islamic culture. Can anyone detect Islamic-tinged microtones in the three lines of blues he sang on TV?


Winslow

Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
Harmonica instructor, The Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance
Resident expert, bluesharmonica.com
Columnist, harmonicasessions.com


________________________________
 From: Bill Kumpe <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 12:28 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] RE: Obama Sings Sweet Home Chicago
 
RE:  "The president's remarks before the show were excellent.  He
understands the blues."

Raised and educated Muslim in Indonesia and educated at Yale.  Yeah, that's
real blues background.   If you 're singing the blues from the top of a
minaret at prayer time maybe.  

Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, OK