To quote,
”
Mississippi
”
Charles Bevel one of the creators and performers of
”
It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues
”
:
”
The blues does not mean ‘black music,’ it means having the courage or audacity to speak to what is in your heart without consulting your head. That human attribute is ‘colorless.’
”
To quote, “Mississippi” Charles Bevel one of the creators and performers of “It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues”: “The blues does not mean ‘black music,’ it means having the courage or audacity to speak to what is in your heart without consulting your head. That human attribute is ‘colorless.'”
The blues can’t be defined any better than that. The production started out as a 45-minute educational program in Denver and then was developed into a full-length show that became a four-time Tony-nominated Broadway show. It ran for 284 performances in 1999 and 2000. It also garnered four Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical Review.
No complicated plot line, no elaborate sets – just seven magnificent voices that blend into the depth of the meaning of the blues and take us into an area that most of us have never thought to enter. More like a well-done history lesson of the evolution of the subject.
Starting with African chants, that incorporate slides and photos the flash on large screens that surround the stage, depicting slaves going through the depravity of slavery, moving 300 years into the 1960s when the “blues” burst out to its fullness in Chicago. The pictures and slides were gathered from the Library of Congress, Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and anywhere a pertinent picture could be found. A profound addition that creates the mood for the songs is offered with love and affection.
“Mississippi” Charles Bevel, Chic Street Man, Alison Ewing, James Monroe Iglehart, Michelle Jordan and the incomparable C. Kelly Wright – all pros in their field – bring the amazing songs to a heart-grabbing experience.
Songs like “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, “I’m Your Hoochie-Coochie Man”, the seductive funny “Crawlin’ King Snake”, the beautifully underplayed “St. Louis Blues”, “Waking After Midnight”, “Let the Good Times Roll.” The controversial “Strange Fruit” that was banned from the airways in 1939 because of its politically incorrect theme came full circle in 1999 and was named the “Song of the Century” by the same publications that criticized it 60 years earlier. (Google for the in depth history of “Strange Fruit” that became Billy Holiday’s signature song. It’s a story in itself.)
You may not have heard many of the 40-plus songs in this production, but once you hear them they will not be forgotten. This was not an ordinary evening of listening to the blues, but a postgraduate lesson in an area that was unforgettable. William Libreratore precisely conducts, manning the keyboard with his most able backup group in the second act.
For a unique enjoyable evening with some very talented people and surprising historical facts on the subject and era, “It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues” brings it home.
