Charles Keil, author of the ground-breaking 1966 book "Urban Blues," will speak on the orgins of the term "blues" and its meanings through the ages in an Oct. 19 Tom Dent Congo Square Lecture.

Date: Monday, October 19, 2009

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: The Jazz & Heritage Center (1225 N. Rampart Street). Map this location.

Admission: Free

On Monday, Oct. 19, the Jazz & Heritage Foundation will present the latest in its Tom Dent Congo Square Lecture Series.

 

Charles Keil, an ethnomusicologist and author of the ground-breaking 1966 book "Urban Blues," will speak on the derivation of the term "blues" and its various meanings through the ages.

 

The lecture is free and open to the public; it starts at 7 p.m. at the Jazz & Heritage Center.

 

Charles Keil is a retired professor of American studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

 

He is perhaps best known for his book "Urban Blues," first published in 1996. The book - considered to be the first serious study of the blues and blues culture, caused a considerable stir when it was first published.

 

Keil examined the expressive role of blues bands and performers, stressing the intense interaction between artist and audience. Profiling bluesmen Bobby "Blue" Bland and B. B. King, Keil argues that they are symbols for the black community, embodying important attitudes and roles — success, strong egos, and close ties to the people.

 

While writing "Urban Blues" in the mid-1960s, Keil optimistically saw this cultural expression as contributing to the rising tide of raised political consciousness in black America. A new Afterword examines black music in the context of capitalism and black culture in the context of worldwide trends toward diversification.

 

What they're saying about "Urban Blues":

 

"Enlightening. . . . [Keil] has given a provocative indication of the role of the blues singer as a focal point of ghetto community expression." —John S. Wilson, New York Times Book Review

"A terribly valuable book and a powerful one. . . . Keil is an original thinker and . . . has offered us a major breakthrough." —Studs Terkel, Chicago Tribune

 

"[Urban Blues] expresses authentic concern for people who are coming to realize that their past was . . . the source of meaningful cultural values." — The Atlantic

 

"An achievement of the first magnitude. . . . He opens our eyes and introduces a world of amazingly complex musical happening." —Robert Farris Thompson, Ethnomusicology

 

"[Keil's] vigorous, aggressive scholarship, lucid style and sparkling analysis stimulate the challenge. Valuable insights come from treating urban blues as artistic communication." —James A. Bonar, The Boston Herald

 

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is proud to welcome Charles Keil as part of the Foundation's Tom Dent Congo Square Lecture Series.