October 20, 2006: Idiosyncratic Origins: “Roots and Fruits” part 1– Native American Jazz

Blues musician Willie Dixon famously noted of the history of American music that “the blues are the roots, and the rest are the fruits.” This show begins with that premise but investigates some alternative roots besides the blues, and the music that developed from those roots. Standard histories of jazz typically describe the blues as “evolving” into jazz; the problem with this is that it takes Dixon’s “roots” metaphor and kills the original plant. That is, if we assume that jazz evolved from the blues, then that makes the blues a dead form. In reality, the blues continued to develop its own variations, even after jazz was developed in tandem. (A future edition of The Friday Riff will explore this more nuanced version of jazz/blues history). Since this show was originally recorded on Columbus Day, our Friday Riff jazz origins show begins with the sounds of Native American music, and then looks at Native American jazz musicians and the way Native American music has influenced jazz. Includes readings from Dick Hebdige, John Szwed, and others.

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