Blues music belongs to all people, two legendary Chicago blues musicians told about 65 students and Evanston residents Tuesday night.
“It’s no longer a black music,” said Eomot O. RaSunday, 56, adding that he first became committed to the blues after going to a blues club in Oregon filled with white people. “It’s got a very wide range of audiences.”
RaSun and David “Honeyboy” Edwards spoke about the value of blues and the soothing elements of music at the second program on the Block Museum of Art’s series “The Darker Muse: Black Chicago and Creative Suggestion.”
“(Music) soothes your soul,” RaSun said. “It helps lift you from your sorrows.”
RaSun criticized the narrow-minded nature of radio stations, which he believes prevents listeners from hearing different artists.
“We don’t have enough listeners who can hear various artists play this music,” RaSun said. “There’s a thousand and one different musicians who play this kind of music and they’ve never been heard because the media controls the airwaves.
“B.B. King is the king of the blues. James Brown is the godfather of soul. But there are many more people out here who played and still play this music.”
Edwards, 86, spoke at length about his relationship with several famous bluesmen of the early 20th century, including Robert Johnson, who influenced many blues and rock musicians.
“Robert Johnson was a good guitar player; a really good guitar player,” Edwards said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.
Edwards and RaSun performed three songs when the discussion finished. RaSun finished one piece with the line, “Tomorrow will be a better day, ” referring in part to the events of Sept. 11.
Both performers were born in Mississippi. The migration of people from that area to the Chicago helped create the Chicago blues sound.
Edwards moved to the Chicago area in the 1950s. He did not immediately issue as many releases as some of his more famous counterparts, such as Little Walter. But Edwards also said he avoided the excesses of men like Little Walter, who became addicted to drugs and died in a fight.
“He started to live too fast,” Edwards said. “He just got too big.”
The performance gained a favorable reaction from the crowd.
“This has been an absolutely riveting evening,” said Lecturer Ellen Wright, who teaches in the writing program at Northwestern.
Other audience members agreed.
“It is music that speaks to your soul,” said Valerie Browne, an Evanston resident. “It is very inspiring.”
Adam Green, a professor of history and African-American studies, and his associate, Caleb Dube, developed the series to give students and local residents a broad appreciation for black artists in Chicago during the last 50 years, Green said. He called Edwards an “absolutely indispensable and legendary figure.”
