By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk
A loose collection of whatnot.
1. The Boy Illinois.
–
More.
2. Jim DeRogatis on Pussy Riot, Rage Against The Machine, Vladimir Putin and Paul Ryan.
3. “In the 1920s, the sound of music in the black church underwent a revolution. Standing at 40th and State Street in Chicago, Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ was a witness to what occurred,” NPR Music reports.
“The high-energy gospel beat of the music that can still be heard in this Pentecostal church is the creation, music critics say, of Arizona Dranes, a blind piano player, a woman who introduced secular styles like barrelhouse and ragtime to the church’s music.
“The Chicago studio where Dranes recorded her music in 1926 no longer exists, but when she played her music at Roberts Temple, she influenced people like 11-year-old Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who sat in the congregation and would go on to become a gospel superstar.”
Click through for the rest.
4. “Artis’s Lounge – a landmark blues club on the South Side for nearly 30 years – has lost its lease and closed,” the Tribune reports.
“The congenial spot, at 1249 E. 87th St., had been a blues nexus featuring live shows Sunday and Monday nights. It attracted neighborhood regulars, local music devotees and visitors from around the world who wanted to sample authentic Chicago blues.
“The shuttering of the place, last Monday, also has brought to a finish a 28-year run by Chicago blues master Billy Branch. The harmonica virtuoso played weekly at the club – when he wasn’t on tour – in one of the longest sustained club engagements in recent Chicago history.”
*
Billy Branch, 1977.
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on August 21, 2012