The Blues: “How Can a White Musician Play Black American Music?” Guest: Dr Drew Hart

Mark’s guest, Dr Drew Hart, is an author, scholar and activist. Mark asks Dr Hart what he expects of him, as a White jazz musician who plays Black American Music. Sitting at the piano, Mark shows why the blues sounds like it does. Mark and Drew discuss the origins of the blues and the way the blues is the foundation of almost all contemporary Western music. Can music be a pathway for finding our way home, as a culture in crisis?

Check out:

·      Drew Hart’s book, “The Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism.”

·      Mark’s book, “Improvising Church: Scripture as the Source of Harmony, Rhythm, and Soul, chapter eleven, “The Sins of Our Kin.”

Music played or referenced in this episode:

·      Opening tune: “My Trolley,” composed by Mark Glanville

·      Strange Fruit, composed by Abel Meeropol, performed by Billie Holiday

·      “Oh Freedom,” authorship unknown; passed down orally

·      “Someday at Christmas,” composed by Stevie Wonder

·      Closing tune: “Cherrywood,” composed by Mark Glanville