Buddy Moss Green, the type of image of the blues given in the music history of the play[/caption]It was a balmy evening in Portland, Oregon on Sunday and at the local downtown theater was a performance based on the blues that made folks want to dance, sing and celebrate, as the crowd was doing tonight.
Portland, Oregon inherited a number of jazz musicians from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. As a result, it now has a solid fan base for jazz. Every summer Portland has a major jazz concert and is known to be one of the best venues for jazz on the West Coast. That's because that fan base extends to almost everyone who appreciates good music in the authentic way it is performed in New Orleans. That city, of course, birthed many of the blues musicians, and is often the topic of songs that are identified with blues and jazz.
It Ain't Nothin But the Blues played to a packed audience at Portland Center stage Sunday night. This was its final performance in the town. The play looks at the history of the blues from its African roots and continues the thread of discovery through mountain music and those other music forms that are derived from the blues and gospel identified with African-Americans. But the musical. But the play makes sure that folks recognize the blues as a form of musicthat belongs to everyone. Even so, its heart beats in the black culture of America
A fine cast that included Mississippi Charles Bevel, Eloise laws, Sally Mayes, Sugarray Rayford, Chic Street man, Jennifer Leigh Warren and Trevor Wheetman presented the kind of performance that brought the audience to a standing ovation several times. Classic favorites included Danger Blues, Black Woman, Child of the Most High King, St. Louis woman, Sweet home Chicago, and Crawling King snake as well as rendition of Good night, Irene in a rocking blues form. Many other songs rounded out the program that gave the audience an opportunity to see some talented performers sing these traditional songs in ways that were thrilling to the audience and blues fans. A standout performance by Jennifer Leigh Warren of Strange Fruit showed serious skill of the vocals in this musical. The rest of the musicians were of the same category of wonderful
So if you're in a town where It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues is offered, waste no time to get a ticket for one of the best performances you will find anywhere, and the joy of listening to your favorite blues songs by some of the best musicians around.