US Secretary of State Blinken plays a slow guitar
NewsAt an event to launch a music dipolmacy initiative, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken took up an electric guitar and played, with safe and rather plodding tempi, a Muddy Waters number.
His support acts included Herbie Hancock, Dave Grohl, Denyce Graves and Jamie Barton.
I couldn’t pass up tonight’s opportunity to combine music and diplomacy. Was a pleasure to launch @StateDept’s new Global Music Diplomacy Initiative. pic.twitter.com/6MUfTXO9xK
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 28, 2023
Blinken said: ‘Ee’re opening a new chapter of music diplomacy by launching the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative. This initiative will use music to support inclusive economic growth, to expand access to education, to build more resilient societies, and will start with three new efforts.
‘First, the State Department will begin a new partnership with the Recording Academy. Together we’ll start a mentorship program to bring producers, sound engineers, talent agents, festival promoters, other music professionals together with leading experts in those fields from the United States. We’ll also launch the Peace Through Music Award to celebrate Americans who are using music to support cultural exchange and grow mutual understanding between people across the planet. Tonight, we’ll recognize our inaugural awardee.
‘Second, the State Department is formally incorporating music into the English language classes that we offer around the world. This is one of our most popular programs. So we’re going to include American songs and lyrics in the curriculum. We’ll share our diverse culture. We’ll help students improve their English fluency.
‘Finally, we’re creating a new Fulbright Award for an artist in residence at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. There we’ll have artists and scientists from other nations teaming up with Americans and exploring how to use art to benefit our people, our environment, and our societies.’
Good stuff …
Great to see and hear. Bravo to him! And glad to learn that our State Department is promoting cultural diplomacy. Those of us of a certain generation remember when the US government routinely sent many of our great artists abroad. Think Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, to name just a few.
The US has a short but impressive legacy of musical Secretaries of State, beginning with our first one, Thomas Jefferson, who was a lifelong violinist. More recently, Condoleezza Rice was and is still a gifted pianist, and though she came very late to drumming, jazz aficionado Madeleine Albright can be seen in videos messing around on the trapset. Truman era Secretary Dean Acheson may not have been played music, but he had a musical roommate at Harvard named Cole Porter.
JFK had a classmate named Alan Jay Learner and later ruled his own Camelot.
They could include James Agee’s text of Knoxville Summer of 1915…
It’s a long road from the days of Paderewski to Blinken…………….
That isn’t to say that Muddy Waters wasn’t wonderful in his genre. I loved his music as a teenager, but the Secy of State for the U.S. is not Black, nor is it representative of the semi-aristocratic life he has led and is now leading. Somehow, he doesn’t sound or look authentic. He should have invited a Black musician to play this, instead.
It’s a long road to be sure. I’d stretch the road further back in time to the fiddle player Nero. Blinken riffs while Ukraine suffers.
Margaret,
If Blinken was not black enough to play Muddy Waters, would you also say Condoleezza Rice was not white enough to play Brahms ? Or male enough, or dead enough ?
Let’s skip the racism in both directions, and welcome any musician playing any genre.
Surely ?
A little education for you Ms K. It was white British blues groups e.g.Rolling Stones, Animals, Yardbirds etc who went to America in the 60s and played the music of Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Jimmy Reed etc to American audiences and raised the profile of many blues musicians. As Bonnie Rait wrote “It took the British blues bands who came to America to introduce us to our own genuine folk music”. You might also want to look up BB Kings comments about white guitarists such as Peter Green and Derek Trucks. So stop being an ignorant bigot!
He’s actually quite decent. Good for him!