Have you seen the Rigoletto Blues?

V.Lind says:

That’s a hoot. Thanks!

william osborne says:

Such extraordinary creativity and musicianship. Their work is an interesting example of the complex subtexts that can exist in musical performance. There’s a discomfort in what might be termed the Amos-and-Andyism of some of their performances – the later evolution of the minstrel tone common in the 40s and 50s. As was characteristic of so many black performers of the time, including even Louis Armstrong, they had to play a low status game, an affected persona of inferiority that stood in contrast to obvious musical genius. The subtext of the subtext is that they still somehow managed to convey their dignity, a layer of anti-racist irony on top of the more obvious self-demeaning ironies required of them. Or at least for those with the eyes to see it.

I think there was also a class version of the same thing (though not nearly as severe) directed toward rural whites in variety shows like Hee Haw, The Beverly Hill Billies, and The Grand Ole Opry. One might term it whites in rural whiteface. There might even be an opposite corollary in magazines like The New Yorker, the self-consciously affected whiteface that represents the persona of the uban white sophisticate. That affected, quasi British accent used by some announcers on NPR and PBS (especially when donors and advertisers are listed) seems to be the same thing.

We see that among other things, performance is an expression of status.

So it’s no surprise that the Delta Rhythm Boys and many other black performers, and even white jazz musicians began leaving the USA in the mid 50s to live in Europe where they did not face the same kinds of racism and/or were embraced by societies organized in ways that better supported cultural intelligence.

Anyway, I’m truly thankful that we have these videos and recordings of such fabulously gifted musicians.