And another fascinating character was Joseph de Bologne,
Carribean/Afro-French musician and martial artist, but thoroughly
Euorocentric, culturally. A hell of a story, though.
"Joseph de Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was one of the
most remarkable figures of the 18th century. Incredibly, this son of a
slave rose to the top of French society through his mastery of fencing
and his genius for classical music."
http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Page1.html#27
On Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:16:55 -0500, theoj89...@aol.com wrote:
> Robert Johnson seems to have lived mostly in the Mississippi Delta
area -
> one of the greatest exponents of 'delta blues'. The french settled
in
> Louisiana - the next state over, but didn't seem to have populated
this
> area of mississippi at that time. African folk music, brought over
by the
> slaves, is widely thought to be a major influence in delta blues,
but
I've
> never heard that french music influenced them. The french
influence is,
> however, still very much alive in cajun folk traditions of
Louisiana.
Well, to me the huge time span and the huge area of French influence
was
news to me, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Louisiana#French_exploratio
n_and_colonization_.281528.E2.80.931756.29
which says: "The following present day states were part of the then
vast
tract of Louisiana: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma,
Missouri,
Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan[citation
needed],
Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota."
Isn't it strange/interesting/cute/important that African and
European music
had to go to America to meet and mix!?
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