THE BLUES The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture

This well-researched history of the blues and its connection to nineteenth-century Louisiana reveals that the popular music genre was not invented on plantations in rural Mississippi, as is often reported. The author, a Grammy-winning blues artist, says that it was an outgrowth of a well-established Black classical music culture in New Orleans, one that was systematically destroyed by Europeans who were threatened by the achievements of people they thought were inferior. Narrator Adam Lazarre-White has a wonderful vocal tone but narrates too slowly and with unnatural-sounding pauses between phrases. This drawn-out pacing is tolerable because the story is so compelling, but it often makes it harder to keep track of the ideas in complex sentences. Riveting to hear, nonetheless, this is a stunning history of how Europeans suppressed opportunities for Black people in a growing country. T.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2021]