It all begins on February 7 at Radio City Music Hall in New York, when artists from all genres of popular music join with blues legends and contemporary blues artists to celebrate the blues. The entire event will be filmed and turned into a documentary film, directed by Antoine Fuqua and produced by Martin Scorsese. Better yet, the net proceeds from the film will flow into a specially created nonprofit entity called the Blues Music Foundation, which will distribute the concert and film proceeds to blues-education programs around the country and to institutions that keep the blues alive, be it through public programs, exhibits, or outreach initiatives.

Throughout 2003 there will be many other Year of the Blues activities, some of which have been around for years, such as the W.C. Handy Awards and the Chicago Blues Festival, and others that were created exclusively for the celebration. The latter includes the following:

• A 13-part history of the blues public radio series, to be produced by Experience Music Project (EMP Radio) and Ben Manilla Productions
• A traveling museum exhibition called Sweet Home Chicago, which will tell the story of the blues as it moved north in the 1940s to become modern blues. (Sweet Home Chicago opens in Seattle in the fall of 2003.)
• Educational initiatives that will enable the blues to enter into the American classroom by way of exciting teaching strategies and lessons produced by some of the most innovative teachers in America
• The eagerly anticipated PBS series, The Blues, produced by Martin Scorsese and featuring such directors as Clint Eastwood and Wim Wenders
• A companion book by the same name published by Harper-Collins

Blues fans, of course, will relish all these great programs and events. But an important aim of Year of the Blues is to bring new members to the blues community. If you’re a baby boomer, chances are you grew up with some sort of emotional connection to the blues. At the very least you listened to blues-rock made by the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers Band, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. On the surface, it may sound as if most of today’s popular music has little or no blues connection. But the truth is that hip-hop couldn’t have been born without the blues coming first. Some critics have even called hip-hop the most contemporary form of blues.

Young recording artists and music fans need to know this. They need to learn about America’s rich music legacy. American educators need to come to grips with the power of popular music and integrate it into classrooms to help tell the story of our country, particularly as it unfolded in the 20th century. Year of the Blues is the perfect springboard for getting things going. It’s an ideal call to action.

In 2003, America celebrates the blues. You should, too.

Robert Santelli
Executive Director, Year of the Blues

December, 2002