William Christopher (better known as WC) Handy didn’t invent the blues -- but he heard them in a deep and understanding way. He figured out how they worked. He wrote them down, arranged them, and did the business of bringing them to the world. Handy’s classic “St. Louis Blues” is one of the most recorded songs ever. But even though Handy’s blues were phenomenally popular, he also strove to secure respect for himself and for other African-American composers. He was one of the first black composers to hold onto the rights to his music, and he published his own and other black composers’ work. In this hour-long radio special, host Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell (of Sweet Honey in the Rock) celebrates the life and legacy of WC Handy the musician, the composer, the arranger, the publisher and the pioneer. |
Dr.
Richard Raichelson, Memphis-based historian, is the author
of numerous publications on the history and music of Memphis including
“Beale Street Talks: A Walking Tour down the Home of the Blues”.
Dr.
Elliott Hurwitt, a music historian based in New York City,
is the author of numerous publications relating to the music of WC Handy
and also serves frequently as a media consultant. Author of “Abbe
Niles among the Jazz Critics," paper presented to Greater New York
Chapter, American Musicological Society, 2001. 
George
Avakian is a producer whose long and distinguished career includes
recording Louis Armstrong and playing WC Handy’s compositions
in 1954. In 2000, he received the Down Beat Life Achievement
Award. Author of "Bix Beiderbecke," an article in The
Art of Jazz (New York: Crown Press, 1960). By the way, that's George
in the photograph above, with W.C. Handy and Louis Armstrong.
Dan
Morgenstern, Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers
University, is a historian, editor, and author of Living with Jazz.
Dr. Carlos Handy, WC Handy’s grandson, is Department
Chair and Professor of Physics at Texas Southern University.
Edwina
Handy DeCosta, WC Handy’s great-granddaughter, is the
vice-president of Handy Brothers Music Company in New York.
Ellis
Marsalis, regarded by many as the premier modern jazz pianist
in New Orleans, is director emeritus of the Jazz Studies Program at
University of New Orleans. He is active as a performer and recording
artist featured on CBS-Sony and his own label, ELM Records.
John
Briggs, a native Alabamian, is vice president of the Membership
Group of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Dave
Gallaher, heritage blues musician, is a member of Microwave
Dave and the Nukes (pictured left), has five albums to his credit, and
appears at music festivals worldwide.
Richard
Johnston, blues guitarist, is known as the Tramp King of Beale
Street. He has worked as a street musician since 1997, appears at music
festivals around the world, and was the subject of a public television
documentary, Hill Country Troubadour.