Exhibition Dates: January 28 – March 10, 2012
The African American Library at the Gregory School | 1300 Victor St., 77019
In the clubs, ballrooms, and barbecue joints of neighborhoods such as Third Ward, Frenchtown, Sunnyside, and Double Bayou, Houston's African American community birthed a vibrant and unique slice of the blues. Ranging from the down-home sounds of Lightnin' Hopkins to the more refined orchestrations of the Duke-Peacock recording empire and beyond, Houston blues was and is the voice of a working-class community, an ongoing conversation about good times and hard times, smokin' Saturday nights and Blue Mondays.
Since 1995, Roger Wood and James Fraher have been gathering the story of the blues in Houston. In the book, Down In Houston, they draw on dozens of interviews with blues musicians, club owners, audience members, and music producers, as well as dramatic black-and-white photographs of performers and venues, to present a lovingly detailed portrait of the Houston blues scene, past and present.
In collaboration with the Society for the Performing Art Houston, The African American Library at the Gregory School will exhibit photographs featured from the book, Down In Houston, and programming the entire month of February to celebrate Houston’s impact on the wider American blues scene.
Opening Reception is Saturday, January 28 | 2 PM