Expressive and heartfelt, their music should renew our appreciation of the contributions these people made to music and culture.
It is all quintessential Americana-a mix of homespun blues, gospel, bluegrass, jazz and ragtime, as well as a sprinkling of other genres. Then it hit me-why not zero in on those who were known for the adjective “Blind” in their names? Believe it or not, that still yields at least ten individuals.īelow are a few words about each of those ten, along with links to samples of the music they produced. The problem was, so many black, blind and brilliant musicians grace our history that I had to come up with a rationale for choosing which ones to focus on. Spurred by the Whitaker story, I wanted to write about musicians like him. Their brilliance helped them overcome and develop grateful audiences across all spectrums of race, politics, regions and age.
60 MINUTES MUSIC PRODIGY SKIN
They persevered against both their handicap and prejudice against their skin color. They include names like Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Arizona Dranes, Art Tatum, and Marcus Roberts. This extraordinary young man is one of a remarkable number of musicians in American history who share the three B’s- black, blind and brilliant.
Stories like this are a welcome antidote to the tsunami of divisive, soul-crushing politics that slams us in the face every day. Did you see the jaw-dropping 60 Minutes segment last month about the young jazz pianist and prodigy, Matthew Whitaker? He can play any piece of music after hearing it just once.
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