Music speaks to us all, in one way or the other. You might even consider it as something ‘universal’. In the latter half of the 19th century during the ‘rock n’ roll’ revolution numerous artists were brought to the forefront of the world stage who now have been immortalized in our memory for eons. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Unholy Trinity of Britain (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath), Pink Floyd etc.
A superficial glance into the past will reveal these well-known names (not to take the spotlight away from these legendary groups) but not their forerunners, their inspiration. The jazz and blues artists of the former half of the 19th century. Robert Johnson of the crossroads who influenced Zeppelin to no end, Elmore James whose style with his slide guitar was something carried onwards by men like Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King who was approached by Eric Clapton to produce Riding with the King (an album whose name alone stands as testimony to the magnanimity of these people who performed in racially segregated joints in southern United States throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s). These people brought joy to not only their people, but their beautiful sounds were heard all over the world.
I am toying with the idea of making a short documentary because to understand the aesthetics related to music, it must be heard first. The reason for delving into this particular topic is not just because it is prudent to the prompt of the final project but also because these artists have helped me through particularly difficult times. The latter has helped me better understand the context of their work back then and to better grasp the essence of the influence they have had on future artists. When I think about the ‘aesthetics of decolonization’, my mind jumps, instinctively, to a mental image of Robert Johnson sitting on a stool with his guitar in a juke joint in Mississippi. My project will also be a sifting of the range of emotions the music brings about in me and uncovering the links to the context of the course. At the end of it all however, the project would aim for and ultimately find the true beauty of their music and where it comes from. Sources will range from studio albums and lyrics of songs to old interviews of particular artists, covers by future bands, their interviews and references in their music to these earlier artists.
Decoloniality and Decolonization 