Ann Arbor Blues Festival Research Project

11/11/2019

https://thirdmanrecords.com/news/ann-arbor-blues-festival-1969-deluxe-edition-details

Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969: Deluxe Edition Details

04/01/2019

It’s great to be at a university with a strong commitment to research and a culture of inquiry. Over the past 14 years, the UWM Office of Undergraduate Research has funded research projects related to Rev. Gary Davis, the Avant Garde Coffeehouse, the Leo Kottke Archives, the 1969 and 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festivals, and a travel grant to the Smithsonian Institution.

The 11th Annual UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium will take place on Friday, April 5, 2019, from 11:45am-4pm, in the UWM Union Wisconsin Room.

At 12:20pm, Nia Keranova and Isaac Repinski will present “Comprehensive Analysis of the Performances of Finger-Style Guitarists at the 1969 and 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festivals” in the Union Cinema.

Please join us!

https://uwm.edu/our/programs/symposium/

02/05/2019

“Ugly” from Robert Pete Williams’ 1966 LP Louisiana Blues, played by Nia Keranova.

As part of our research project, we are transcribing material that represents the distinctive styles of the acoustic finger-style guitar performers who appeared at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969 and 1970.

If you attended the 1969/1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival and have photos, recordings, or recollections, please contact us.

02/03/2019

Albert King performing “Please Come Back to Me” at the 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival. In this clip you can spot photographer Jim Barker, co-owner of the Avant Garde Coffeehouse in Milwaukee — a giant of a man with a big leather hat. His collection of color slides and black and white images became the foundation of our research project. If you saw any artists perform at the 1969/1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival or have any photos or recordings please get in touch.

Video Source: https://youtu.be/JjpDk_J2vpY

01/04/2019

In November, we had a wonderful time discussing our research on Robert Pete Williams and other Ann Arbor Blues Festival performers with Sonia on her show, Blues Drive, on 91.7 WMSE. For the new year we will be continuing our work developing and printing monographs on acoustic blues performers including Robert Pete Williams and Big Joe Williams. Stay posted for more updates, performances, and historical photographs. If you or anyone you know attended the 1969 or 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival or possess any memorabilia, please get in touch. We are now particularly looking for photos and recordings of John Jackson and Son House.

You can find our full interview here: https://www.wmse.org/program/blues-drive/ — Just select show date 11/30/2018.

11/30/2018

Tune in to 91.7 WMSE with Sonia to listen to some pieces played by our students and an interview about our Ann Arbor Blues Festival research.

10/06/2018

From the French documentary En remontant le Mississippi (1973), Robert Pete Williams performs "Scrap Iron Blues" as he recounts the circumstances that led to his arrest and incarceration at Angola Penitentiary. Robert Pete Williams will be the first subject of a series of monographs on acoustic blues performers of the 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival. If you saw Robert Pete Williams perform in the 60s/70s or have any photos or recordings of him please get in touch.

Robert Pete Williams, bluesman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, captured here in the process of improvising a new composition, Scrap Iron Blues, in 1971. Not onl...

09/16/2018

Congratulations to Fall 2018 Undergraduate Research Fellows Nia Keranova and Isaac Repinski. Their project entitled “Comprehensive Analysis of the Performances of Finger-Style Guitarists at the 1969 and 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festivals” will bring together rare archival audio and photographs from the Ann Arbor Blues Festivals, background material on the artists, and state-of-the-art transcriptions of musical passages that illustrate the unique approach of each performer.

They will begin with the development of a monograph on Louisiana bluesman Robert Pete Williams.

If you attended the 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival and have photos, recordings, or recollections, please contact us.

04/26/2018

It’s great to be at a university with a strong commitment to research and a culture of inquiry. Over the past 13 years, the UWM Office of Undergraduate Research has funded research projects related to Rev. Gary Davis, the Avant Garde Coffeehouse, and the Leo Kottke Archives, and a travel grant to the Smithsonian Institution.

The 10th Annual UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium will take place on Friday, April 27, 2018, from 11:45am-4pm, in the UWM Union Wisconsin Room.

Michael Emerson McKinnon will present a summary of his research project at 12:20pm in UWM Union room 240.

Josh Kim and Michael McKinnon: Legacy of the 1969 and 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival

Please join us!

The 10th Annual UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium will take place on Friday, April 27th, from 11:45 a.m.-4 p.m., in the Union Wisconsin Room. The Symposium celebrates the research collaborations of UWM undergraduate students with our faculty and staff. Over 300 students from across UWM will prese...

01/20/2018

Finger-Style Guitar: History and Performance, MUSIC 478

The UWM Guitar Program offers a survey course on the history and development of finger-style guitar. Students learn intermediate technique and repertoire by some of the most influential finger-style guitarists. The performance requirements of the class are designed to accommodate students at a variety of playing levels. The class this semester will feature rare, unreleased media from the 1969 and 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festivals. Visiting artist Calum Graham will join us on April 5.

Spring Semester 2018, January 22-May 10
Thursdays, 5:30-8:10pm
UWM Kenilworth Square East 520, 1925 East Kenilworth Place
Instructor: John Stropes, 262-994-8710, [email protected]

Registration:
1. If you are a UWM student and would like to take this course for credit, please use PAWS to register. Music 478-001 (48276).
2. To register for this class as a non-credit workshop, call the Peck School of the Arts Box Office, 414-229-4308 or visit http://uwm.edu/arts/outreach-events/fingerstyle-guitar-history-performance-workshop/. Price: $250.
3. Those 60 and over may audit the class for free. For information on admission and registration, call the Registrar’s Office, 414-229-6571.

Photo: Big Joe Williams performs at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival. Charlie Musselwhite watches performance from audience. Photography by Jim Barker. Photo courtesy of Jim Middleton. Photo editing and printing by Vianne Robitaille.

01/01/2018

1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival program.

01/01/2018

1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival program.