The San Matean

Issue date: 11/13/06 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Barbara Gale Ethnic studies Professor, Rudy Ramirez jammin' during a solo

Media Credit: David Rout CSM theatre and events manager Helen Souranoff, belts out "Stormy Monday"

Rudy Ramirez, ethnic studies professor, falls in line with blues kingpins Robert Johnson and B.B. King. All three of these men have one thing in common-their passion for the blues.

In efforts to preserve the blues and honor the pioneers who have made the blues an American institution, Ramirez presented "The Blues Experience" to an audience of about 100 people in the Theatre on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.

"The Blues Experience" discussed the history and creation of the blues, and how it influenced western music. After the lecture, Ramirez performed live with one of the Bay Area's premier blues bands, Isis and The Cold Truth.

Ramirez grew up in the multicultural Mission District of San Francisco, and it was there that he learned to appreciate different types of music. However, it was his Costa Rican father who taught him how to play the guitar, mostly Latin rhythms such as boleros and guarachas.

"My father taught me 'Guantanamera,' which is three chords, and one day I had the radio on and 'Louie, Louie' came on and it was the same chords, so I made that connection," said Ramirez. "I then got into playing soul, blues, and rock."

"The blues is about hope-a hope for a better life, a hope for a better tomorrow, and a hope for a better understanding," said Ramirez. "That's why I play the blues."

In his lecture, Ramirez asked the audience to think of a tree that has a trunk, roots, and branches. "The trunk of the roots is the blues, and the branches are everything else that you like that's in modern music," said Ramirez.

The blues indeed go far back in time. In the days of slavery, it was not permitted for African Americans to speak up about the way they were being treated, so they sang and used song as a vehicle, said Ramirez. "They sang about hope. They sang about a better life. They sang about struggle."

As time progressed, the songs of the repressed African Americans evolved, so that by the late 1800s, the Mississippi Delta came out with a certain kind of music called the blues. Ramirez told stories of two blues pioneers who came from Mississippi-Robert Johnson and B.B. King.

In the 1930s, many African Americans from the south migrated north and brought their music with them. Although the blues began in the Mississippi Delta, Ramirez also emphasized that there were other regional scenes where the blues took place, such as the East Coast blues, the West Coast blues, the Texas blues, and the Chicago blues, among others.

"In Chicago, people would go to juke joints and play, but it was really loud because the train would go over them and make a lot of noise," said Ramirez. "They needed something, and by the 1940s, the electric guitar was invented."

By the time of the British invasion of the 1960s, all the British bands-the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals-were influenced by the blues, said Ramirez. Because the white folks loved the British bands, they began to rediscover the blues' origins. "The pioneers, the masters, the protagonists."

"The blues is like soccer-it's not a sport, it's a religion," said Ramirez, after describing how the blues has become an international phenomenon.

Ramirez then introduced some of the disciples of this "religion"-Isis and The Cold Truth Band, who collectively have over 150 years of musical experience. The band consists of drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, and saxophone. Raised on Nicaraguan rhythm and soul, Isis, the leader and vocalist of the group, sings covers of many famous blues songs, as well as her own material.

Ramirez and the band began the concert with an old Delta blues song called "Muddy Waters," which was popularized by Bessie Smith. As the audience was bopping their heads, stomping their feet, and clapping their hands, Isis and her band connected with the audience.

Isis would sing, "Drink muddy water!" and the audience would yell back, "Drink muddy water!"

Ramirez performed an astonishing 45-second solo on his fiery yellow electric guitar that had the audience cheering.

"I was so amazed by Professor Rudy's solo performance," said Juana Talavera, sophomore. "His intensity and his experience in his craft definitely shined through tonight."

A couple songs later, Ramirez invited a special guest from the audience to the stage. Known as Gypsy, this veteran has toured with some of the greatest in the business, such as Elvin Bishop and John Lee Hooker. Gypsy proved to the audience that the older generation can get as down and bluesy as the younger. Together with the band, Gypsy played three blues songs on his electric guitar.

Later in the show, Ramirez invited Theatre manager, Helen Souranoff, to the stage to give a chilling rendition of T-Bone Walker's 1947 song, "Stormy Monday." Souranoff only sang the song a couple times in the past, but sang it as if she has been singing it all her life.

"I've had some traumatic experiences in my life and by singing the blues, I can bring out those emotions," said Souranoff.

As she stripped her guard and bared her soul, Souranoff belted out the climax of the song, "The eagle flies on Friday…," while the audience responded emotionally to the power and emotional depth of her voice.

"It brought tears to my eyes," said freshman Grace Castaneda of Souranoff's performance. "The emotions in her voice pushed me back in my seat while I was watching her in complete awe."

Although Ramirez's lecture/concert series had bigger turnouts in the past, he still described "The Blues Experience" as "magical."

"To make that connection with an audience, that's what it's all about," said Ramirez. "When I'm soloing or when I'm playing, I'm in the zone and I'm thinking there's no place better I want to be or there's nothing better I want to do. It's a spiritual connection."

?Pura Vida!

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