Did yall see those 7 black accordions stacked on those wooden shelves? Dam! The Cajun segment was done well. The segment right after on Mississippi John Hurt was eye opening. I worked alongside an old black man for about a month doing some manual labor some years ago. His voice, when he talked, was just like John Hurt. I could sit all day and listen to a voice like that. So I went on youtube and researched John Hurt which led me to another black guitarist born in back in 1849 nickname a "LeadBelly". Way older than Amedee Ardoin! Saw a picture of this old black blues singer/ guitar man holding a got dam accordion?! Title of the song was "Where did you sleep last night?" which later turned out to be a Cajun song called "Dedan les pins" (In The Pines). Now I'm starting to see where some of our Cajun music really came from. Old black blues singers. It's all startin to make sense now.
Very moved by Mississippi John Hurt singing John Henry at the end (he recorded it as Spike Driver Blues). What a metaphor! Kind of tragic. The man says that the threat of modernism won't kill him, but it sort of does. But it doesn't if we still sing of John Henry and remember him and love him!
Also liked the segment about Blind Willie Johnson's music being shot into space. Somebody was using their noodle when they did that!
This episode was an hour and a half, a little bit more time to stretch out. It paid off! I had no idea that the Hawaiian segment connecting Maui with blues slide guitar, western swing, Nigerian juju music, and even Pink Floyd would be so interesting.
And then there was the story of the Hopi snake dancers. They would not be denied, and they did it through their music!
Finally, I had always thought of the great Lydia Mendoza as being an ancient, mythical figure, but then it turned out she was born the same year as my mother! Hmmm. Kind of makes me feel half-ancient!