Teza:  If there was more to this post I never saw it.  Please resend to me.

 

On Mon, Feb 01, 2010 at 04:52:42PM +0100, teza wrote:
> Hi Stephen, whoa, what can I say, went straight to my heart, specially
> from a guy born by the Mississippi, when is coming to talk about blues,
> they know all about it. Yes Stephen I'm French living in Paris, a 100%
> pure frog, but also lived in Australia and great Britain, but I can say
> that since I'm born, I had always love the blues.
> Thanks again
> Teza

Ken:  I'm starting a new post to more fully explain what my compliment to Teza was about.

 

Cape Girardeau (French word), Missouri (Native-American), was founded by French fur traders.  So was St Louis, Missouri.  There is a lot of French settlement throughout the Midwest, which can be verified by the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase

It's not just the Cajuns who settled near The Big Muddy (Mississippi River) and left their mark on the local culture.  :)

 

I don't consume alcohol in any of its varieties.  But listening to the local wine connoisseurs, they make a big deal out of French Bordeaux vs California Bordeaux vs St James, Missouri, Bordeaux, etc.  To an a wine ignorant person like me, it seems that you can take the same grape vines and transport them to a different location; but you don't get the same tasting wine from all the different locations.  Why is that?  And the connoisseurs will start explaining about soil conditions, sun light conditions, and many other factors that make up the regional differences.

 

I propose there is something like that going on with blues music.  Chicago blues is different from St. Louis blues, is different from Memphis blues, is different from New Orleans blues.  And this may seem strange to someone not from this region, given that all of these towns are on the banks of The Big Muddy.

 

I propose that just as in the case of wine, music is strongly influenced by the local climate conditions.

 

Which is why my compliment to Teza is so strong.  I suspected Teza did not grow up near The Big Muddy.  Teza has since confirmed that he is living in Paris, France.  As a person living 1/3 of the globe away from my local region, I am very impressed that Teza was able to capture the spirit and ambiance of music that is so strongly impacted by the 90/90 local weather conditions (that means summer days which are 90+degrees Farenheit with 90+% relative humidty), mosquitoes, tornadoes, poverty, black gumbo clay, and picking/deseeding cotton by hand.  (I'm now referring to the blues coming from St. Louis and the towns downstream to the Gulf of Mexico.)

 

Teza, I think you understood my compliment in the spirit it was given.  You're welcome.  But may I suggest that you don't refer to yourself as a frog, froggie, etc.  If you are a Frenchman, then you are a Frenchman.  Personally, I have never liked being referred to as a Yankee by foreign nationals.  Of course that may have something to do with the fact that Missouri was one of the 4 border states that sent military regiments to both the South and to the North during the War Between the States, or the Civil War if you happen to come from a town north of the Mason-Dixon line.  :)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason-Dixon_Line

 

Best,

Stephen.