Congressional lawmakers set musical agenda

A compilation film from the series will be shown at The Butler.
WASHINGTON POST
F COURSE, SOME MIGHT SEE CONGRESS ITSELF as a source of the blues, but this time they're the good guys, part of a concerted team effort to heighten public consciousness about one of the least recognized, yet most crucial genres of American popular music.
The congressional resolution was the opening shot in a massive campaign "to bring awareness to blues history and culture and to show people the vast influence that blues has had on American popular music," says blues historian Robert Santelli, director of the Experience Music Project in Seattle, which has spearheaded the Year of the Blues campaign with the Memphis-based Blues Foundation.
A free preview screening of "The Blues," a compilation film shown only at a few international film festivals, will be offered at 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Butler Institute of American Art, with a reception at 6.
The high-definition presentation in the Butler's auditorium is a natural outgrowth of the museum's mission, said Kathy Earnhart.
"The correlation between American art and the ... the blues is well documented," she explained. "From the works of painters of the Harlem Rennaisance to present day artists, the purely American art forms of jazz and blues can be found as inspiration for American works of art. Art has influenced art, making this program is so appropriate for the Butler Institute."
XA new Web site, www.yearoftheblues.org, serves as a clearinghouse for all things blues. Call (800) 854-4549 for free tickets to the Butler showing.