As part of VSW’s Community Curator program, we are thrilled to welcome Doug Curry, public scholar and DJ of WRUR’s Blacks and Blues, who has chosen films from the VSW archives as well as other media material that highlights the history of recorded Blues music. For 40 years, Mr. Curry has hosted Blacks and Blues, a 3 hour program of recorded blues music on Rochester’s WRUR 88.5 FM. This weekly radio program highlights not only Blues music, but the history of the people, places, and politics behind the recordings. Listeners to Blacks and Blues are both entertained and educated by the in-depth knowledge and smooth voice of Mr. Curry as he presents the Blues with the scholarly enthusiasm of a lifelong fan of the Blues.

Join us for an interactive screening, lecture, and listening party curated by one of Rochester’s leading experts in the history of American Blues.

PROGRAM PDF

Featuring recordings by:

Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Alberta Hunter, JB Lenore, Guitar Slim, Big Mama Thorton, Joe Beard, Guitar Slim and more.

Suggested donation for all Salon Series events is $5-10. Donations can be made by clicking the links below.

Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins (1969) Courtesy of Flower Films

Preaching the Blues Son House (1977) courtesy of Mark Brady

This Community Curator program is supported by the Rochester Area Community Foundation’s Arts Vitality Fund. 

The VSW Salon is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts and by the ArtWorks program of the National Endowment for the Arts.