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THE
EUROPEAN BLUES ASSOCIATION
For
coming EBA events see website: www.euroblues.co.uk
The
European Blues Association
The
EBA is a registered charity formed in 1999 with the main objective of becoming the focus of
activity and research for African American music in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.
“Our
aim is to be 'the resource' for our members and the general public who
are interested in the historical past and the modern progression of the blues.
We are dedicated to the appreciation and understanding of all aspects of the
music and the African-American culture from which it evolved.”
All
EBA activities are educational:
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Providing resources for, and promoting, research and education
into African-American music and its cultural heritage
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Promoting performances of African-American music
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Providing and promoting
educational activities and tuition
The
EBA is a registered Charity administered by a Board of Trustees who include:
Paul Oliver, a leading world authority in the field of academic research on
blues music and African-American culture for 50 years, Dr Amanda Palmer,
ethnographer and sociologist, and founder of The Blues Archive & Blues
Image. The
Development Officer is Michael Roach, musician, and former President of the DC
Blues Society, Washington DC, USA.
There is
an increasing and actively committed base of Annual and Life Associate
Members - currently including residents from the United Kingdom, Holland,
Luxemburg, Belgium, France, Norway, Hong Kong and the USA.
Associate
Members are drawn from a diverse cultural and social background with a wide
range of skills, and in addition to interested members of the public include noted performers in the field, academics, educationalists, radio broadcasters, journalists, etc – all
enthusiasts!
The
Archive of African American Music
Many
individuals have donated or pledged books, journals, historically significant 33rpm and
78rpm records, musical instruments and ‘blues ephemera’ to the Archive,
including the Paul Oliver Collection of African-American Music and Culture.
The
Paul Oliver Collection is a world significant collection of musical recordings, books, journals,
broadcasts, photographs, ephemera and artefacts gathered in Paul's career of over 50
years of research on African-American music. All of these items are rare and
some are unique in the world of African-American music collections. Many of the
items are familiar through having been used to illustrate many books and
magazine articles and in radio and television broadcasts.
The
EBA is actively seeking to expand the variety ands range of the Archive, and is
negotiating with other authors, musicians, photographers and collectors to that
end. The Archive will be housed and displayed at the EBA headquarters in
Gloucester.
Working
with young people
From the beginning, the EBA has
been engaged in educational activities with primary and secondary schools, usually
through workshops showing the African-American
underpinnings of popular music since 1900.
The
John Jackson Youth Scholarship Fund was initiated by the 2001 Blues Week
class to enable young people to attend tuition events organised by the European
Blues Association. Since 2002 the constantly replenished fund has enabled young
people to attend each year for guitar, harmonica,
vocal and keyboard classes and to benefit from spending time with
internationally respected tutors who are current performers of the music.
Working
with the Academic Community
Paul
Oliver and Michael Roach have presented Papers at international conferences on
behalf of the EBA and are also frequent broadcasters, most recently notable
being Michael’s three-part series ‘Deep Blue’ on Radio 4. The
EBA assisted the School of Humanities of the
University of Gloucestershire in presenting the July 2004 conference on the
theme: “Overseas blues” ‘European Perspectives on Black Music’
Working
with the Music Industry
Each year the EBA
sponsors and promotes an increasing range of concerts to further the
aim of ‘education through appreciation of performance’ and has toured noted
African-American performers such as; John Jackson, John Cephas, Louisiana Red, Harmonica Phil
Wiggins and Philadelphia Jerry Ricks.
Working
with performance
The EBA believes that participation
through performance can be one of the key factors in the development and
maintenance of a life-long enthusiasm for music making. This in turn can lead to
the desire for deeper understanding of the cultural history and context that
formed the music.
The EBA has promoted
and organised a range of workshops, Blues Weekends and the annual ‘Blues Week’
residential programme. Participants in EBA tuition programmes have been
drawn from residents of the United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, France,
Germany, Croatia, Norway, Finland, Latvia and the USA.
Tuition offered has included fingerstyle and slide guitar, harmonica, vocals and
keyboard. The following artists are just some of those who have provided tuition
and masterclasses, -from the USA; Tom Ball, John Cephas, Grant Dermody, Mike
Dowling, Keith Dunn, Ari Eisenger, Mary Flower, Paul Geremia, Stefan Grossman, John Jackson, Lazy
Lester, Johnny Mars, John Miller, Louisiana Red, Philadelphia Jerry Ricks, Michael Roach,
Kenny Sultan, and Phil Wiggins,
and from Europe; Ian Briggs, Ashley Dow, Dana Gillespie, Bob Hall, Michel Lelong, Homesick
Mac, Michael Messer, Sam Mitchell, Little George Suref and
Diz Watson.
If you are interested in
participating in, or supporting any of the aims and activities, please contact
the EBA via
info@euroblues.org
Annual
Associate Membership is £20 and Life Membership £200.
Financial
or material donations to the archive or EBA Building Fund, or to the John Jackson Scholarship Fund
for tuition and educational activities are welcomed.
Registered
Office: 135 Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol BS32 4UB United Kingdom
Registered
Charity No. 1090158
Pick
up a leaflet in the Blue Front Blues Room
or
visit www.euroblues.org
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