Lynnée Denise

Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters, by Lynnée Denise, is the second volume in the Music Matters series that I've read and is an excellent work on many levels. I came away with a deeper appreciation and a much better understanding of Thornton's life and career.

I was fortunate as a young child to have been befriended by an older (to my 5-year-old eyes they were ancient, but even asking my parents about them later they were likely in their 70s at the time) couple when I wandered around the neighborhood. I was that inquisitive kid that either irritated or amused adults, and this couple allowed me to spend time in their home and listen to their records with them, which was accompanied by their stories, which made the music that much more meaningful. Their main interests were blues and jazz, which aligned nicely, though from a different perspective, with my father's interests. They were my introduction to many of the blues classics, including Thornton, and I wish I had been old enough to remember more of their stories, since they represented history with the acts they had seen and the events they witnessed.

This volume took me back to that period of my life because of the importance of community and family, biological and/or chosen, exhibited in both. There is no single reason Thornton matters, since she matters tremendously to many communities and often for slightly different reasons for each. Denise explores these explanations in ways both personal and academic (but without a lot of jargon), looking at specific moments in her life and, while acknowledging many prevailing accounts, offers what ends up making far more sense when understood in context.

It is hard to read some of this and not feel some anger, or disappointment, or even shame about how Thornton was treated. By "how she was treated" I am talking as much about historically as I am about the racist society she had to function in/alongside. Hopefully, in addition to correcting the past record, we can direct our emotions into working to make change for the future. In other words, a call to action as well as a call to remember.

One aspect of Denise's approach that goes well beyond simply reading Thornton's life and career is her ability to show the reader how to approach events from different perspectives. A key element of any work that sheds new light on someone or something is certainly shifting perspective, but most of those works simply present the results of their perspectival view. Denise, I found, offers a way into understanding how to find these perspectives that might be different from your natural one, then apply that perspective. Maybe it is just because I found her authorial voice appealing that I found this to be the case, but I think most readers may well discover the same thing.

All in all, I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in blueswomen, music in general, the space where popular culture intersects with societal issues such as race, gender, and sexuality, and biographical analyses of overlooked or misunderstood artists. Hell, I think everyone should read it, period.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mehr)