Black History, Music History at Jr. High Assembly

The high point of many a student’s day can be the assembly, time off from class and more time to see your friends, laugh out loud and maybe even learn something new.

Today was one of those high points for students at Healdsburg Junior High, St. Johns and Alexander Valley elementary schools as they heard Marcus Shelby talk about the role of music in Black History Month. Shelby is a Bay Area bandleader, music teacher and jazz musician - he plays standup bass, as he did when the students were getting settled for the assembly.

“What music has the influence of blues?” he asked the students from classes gathered in the school’s auditorium. The answers came from eager raised hands – Rock? Grunge Metal? Mexican? Country? Most of these do in fact have influences from blues, Shelby assured the students, even country: “A lot of blues musicians came from the Memphis area,” he said, “and will often point to those early country singers as important influences.”

Shelby was engaged by the Healdsburg Jazz Festival for this month’s series of workshops and assemblies as part of that non-profit’s education mandate, said festival artistic director Jessica Felix.

“I’ve been working on this [program] for about 10 years,” Shelby said later. “Sharing where American music came from – how various social movements led to various styles, genres, what have to, to get to another place. It’s not only for young people but all ages that needs to be aware of these lessons.”

Added Felix, “ I’ve been wanting to bring this program for many years, Marcus and I have talked about it for a long time, but this year the fundraising came through.”

The program embraces not just 5th graders, like Operation Jazz Band which the Festival has been doing almost since its start 14 years ago, but a wider range of children.  Students in grades 3 -6 at 9 area public and private schools get to hear Shelby talk about the role of jazz in the civil rights movement.

“These kids have heard about Martin Luther King Jr. and maybe Ruby Bridges, but hopefully this way they are learning a different aspect of the civil rights story,” said Shelby. “It’s a new way to open things up to their wonder.”  

Ruby Bridges was a 6-year old in New Orleans who was one of four elementary school students who integrated all-white school in 1960.  “She’s an example of what kids their own age or even younger can do, instead of just leaving it up to the adults,” said Shelby.

Shelby demonstrated some of the different forms of black music in America by playing audio clips of blues moans, call-and-response and other styles. By eliciting responses from the kids, he helped them learn that just because it sounded sad didn’t mean it had to be sad. “The blues allows you to express yourself in any given moment, whether you are happy or sad.”

Of course one of the inescapable influences on black music in America was the very institution of slavery. Not only the hard word and often inhumane conditions that may have accompanied the involuntary servitude, but the impact on families: separation. “Fathers from mothers, mothers from children, aunts and uncles from nieces and nephews” – family ties are among the most important of our lives, he reminded the students, and to lose those leaves a scar.

“Sometimes all you could do was holler – ooo-ooh – and put the sounds out there, letting your mother know that you’re still thinking about her, wherever she is.”

But it was not all “blues” that Shelby talked about. He introduced the basic elements of song – melody, harmony and rhythm – and demonstrated improvisation for the students.

When asked how his one-hour assemblies were going, Shelby replied, “It’s going great. It seems that a lot of these kids are prepared. They know at least a little bit about civil rights either from their schools or their home.”

The HFJ’s Black History Month program continues in several other area schools this week, and concludes with a students-only concert at the Raven on Wednesday, Feb. 29.