Monday, February 1, 2021
By Doug George-Kanentiio
Rumble: Indians Who Rocked the World premiered on PBS two years ago, on January 19, 2019. This remarkable, and long overdue, show featured Indigenous musicians who have had significant impact on contemporary and historical music. While most of the profiled artists are from the 20th century it does prove that aboriginal music is the true “North American” means of harmonic expression.
By watching the documentary we learn that the blues, jazz, rock, New Age and world music have had Native roots. Past composers and stars of Native ancestry range from Charley Patton, the godfather of the blues to the jazz artist Russel Moore and Kay Starr, one of the most prominent country singers of the 1940’s-50’s.