Acclaimed Musician Daryl Davis Visits Campus

One thing I like about St. Lawrence, which I touched on at the beginning of the semester, is their commitment to bringing real-life professionals in different areas of work to campus, especially the arts, to perform for and connect with students. They did a good job this past week, seeing as here in our SLU community we got to celebrate Inclusion and Diversity, focusing on “fostering conversation, reflecting on identity, and celebrating many aspects of intersectionality and diversity.” It’s funny they talk about identity and enhancing communications through conversing with all peers because, this past Thursday, we got the luxury of being in the presence and lecture of a Black historian for a not-so-great time in history, blues musician Daryl Davis. He spent an hour and a half explaining the power of conversation, taking things into your own hands, and connecting with humanity to advance it.

Davis is an entertainer and an author and lecturer on race relations. According to his website, “Daryl is an international recording artist, actor and leader of The Daryl Davis Band. He is considered to be one of the greatest Blues & Boogie Woogie and Blues and Rock’n’Roll pianists of all time, having played with The Legendary Blues Band (formerly the Muddy Waters band) and Chuck Berry. As an Actor, Daryl has received rave reviews for his stage role in William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life.” Daryl has done film and television as well and had roles in the critically acclaimed 5-year HBO television series “The Wire.”

As a race relations expert, Daryl has received acclaim for his book, “Klan-Destine Relationships” and his documentary “Accidental Courtesy” from many respected sources including CNN, NBC, Good Morning America, TLC, NPR, The Washington Post, and many others. He is also the recipient of numerous awards including the Elliott-Black Award, the MLK Award and the Bridge Builder Award among many others. Filled with exciting encounters and sometimes amusing anecdotes, Daryl’s impassioned lectures leave an audience feeling empowered to confront their own prejudices and overcome their fears. “

On March 2, Davis and our fellow SLU Students Max Sabo (drummer), Zachery Effman (guitarist), William “Finn” Paulsen (bassist), and Rafael Escoto (alto-saxist), got to accompany

him and play the famous blues song “Go Johnny Go.” He was able to show off his great skills playing piano but also did a surprise performance on Effman’s guitar, which was epic. Thankfully for me, he not only performed at Peterson-Kermani Performance Hall. On Wednesday, he dropped by the Underground during Improv Lab and we got to practice with him. He told us about music theory and blues, past performances and even informed me, as a piano player, on the origins of the Boogie Woogie Basso Ostinato Blues that’s been mastered, recorded, and replayed by many musicians from the 1940s all the way to 2023. One key gem he told us was how his teacher, Charles Edward Anderson “Chuck” Berry, was the origin of a lot of the great rock and rollers today, from Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and many others. The one that stuck with me as a piano player who played J.D Boogie Woogie, was the origin story of how Clarence Pintop Smith was actually the founder. Smith was in the middle of completing an album when he was shot while playing in a club, and The Dorsey Brothers ended up taking it and making it their own. Thankfully later, credit was given to Pintop for being the creator.

I couldn’t imagine what has gone through his mind being born in 1958, seeing seven decades, and having the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed when he was just seven years old. To think that his musical abilities, personality, and desire to see human harmony actually caused him to approach KKK members and try to dethrone them from their organizations. In fact, he not only thought to do so, but he made a career legacy and progressive history doing so. This just makes it clear to all of us that we can talk at each other, about each other, and against each other, but to evolve as people we must talk with each other. Davis left us with five things that everyone wants to be as a human being: loved, respected, heard, treated fairly, and someone who does the same things for others’ families as they do for theirs. So, try to be like Daryl Davis and acknowledge your fellow man’s desires, seeing as you have them as well, even when it seems hard and y’all might not agree with one another.

If you missed the performance and live talk, you can watch a recorded live stream on the St. Lawrence University website at https://www.stlawu.edu/offices/music/livestream.