Elijah Wald: Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs, Sporting Women, and Hidden Histories

Elijah Wald is an American folk blues guitarist and music historian. He is a 2002 Grammy Award winner for his liner notes to The Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Box: The Journey of Chris Strachwitz and the author of twelve books including Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties (2015), The Dozens: A History of Rap's Mama (2010), and How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music (2009). He comes to UCLA to discuss his new book where he uses Jelly Roll Morton as a guide to explore how the early history of blues and jazz has been obscured by censorship and cultural misunderstandings. He particularly focuses on the silencing of female voices and viewpoints, arguing that blues was overwhelmingly played for (and often by) women, and in particular women in the "sporting world." Learn about censorship and the ways some stories are told and others are obscured. Q&A and mixer to follow.