University of Virginia Library

Prism Attracts Artists

By Bob Crawford
Special To The Cavalier Daily

Being asked to write an explication
of a musical style is in itself a rather
arduous task, especially if that
style happens to be your own, and
moreover, if you don't particularly
know how if to categorize it.
However, an analysis of musical
style inevitably entails a discussion
of musical influences, so that seems
as good a place to begin as any.

A facet of Charlottesville which
tends to be ignored, or goes unnoticed,
is its abundance of musical
talent. For example such artists as
Richard Farina, Caroline Hester,
Joan Baez, Paul Clayton, and Bob
Dylan have spent a considerable
amount of time here. In fact,
Dylan's hit single in 1966, "Positively
4th Street," was written
about Charlottesville by either
Dylan or Clayton - the actual
identity of the composer still remains
in doubt. I first realized only
some of the incredible talent in
Charlottesville in my association
with the Prism coffeehouse. Since
that time, however, the influence of
the Prism on the musical life of
Charlottesville and the influence of
the musical life of Charlottesville
on the Prism has been so profound
as to have influenced many of the
people who have had the opportunity
to associate themselves with it.

Contemporary and traditional
folk music and blues were the
primary forms of music performed
at the Prism, at least they were
when I first arrived here. As the
Prism grew in style and scope, a
great many more musicians were
attracted to the coffeehouse, bringing
with them their own various
musical ideas.

As the number of musicians
grew, so did the number of personal
acquaintances. Among these were
Eric Sigmund, Cooper Norman,
Michael Gowen, Bob Akin, and
Chet Blakistone. Jam sessions, exchanges
of ideas, and technical improvements
were inevitable. As
music itself progressed so did the
ideas of the Charlottesville musicians
- and so did the ideas of the
Prism Coffeehouse.

It is through the Slithy Toves
that I became friendly with Chet
Blakistone, who will be playing
guitar, flute, and bass Saturday
night. Chet's and the Toves' jazz
influence greatly broadened my
outlook of music, and served as an
additional ingredient with which to
experiment and incorporate into a
jazz-blues-folk type of musical
form, which will be performed
Saturday night. The music employs
the elements of traditional blues,
contemporary and traditional folk,
and jazz currents in various combinations.

Songs such as "San Francisco
Bay Blues" and "Daddy Walked in
Darkness" employ traditional blues
guitar lines with a very jazz-oriented
bass. Others such as the
"Mobile-Texas Line" and "One
For My Baby" concern themselves
with jazz and blues guitar lines
intermingling simultaneously. By
far the most interesting, however,
are the songs which employ traditional
folk guitar with a jazz bass.
Songs such as "Four in the Morning"
and "The Earl King" provide
for a kind of musical texture which
is difficult to categorize. At first
glance, it seems as though the two
would seem incompatible. However,
the tunes are designed in such
a way as to involve the elements of
uniformly ascending and descending
bass lines with chord and flat-picking
progressions in addition to
contrary motions of guitar and
bass. The result is a strange, far
reaching, but coherent musical texture
which is difficult to describe
unless experienced.