Bradford Has the Blues

Bradford Has the Blues
Posted on 03/07/2016

Parent JP Uva plays guitar

Children dance

To culminate the end of Black History Month at Bradford School, paraprofessional and veteran musician/performer Lewis Robinson collaborated with music teacher Beverly Chisholm, 2nd grade teacher Marcie Chanin and art teacher Vanna Bautista to create an assembly designed to teach students about the history of the blues. The program was entitled "America: Black, White and the Blues.” The faculty called upon three Bradford dads who contributed their musical talents to the event: JP Uva (guitar), Dave Kingsnorth (bass) and Jeff Somerstein (drums).

The program was a mixed-media presentation which included live acting, audio-visual pieces and a live blues band. The focal point of the program was a skit written by Robinson featuring 6 Bradford students who reenacted a scene from the days of slavery, showing how blues music was born from stories of hardship told in a musical fashion through song and dance. One of the highlights of the assembly was the participation of Rachel Bailey's Kindergarten class who demonstrated dancing to the modern blues provided by the band's rendition of the song, "Kansas City."

Photo credits: Rob Davidson, Bradford parent

children perform

The parent band sings while the children dance

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