Hi Shane, I'm another of the "black folk into Joni." I appreciate your admiration for this bond. I was introduced to Joni back in 1975 as a freshman in college. I appreciated her because she had "soul." My friend, Jamie Peck (who is white) and I define soul as that thing which gives an artist their individuality. It is that thing which comes from the heart and exudes out of that artist's every pore. When a black vocalist would sing gospel or the blues many years ago, you could hear the emotion come from deep within and flow from their voices. It was a way of expressing one's feelings in the only manner allowed. Mahalia Jackson is one of my favorite examples. Just listening to her heartfelt vocals can bring me to tears. This is why I like Joni so much. She can pen and sing a song with so much heartfelt honesty and openness. She has "soul." Had I not moved out of my familiar environment in Virginia, I'm not sure if I would have had the opportunity to discover her music. The reverse is also true. If the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Led Zepplin, Eric Clapton, and many other rock groups had not stepped out of their familiar environment to discover Rhythm and Blues, their sound would be completely different from what we have heard. The key here is that each of these artists dared to venture from their familiar surroundings. On the same level, Tina Turner dared to step out of her traditional R&B environment to sing what was considered hard rock. She took some flack for that from some of the black community, but she followed her heart and also helped to create another style of music. The most important thing is that though my friend and I are of different races, we are in consensus about what "soul" is. There is the traditional definition which would preclude the term to a particular race, and then there is the other definitions which precludes the term to the heartfelt emotion which rises from the artist's music. There is a female jazz artist (who shall remain nameless) that neither Jamie and I care for because though she sings and plays jazz well, it feels to us as if she is just mimicking the style. There is no emotion to her performance. We both look at each other and say, "She ain't got no soul!" (We also feel the same about Kenny G; I will name him) I am sure there are other people who will say that these two artists touch them deeply, so it will have to remain strictly a matter of personal opinion. Anyhoo, it is very important for people to step outside of their normal boundaries to discover what else is out their musically in the world. To me, it is the essence of creativity, and it is what Joni is best at. She has such a willingness to explore other musical styles and I applaud her for it. By doing so, she creates a new genre. She dares to live, dares to take chances. I would love to hear more about the Canadian-African American connection. I know about the underground railroad connection, but Shane, can you expound on how Canada and African Americans have joined together since then? I am very curious and obviously not very knowledgeable of the history between the two. Thanks for allowing me to share. Sherelle
