Unpublished interview - Essie Mae Brooks
Essie Mae Brooks onstage at Lincoln Center in New York City, August 22, 1998 © Linda Vartoogian / Getty images
By: Joe Farmer Follow
4 min
In 1994, in North Carolina, an American couple, Denise and Tim Duffy, decided to create an association to help black musicians in need.
Thus, for more than 25 years, the "Music Maker Relief Foundation" has materially and psychologically supported artists in need.
Some of them have found the strength to go up the slope and, sometimes, even the way to the studios.
Among these bruised souls, singer Essie Mae Brooks, now in her nineties, made a strong impression.
His voice, deeply rooted in gospel culture, narrates all of African-American history, pain, rebirth, hope.
In Paris, in June 2008, she told us with grace her destiny guided by an unshakeable faith.
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Many African-American musicians struggled to survive in the segregationist America of the twentieth century. Who remembers Guitar Gabriel, Precious Bryant or Captain Luke today? Few people… Thanks to the constant efforts of the "Music Maker" foundation, these artists escaped a miserable end of life. With the support of various labels, including Dixiefrog Records in France, the names of these forgotten artists have resurfaced in the musical landscape of our time and have aroused the interest of fans of authentic blues. Robert Finley, Les Como Mamas, Big Ron Hunter or Alabama Slim were thus rediscovered by an audience which today acclaims the moving expressiveness of their music.
To promote the recordings of these valiant instrumentalists, Tim Duffy and his teams set up, over the years, transatlantic tours.
Thus, in June 2008, the "Sisters of the South" brought together Pura Fé, Beverly "Guitar" Watkins and Essie Mae Brooks.
Concerts were held in France, notably in Paris at the Duc des Lombards, as a prelude to the publication of a double album celebrating ladies of the blues whom history had neglected.
This is how we were able to discover, at the time, the talents of Cora Fluker, Cora Mae Bryant, Algia Mae Hinton, Willa Mae Buckner, Etta Baker, Annie Griggs, Lucille Lindsay, Sweet Betty, Pauline Goings and Marie Manning , among others ...
Some albums edited by Music Maker.
© Music Maker Relief Foundation
When we saw singer Essie Mae Brooks arrive at our studios on June 20, 2008, a real bow was in order.
This frail pious woman, then aged 78, seemed shy and surprised to raise so many questions but her voice, however scratched by the tests of time, remained intact.
His sincere speech made one shudder.
She spoke candidly about her journey, her idols (Martin Luther King, Mahalia Jackson) and gave us a lesson in absolute humility.
When she began a religious hymn at our microphone, without any repetition, the attention and respectful silence of RFI's technical teams attested to the value of her interpretation.
A rare moment of truth captured in vivo!
⇒ The
Music Maker Relief Foundation website
Essie Mae Brooks at the Apollo Theater, New York, May 17, 2012. © WireImage - D Dipasupil / Getty images
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