Word: tigrett
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...blown away by the article on the [nightclub and restaurant chain] House of Blues [MUSIC, July 1]. I could not believe that its founder, Isaac Tigrett, suggested the black community had turned its back on the blues music genre. How could this middle-aged yuppie white man make an intelligent assessment of the role blues has in our community? Blues is a result of the racism, poverty and hopelessness felt in the black ghetto, experiences Tigrett has never been familiar with. For the record, blues music was never ignored by the black community; it has simply manifested itself in different...
...When I asked an older gentleman why more in his community didn't attend, he put his hand on my shoulder and said solemnly, "Son, my people have been livin' the blues for 200 years; most see no sense spending their time listening to it." I agree with Isaac Tigrett's comment that it is a tragedy "the black community abandoned the blues and the audience became white." Bravo to Tigrett for taking this American art form out of the little clubs and into the world! PHIL LOBEL Los Angeles
Perhaps the sharpest criticism leveled against the clubs has been the charge that Tigrett is ripping off African-American culture. "The blues has been followed religiously by a small group of people for years who had more personal than financial gain from the music, and they stuck by it for years when it didn't make any money," says Mike Kappus of the Rosebud Agency, a management company that represents bluesmen John Lee Hooker and Robert Cray. "It's a very real, emotional music. If Isaac has a true love for the music, he has to be very careful about...
...surprisingly, Tigrett sees the situation differently. "The black community turned its back on the blues," he says. "Black intellectuals said, 'Blues, man, that's some rag-tag man singing on a front porch. That's poor self-image, singing in broken English.' And from 1963 to 1973 the black community abandoned the blues. The audience became white, and that was a tragedy." These are claims black and white blues lovers might question. But in an effort to show goodwill, Tigrett is trying to broaden the audience for the music he loves. HOB provides high-school seniors with college scholarships...
...Still, Tigrett seems to revel in being the bad boy of the blues, the Dennis Rodman of an authentic American musical form. "I came to the Blues Foundation symposium last year, and one of the lectures was titled: 'Isaac Tigrett, House of Blues: Devil or Angel?' " says Tigrett with a laugh. "And I went down there, and I said, 'I am the devil.' I said, 'I'm going to take this music and take it away from small-minded people who want to keep it in dirty little clubs. And I'm going to do what I do best...