Mental Health: Healing Blues.
On Sunday, January 26th, I had the opportunity to attend the Mental Health: Healing Blues and Jazz event hosted by the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church at the Scarritt-Bennett Center. The Scarritt-Bennett Center was a beautiful venue to host the event with its historical and charming architecture and environment. This program aimed to bring awareness to mental health issues through music, specifically jazz and blues. Upon entering the building, they had service tables in front of the mental health event room, offering professional services to those who would like more support. The event was perfect for an afternoon of blues and jazz music. It was warm and cozy and they had food and drinks for the audience to sit back and enjoy the music.
At the event’s start, Crystal Joy was the MC of the afternoon, and she introduced all the artists, including musicians and visual artists. Henry Jones is a spoken word artist who performed with Henry Perry, a harmonica blues musician. The latter session included a performance by jazz vocalist Connye Florance and pianist Kevin Madill. Visual artist and MTSU alumnus Reverend Linda Furtado painted a thought-provoking piece with many vibrant colors throughout the musical performances as well.
The first piece performed was titled “Do Not Lose Your Mind Today,” written and spoken by Henry Jones. Henry Perry performed on harmonica during this piece, adding to the poem’s effects. This piece was quite fun to listen to, with Jones’s deep narrative voice and the added harmonica effects from Mr. Perry. It was a beautiful story of how the mind can spiral into trouble and darkness. The twang of the harmonica creates an almost wild west aesthetic that builds on the intensity of the mind’s troubled thoughts. Perry does a fantastic job of creating tension in the story through this improvisation. It is an excellent piece to describe the current stigma on mental health issues. The negative stigma of how those with mental health issues are unable to overcome their illness. He drew upon this point in his song by acknowledging that this perception must be destigmatized because it is simply not true and that people who suffer from mental issues should not give up.
They performed another piece that featured more of the harmonica. It starts off with Henry Jones narrating the poem describing a metaphorical representation of a person acting as a child throwing a tantrum. Henry Perry then joins in and portrays this child-like tantrum with his harmonica by accelerating through quick staccato notes, denoting a rise of tension of an energetic child dancing around. He does a great job utilizing different techniques. For instance, he would vibrato and slide on the instrument, creating a quick glissando between a controlled number of notes. It was fascinating to hear this be performed live. The long vibratos that Perry communicates demonstrate this longing for peace. The ending also portrays this eventual destination of peace, to which Henry Jones stated, “I am free.” The ending encourages those with troubled souls to seek freedom through God’s gentle grace. Perry ends this piece with another harmonica moment, drawing upon the fun nature and twang of the instrument. Everyone chuckled at his funny outro of the piece.
The following piece is titled “If You Just Smile,” sung by Connye Florance with piano accompaniment by Kevin Madill. Connye beautifully glides her voice across this piece, bringing a soulful texture similar to Ella Fitzgerald. Her dream-like voice transported the audience into a comforting session that made them forget about life’s troubles. Madill’s playing also reinforced her voice, adding to this aesthetic through his superb, delicate playing. Their performance lit up the whole room, spreading many smiles across the audience. They also performed another piece titled “Now Is the Time.” Florance sings a lovely melody, encouraging those with mental health issues to choose today as the time to get help where it is needed. It was very soulful and cheerful, creating a welcoming atmosphere for those looking for healing.
After the event, I checked out some of the tabled services there. Vanderbilt’s Alzeheimer Research Center, healthcare for the elderly, and career coaches from Goodwill were all there and offered great advice and forms for anyone that needed it.
It was a comforting event, with much light and fruit and people willing to work through and help. I thoroughly enjoyed this jazz and blues session hosted by the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. It was a very exceptional performance by these professional musicians, and I hope to listen to them again.
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Christina Vongsiharath was born and raised in Murfreesboro, TN, and attends Middle Tennessee State University, majoring in Music Industry and minoring in Finance. She loves performing and is a clarinetist with MTSU’s Wind Ensemble and Clarinet Choir. She also plays the erhu (Chinese fiddle) and is a part of MTSU’s Chinese Music Ensemble. After she graduates, she plans on attending graduate school for ethnomusicology and wants to become a professor teaching students about non-western instruments.
