From the MPL's website:
A hundred years after his birth in April 1911 and over seventy years after his death, Robert Johnson remains a touchstone for blues artists and listeners around the world. /This program combines live music, recordings, and talk to provide a picture of the world that shaped Johnson's music, the ways blues has evolved in the years since his death, and the factors that have led to him being recognized not only as one of the greatest American songwriters and musicians, but as a forefather of blues, jazz, and rock.
Elijah Wald is a music and writer (and Medford resident) whose books include Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, biographies of Josh White and Dave Van Ronk, and How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music. He has taught blues history at UCLA, performed on five continents, and won multiple awards, including a 2002 Grammy.
