Letters for September 13-19, 2007

When I look at the rich heritage of African-Americans, it makes me want to scream that they don't support the practitioners and innovators of jazz, blues, and classic R&B. It's the richest vein of music I know. It encompasses gospel, blues, funk, jazz, country, and soul. Soul itself is endless in its permutations. I hear the echoes of it in the late Charlie Rich's voice and piano. Whites can play it, but the giants are almost always African-American.

It's just about gone, and we are much the poorer for it. It could become like New Orleans jazz, which survives as a live music only in the karaoke of what became known as "Dixieland" music. The spark is gone; only the cliché is left behind to indicate the enormousness of Louis Armstrong's contribution.

Rob Dewar

Ottawa, Ontario