“The blues is more than entertainment,” Mississippi bluesman Vasti Jackson told the crowd as he played and sang for the kickoff of the Blues at the Arch Concert Series Friday evening. “The blues is a life force.”
The show, which also featured local band Phi, is the first of three upcoming Friday performances that pair local and national talent that pay homage to the genre presented by the National Blues Museum and the CityArchRiver Foundation.
“This concert series is a great opportunity to bring together two things that St. Louis is known for: blues music and the Gateway Arch,” said Dion Brown, executive director of the National Blues Museum. “Having just opened our doors in downtown St. Louis, we are excited about this partnership that will hopefully happen every year.”
As storm clouds threatened to rain on the parade of people that gathered at the newly renovated Luther Ely Smith Square at the corner of Fourth and Market, the energy of Jackson’s life force sucked in even the most unlikely blues lovers.
Two toddlers, who at first sight one would assume to be more comfortable bopping to a sing-a-long on the Sprout Network, threatened to steal the show from Jackson during his headlining performance.
Every time Jackson would unleash a guitar riff, a pint-sized blonde girl would catch the groove like she had danced in juke joints in a past life.
She danced next to her family for the first few minutes of the set, but with her parents watching closely she edged to the front of the stage and let the “life force” overtake her entire body. An adult woman decided to join her in the dance – and the youngster stole the show from her as well by mimicking the woman’s every move.
Soon after their dance duet, another toddler arrived at the concert with his mother and couldn’t get to the front fast enough. Onlookers assumed he was going up there to share a dance with the lone youngster in front of the stage, but he was following the infectious sound that he heard as Jackson masterfully riffed and sang blues classics like Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” and delved into reggae with Bob Marley’s “Stir it Up.”
Before the children got a chance to truly steal the spotlight, Jackson jumped down and played alongside them as they danced around him and his wailing guitar.
“The blues touches the soul,” Jackson said.
It was clear as he returned to the stage that he gave the young people – and the rest of the crowd – a moment they wouldn’t soon forget. Strangers came over to dote on the two youngsters as they beamed with delight.
But the show wasn’t over yet.
“We’ve got time for one more – and I want to play for you what is probably the best blues record in the last thirty or so years,” Jackson said.
The opening riff was instantly identifiable, but not a single person in attendance would have identified it as a blues tune before Friday.
But as Jackson sang and played the chords of his finale, it was hard to imagine the classic tune as anything else.
“Purple Rain…Purple Rain,” Jackson sang – and the audience sang along – just before the drizzle turned into a full-fledged storm.
A four-minute guitar solo that seamlessly merged classic blues guitar riffs with the Prince’s composition closed out the show –and illustrated the genre as the underlying foundation for Rock and Roll as we know it.
“The blues came from the pain and experience of a culture of people, but it speaks to all of us,” Jackson said.
Blues at the Arch continues at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 19 with Marsha Evans & the Coalition and Skeet Rodgers & the Inner City Blues Band. It concludes on August 26, with the National Park Service Centennial Jazz Band and Mr. Sip “The Mississippi Blues Child,” at Luther Ely Smith Square (between the Old Courthouse and The Arch), at the corner of Fourth and Market. For more information, visit For more information about Blues at the Arch, visit www.bluesatthearch.com.
