By Jessica Jones
Barrett Elementary School’s fourth and fifth grade students got a taste of the blues during a concert held in the school’s auditorium on May 19.
The students gathered in the school’s auditorium on a Monday morning to hear Leon Atkins – better known as Lil Jimmy Reed, named after his idol Jimmy Reed – play popular tunes from Al Green and BB King, to name a few.
Francina Morales, the school’s music teacher, invited her friend of over 35 years to perform for the students as a way of exposing them to other genres of music.
“I think it’s important that they are well-rounded in music and they hear other types of music other than what they hear on the radio,” Morales said. “So I expose them to classical music, I expose them to jazz and I also expose them to what they like. They like rap. I expose them to that as long as there aren’t any bad words in it.”
“The blues is a part of our heritage, so that’s important for them,” she said. [They need] exposure so they know what’s out there in the world for them, not just in music but in everything, because life is more than just Eastlake and Woodlawn.”
Morales reunited with Atkins when she came across his page on Facebook and asked that he perform for the students. While they hadn’t seen each other in years, he accepted the invitation.
She also reached out to Kim Rafferty, District 2 Representative Birmingham City Council, who contributed to the cause by funding the event.
“She’s always happy to help with the local schools, especially when they’re bringing in local artists,” said Marcus O’Dell on behalf of Councilor Rafferty.
Before the concert, Morales said she talked with the students about blues music and played samples of Atkins’ music.
“The thing I liked about the concert was how the music sounded,” said Dredarrius, a student in Morales’ music class.
Another student commented that the concert made her a bit more open to the genre.
“I like that he showed me different types of music,” Jotiyashanae, said. “I’m not really into blues, but he made it interesting.”
