"The Weary Blues"

I really enjoyed the video of Langston Hughes' "The Weary Blues". The visual images of NYC, specifically Harlem during what appears to be the 1930's -1940's were excellent. They really helped to set the tone and the background for the poem. The black and white film adds a symbolic tone, and made me more aware of the the reference to "with his ebony hands on each ivory key". Something I noticed right away was the large number of white people in the audience scene. After looking up information the Apollo Theatre I learned that when the Apollo was first opened blacks were not allowed. This really shocked me I always thought of the Apollo as a predominately black venue. The image of the woman's silhouette on the screen behind the musicians was mesmerizing. Her sway was in motion with the "lazy sway", in the lines of the poem. I also loved how the trombone was used when the speaker refereed to the "droning tune". Hearing the poem and seeing Cab Calloway was an interesting perspective, his movements were appropriate for the rhythm of the speaker. After viewing it several times and listening to the words once again, I was left with the impression that the musician in the poem only feels alive when he is performing. Singing the Blues is what keeps "a black man's soul", alive and when he stops singing, "he slept like a rock or a man that's dead", signifies to me that he is his music.