Black History Month: A Celebration of American Music with Ed Alstrom

Imagine never having Gospel music, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Soul, Funk, Hip-Hop, Reggae… what would American Music possibly be?? 
All of these genres were literally invented by African-American artists, and the influence of all of them on our culture over the past 150 years  is incalculable. In this presentation, we will dive into the overall impact of this influence, see who the major players were, and listen to a lot of intriguing and amazing music that you might be unfamiliar with. Yes, it’s a lot to get through, but we’ll do our best!

Ed Alstrom is a professional musician and presenter from New Jersey. He has made a career out of playing all types of music all over the world, his most notable gig now being that of Organist at Yankee Stadium (which he will discuss in a March presentation here!). Ed used to talk about and spin a lot of this music we will discuss on his radio show, ‘Got Soul?’, for radio station WFDU in NJ from 2012-2016. He has been playing and studying  all of these styles for many years, and has an unbridled passion for all of it.