by Lucy Shaw

I've lived in Austin almost all my life, yet I still don't know much about East Austin. Maybe it's just that I don't get out much. But maybe it's not just me. Maybe a lot of people don't know what's going on in East Austin or, furthermore, what East Austin was like in its heyday. That is why the Austin Blues Family Tree Project is so valuable. It sheds light on the history of black music in Austin and the importance of the East Austin community in creating Austin's musical heritage.

The Austin Blues Family Tree Project, for the past eight years, has been gathering oral histories from Austin's blues, jazz, and R&B musicians for its research archive. In addition, the project also presents and records the annual African-American History Month concert series. This year there will also be a photo exhibit at the Little Gallery located in the Heritage House. The exhibit documents the social and cultural development of East Austin through the eyes of the music scene. Both the concert series and photo exhibit will open this month.

Beth Lieberman and Jennifer Edmonds are researchers for the upcoming exhibit. This is the first year that Blues Family Tree has put their historical photographs in any particular context. Now with a narrative to go along with them, the photos will follow a timeline spanning from post-World War II to the present. In that period, East Austin started out as a strong black cultural center with Huston-Tillotson College [H-T], a strong church community, and clubs such as Charlie's Playhouse and Ernie's Chicken Shack. A little before the time of integration, whites began adopting black music. "It was 'funky' for college kids to come over here and 'slum it' or get a bit of local color over on the Eastside, where all the black clubs were happening," says Beth. Then the community witnessed a transition in which the music scene switched from 'really happening' on East 11th and 12th Streets to happening over on the west side of town, on 6th Street. The exhibit uses Blues Family Tree documentation as well as photos and press clippings gathered from the history center to tell the story. "When there was a thriving community, there was a thriving music scene," says Beth. "Apparently it was a really exciting time and there was a lot of great stuff coming out of [East Austin]."

Pat Murphy, a longtime resident of East Austin and a blues musician, recalls the atmosphere during the height of 11th Street. "You can't imagine if you drive through there now and see the condition it's in," he said. "It used to be fabulous. You talk about lights -- it was lit up like Broadway, you know. It was the street!" All the interviews in the archive reflect this enthusiasm about the great talent coming in and out of the Eastside clubs. Both regional and national talent came to play in these venues, and it attracted those in the community as well as white college kids from the west side of town. Murphy also recalls, however, the transition period when most of the Eastside clubs closed down and 6th Street became the hotspot. "Sixth Street used to be a part of the East Austin scene. A lot of money was poured in there. And they developed it, and the owners of those properties down there and the managers of those clubs, they had a lot of political clout apparently," he said.

While the exhibit and oral history archive delve deeper into social issues surrounding the decline of East Austin as a musical and cultural center, the concert series is a chance for audiences and performers to just enjoy the music. I spoke with Carmen Bradford, who will be headlining the concert series along with her father Bobby Bradford, about her experiences in Austin.

Carmen Bradford is a world-renowned jazz vocalist whose parents are both prominent musicians from Texas. Her father is trumpet player/composer/educator Bobby Bradford and her mother is jazz/pop singer and Broadway diva Melba Joyce. Carmen grew up in Altadena, California, but studied music and got her start in Austin while attending Huston-Tillotson College in the early '80s. Dr. Beulah Agnes Curry-Jones was Bradford's vocal teacher at H-T. "She was an awesome, awesome teacher and that is what kept me in Austin," says Bradford. "She knew what the hell she was talking about when it came to the voice and knew what I was trying to do -- I wasn't trying to be a classical singer, which is what they had the singers at H-T studying. I wanted to sing jazz and R&B."

So, while at H-T, that is exactly what Ms. Bradford did. "I worked at all of those clubs on Sixth Street," she says, "and made very little money but had a blast." However, Carmen did not stay working within the small Austin circuit for long. During her junior year, she met Count Basie and got her first big break.

She recalls the story for me as if recounting it for the millionth time, but she still sounds excited. "So I was the opening act [for Mr. Basie] with the group Passenger. They asked me if I wanted to do a couple of tunes with their band to open the show, and I told them yes. Mr. Basie was already riding on his motorized cart so he couldn't go down to his dressing room. So I asked if he would listen to me while I was singing on the first part of his show, because I thought he would make billions of dollars if he'd hire me. So he listened to me sing and I came back off stage and I said, 'Mr. Basie, what did you think?' And he said, 'Well, I think you were very good, I want to hire you.' I said, 'Well, when?' He said, 'Well, don't worry me, I'll call you.' So I waited and waited and waited and I gave myself this birthday party. And when I blew out the candles I just said, God, please let Count Basie call me. And the next day came and I was on my way to do my rock and roll gig with the group that I normally performed with at the time, which was Minor Miracle. So I got out to the car and my roommate said that there was some old man on the phone. So I thought maybe it was my grandfather calling and maybe it was an emergency or something. So I picked up the phone and this man said, 'Well, this is Bill Basie, do you still want to work with me?' And I said, 'Is this you, Otis? I really don't appreciate you doing that. You know I've been waiting for Count Basie to call me.' And I hung up the phone. I went back out to the car and he called back and my roommate said, 'It's that old man again on the phone.' I ran back in the house and I said, 'Hello.' And he said, 'Listen, if you don't want this gig, I'm not calling you back.' I said, 'Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you were my cousin, Otis.'" She laughs at this part of the story, thinking of almost passing up the gig. But after that call, Carmen stayed with the Count Basie Orchestra for nine years before starting her solo career.

As a soloist, Carmen has worked with many other great jazz musicians including George Benson, Herbie Hancock, and Benny Carter. She recently got back from Paris after working with her father and the Paris Symphony. After all her success and traveling the world, Carmen still treasures her time in Austin. "My Austin experience was just incredible. It was the best time of my life," she says.