"And the Grammy goes to…" U of M Music Professor for Album Notes
For release: Feb. 24, 2003
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

University of Memphis music professor David Evans won a Grammy award for his album notes for Screamin' and Hollerin' The Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton. Evans' essay, "Charley Patton: The Conscience of the Delta," is included with the seven-CD boxed set that contains the works of blues singer and guitarist Charley Patton, as well as interviews and recordings of people who knew Patton.

Patton was born in Hinds County, Miss., in the late 1800s. He began recording prolifically after 1929 and established himself as one of the foremost blues singers in the Mississippi Delta. When he died in 1934, he left a legacy of works that influenced other blues artists.

Evans, who directs The U of M's ethnomusicology/regional studies doctoral program, earned a doctorate from UCLA and has studied Patton since the 1960s.

Evans received a 1980 Grammy nomination for his album notes for Atlanta Blues: 1933. He has produced more than 30 albums and CDs, many of them for The U of M's High Water Records.

"I enjoyed watching David accept the award," said Dr. Richard Ranta, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, who was in New York to help produce the Grammy telecast. "He has been a major force in the preservation and distribution of the blues. He is a musician in his own right, but this award was for his excellent scholarship and writing."

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