2011 is coming to close and the question on everyone's mind is "Who gets the title for album of the year?" Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne wins the award for "most hyped". Drake takes home the "most singles/bangers" with Take Care. Kendrick Lamar's Section .80 has to get "most important", while Adele's 21 takes the cake for "most critically acclaimed".
However, the winner of album of the year isn't one of the above. He's not even a pop star. He's an 85-year old diabetic man who lives in a nursing home.
Boyd Lee Dunlop was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina but raised in Buffalo, NY. To the unknowning eye, he's just an old man in a nursing home. But to the ear he is an elegant and gifted musician. Over 70 years ago, during the Great Depression, Dunlop discovered a broke-down piano in a neighbor's backyard on Buffalo's east side. From those broken keys and a strong determination to learn, Dunlop grew to be a gifted jazz musician. He made a name for himself in Buffalo's legendary jazz scene that revolved around the Colored Musicians Club, helped train his brother Frankie to be a highly acclaimed world famous drummer, and toured the country as a full time musician after playing in the army and at a steel mill. Through it all however, Mr. Dunlop never recorded an album.
Fast forward to 2011: Mr. Dunlop is in a nursing home, playing an out-of-tune dilapidated piano and entertaining anyone who walks by. One day he greets Brendan Bannon, a photographer with a knowledge of jazz. Bannon happens to know New York producer Allen Farmelo, a Buffalo native. When Bannon sent Farmelo mp3s of Dunlop playing, Farmelo hopped on a plane back home and put Dunlop in a studio and in front of a proper Steinway piano.
What followed next is the happy ending you'd expect from such happenstance. Farmelo assisted Dunlop and two other renown Colored Musician Club players, Sabu Adeyola (bass) and Virgil Day (drums), in recording Mr. Dunlop's first album . Titled Boyd's Blues, the CD's release was celebrated at Hallwalls (part of Babeville) earlier this month. There, in the venue erected by another Buffalo music legend Ani DiFranco, Mr. Dunlop entertained a packed crowd of new fans and a few old band mates who played with Dunlop at the height of his career). It was more than just a CD release show: it was a celebration of Buffalo's rich musical history. The story's since been covered by The Buffalo News, NPR, and The New York Times.
And so, in one year one album transformed an aging accomplished musician into a nationally celebrated recording artist and saved his sound from fading into obscurity behind nursing home walls. Boyd Lee Dunlop's story is one of fate, poetic justice, and love. It's the hometown feel-good story for the holidays and makes Boyd's Blues worthy of the "Album of the Year" title, although the music itself makes it a valid contender. Heartfelt, soulful, and beautiful, Boyd's Blues is a testament to the staying power of a true love for music and a glimpse at the beauty of a true musician's lifelong passion. While we can hope for a followup, Boyd's Blues will keep the music of a legend and the sound of a city's history alive forever.
best choice!!
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