Clifford Murphy: INK: THE INDELIBLE J. MAYO WILLIAMS (With Brooks Long)

The Ivy Bookshop is thrilled to have you over for a night of music and conversation inspired by Clifford R. Murphy’s new biography INK: THE INDELIBLE J. MAYO WILLIAMS! On this festive Friday night, Murphy, the director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, joins with Brooks Long, host of WTMD’s “Six Degrees of Soul” to present a concert and book talk.

We’ll provide the books, the beverages, and the shady outdoor spot– you come prepared to kick back and learn about the most significant record producer in Blues, R&B, gospel and jazz in the first half of the 20th Century.

In the 1920s, while producing records by the likes of Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson, Williams was moonlighting on weekends as one of the early Black stars of the National Football League. Though Williams’ life intersected with a swath of major figures in 20th Century life – from Paul Robeson to W.E.B. DuBois, George Halas, Nat King Cole and John Hammond, Ink is the first biography of this major figure in American cultural production.

CLIFFORD R. MURPHY is a musician and ethnomusicologist. He is a founding member of the rock band Say ZuZu, the director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the author of Yankee Twang: Country and Western Music in New England, and co-author (with Henry Glassie and Douglas Dowling Peach) of Ola Belle Reed & Southern Mountain Music on the Mason-Dixon Line. He lives in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood with his wife and four rambunctious kids.

BROOKS LONG is a singer, songwriter, and host of WTMD’s “Six Degrees of Soul.” As a musician, he has been celebrated with “Best of Baltimore” accolades, and his work as a cultural historian of Baltimore R&B has been showcased by Creative Alliance, UMBC and others.