In the following essay, Adell provides background on the real Ma Rainey, and explores the theme of blues music as release from oppression in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

I've traveled 'Til I'm tired
And I ain't satisfied
I've traveled 'til I'm tired
And I ain't satisfied
If I don't find my sweet man
I'll ramble 'til I die
Ah Lawdy Lawd Lawd Lawdy
Lawd Lawdy Lawd lawd Lawd
Ah Lawdy Lawd lawd lawdy
Lawd lawdy lawd lawd lawd
Lawd lawdy Lawd Lawd Lawd
Lawd Lawdy lawd lawd lawd
—"Slow Drivin' Moan" by
Gertrude (Ma) Rainey
Oh Ma Rainey
Sing yo' song;
Now you's back
Whah you belong,
Git way inside us,
Keep us strong.
— Sterling Brown

August Wilson's drama receives its strongest impulses from what Houston Baker has called the "blues matrix"—that metaphorical space where down-home folk like Boy Willie, Wining Boy, and...