Music Giant George Daniels on Jamie Foxx’s The Foxxhole

Jamie Fox’s show, The Foxxhole, which airs on Sirius Satellite Radio, was produced “live” from the Joynt in Chicago on Friday evening. Arriving early, I witnessed the behind-the-scenes set-up and learned, not only would Jamie Foxx suddenly miss his promised live performance, but thank God for technology; Foxx would make it via URL instead of being IRL. However, once Jamie finally did Skype in, we couldn’t hear him. Thankfully, the special guest of the evening, music giant George Daniel, saved the day.

If you’re not certain who George Daniel is, click on one of the following pictures to jog your memory. Even this past Friday, Daniel donned his dark signature shades and Chicago-style jazz hat while describing the good ol’ days and the start of his career: he owned a record store, worked with Motown and with names like Etta James, Muddy Waters and Smoky Robinson. “Have you seen the movie Cadillac Records?” he asked in excitement. “That’s what [life] was like [in Chicago].”

While Daniel recollected historical events and remarked on racial riots, I was more intrigued to hear his commentary on today, specifically about the Internet and technology.

What challenges would the Internet have provided for his little record store, or more importantly, his music career? Online record sales and piracy are one hurtle hurting privately owned record stores today, artists and the music industry in general, but “what about sampling?” Do kids these days even know where their new tunes originated from? Is sampling getting out of hand? Daniel had a point as he continued, “What about shopping malls?” What’s going to happen to shopping malls if people buy stuff online?

Ironically, technology had just provided some complications to the very show we were listening to, with producers on stand-by trying to troubleshoot the Skype technical difficulties. I wish I could have asked Daniel a few questions, including “can we call this show Jamie Foxx’s The Danielhole instead?”

But, even without Foxx, it was a fun evening of enlightenment and excitement. Who doesn’t love listening to their elders, especially when their past knowledge foreshadows the present?

Thanks to JenChicago and the Joynt for the exclusive invite!