Blues

 

African American music, black music, race music incorporates a variety of musical genres evolved from culture of African Americans and their West African Roots. Blues being my favorite.

 

            Blues begins with the Delta Blues; its earliest forms defined the Blues. The origin of this kind of music is Mississippi Delta region from The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, the Mississippi River on the west to the Yazoo River on the east.  It is known for the use of slide guitar, harmonica and folk solo. In the early days it was known as Devil music because it secularized many Gospel sounds. It is the instrumentation and an emphasis on rhythm and basic harmonic structure is unique and defined all other types of Blues. During live performances the use of a backup band to supplement the solo can be used. The singing has haunting, pensive, soulful, animated and blistering sounds. The recording of Delta Blues begins in the 1920’s.  John Lomax traveled extensively recording local folk artists Blue became known outside the South. Blues Entertainers traveled all over the Southern Mississippi region into Louisiana and East Texas expanding its authority and in turn being influenced by local artists. In due course, Delta blues expanded from corner to corner of America, providing for the birth of a multitude of regional variations, i.e. Piedmont, Chicago and Detroit blues. The Delta South was an oppressive feudal system until the 1960’s. Blues became a subculture of resistance. Many artists were refugees on the run from that oppression and thus moved around a lot to escape the “man catchers” looking for convict labor. The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman Farm was a significant inspiration on the blues artistic style.

 

            East Coast Piedmont Blues reflected regional tastes that are more lyrical than Delta blues. A finger picking method on the guitar that is almost dancing typifies it.  The sounds form a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern. The melody is supported by means of treble strings. The Piedmont blues is found from Northern Virginia to Southern Georgia. Piedmont blues more recently expanded into Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida.

 

 

            Tidewater Blues originates from Virginia Coastal is strongly influenced by Piedmont Blues though strumming is interwoven with finger picking, and banjo is still found to accompany the harmonica and guitar. The old time minstrel music has more influence than most blues.

 

            Detroit blues was born when Delta blues performers journeyed to Detroit from the Mississippi Delta looking for work in the 1940s and 50s. A Detroit sound uses electric amplified instruments. The music is known for its diverse mixture of instruments for example both the bass guitar and piano is common. This type of music centered in the Black Bottom section of town. This was a cultural oasis in African American Culture until it was destroyed through Urban Renewal of the late 1960’s. Before the 1960’s Black People would be jailed if they were seen out side of the their neighborhoods. Police would arrest generally speaking any Black person west of Woodward Avenue. Thus with the concentrations of Black People African American culture reached a high water mark until destroyed by Liberal Planners, and Urban Renewal force the poor out of the neighborhoods.

 

            The Chicago blues was the blues music that matured in Chicago. It is known by harmonica, electric instruments, loud drums, piano, bass guitar and saxophone.

 

Rhythm and blues or R&B was musical marketing expression invented in 1949 by Jerry Wexler working for Billboard magazine. To specify cheerful trendy music performed by African American performers. Though commercial in origin it became one of the truly great art forms of the 20th Century. This music combines elements from blues, gospel, and even some jazz. Billboard announced R&B as "Harlem Hit Parade," in June of 1949.  Rhythm and Blues was as a major contributor to its offspring rock and roll.  RCA Victor was trying to market black music under the name "Blues and Rhythm," but Wexler of Atlantic Records, the most assertive and most dominant label in the R&B arena, created the category.

 

            Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in the British and French colonial islands of the Caribbean at about the start of the 20th century. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of African slaves, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song. This forged a sense of community among the Africans.  Calypso further evolved into a way of spreading news around the Islands. Calypso singers openly pushed the limits of free speech as their lyrics were used to spread news and gossip of any issue important or interesting to the people. Even with official censorship, calypso defied authority. The first calypso recordings came in 1914,  thus was born the "Golden Age of Calypso". Junkanoo is a type of Calypso and a pageant music found in the Bahamas.