Afro-American music research questions
Joseph Arthur
Dr. Paleaz
Music as Cultural Expression
04/26/2022
Research question 1: What has been the role of New Orleans in Afro-American music?
New Orleans, a city noted for its vibrant and laid-back vibe, is recognized for its contributions to African American music history. Louis Armstrong, Victor Eugene McCarty, Buddy Bolden, and Bill Johnson were all New Orleans residents who have contributed a lot towards African American music’s global growth and popularity (Jerde, 1990). New Orleans has its own particular culture, including things like second lines and Mardi Gras Indians, both prominent in African American music. While second lines are most often associated with New Orleans, their origins may be traced back to Africa. The second lines are derived from a similar celebration known as “Pinkster Day,” a Dutch festival adopted by Northern Americans.
Blacks would assemble on “Pinkster Day” to dance the same way they live in their homeland. Many white tourists described this occasion as comparable to an event in New Orleans’ Place Congo. Hundreds of black people would assemble after church on Sunday afternoons to dance at these dance parties. Blues and jazz have proved to be very important aspects of African American music since they serve as the basis for all black music (Robertson, 2018). Bassist Bill Johnson departed New Orleans to travel with a small group called Original Creole Orchestra to help disseminate jazz throughout the country. Eventually, he created his band with his old New Orleans band players to raise jazz’s stature nationally (Robertson, 2018). With the aid of these well-known musicians, New Orleans became most vital city in the development of Afro-American music.
“Pinkster Day”
Research question 2: what role does blue music play in different forms of Afro-American music?
While the origins of Blues are uncertain, it is widely accepted that it is a result of African American musical ideals. The origins of the blues music genre may be traced back to slavery spirituals and folksongs, which categorized them as a bleak sounding kind of music (Riis, 2020). The blues used an unusual framework that became the foundation for succeeding musical genres. Some think that Blues had their origins around the time of W.C. (Riis, 2020). Handy first appeared in the 1910s, earning him the moniker “Father of the Blues.” In the 1910s, popular songs by Handy and other blues artists like Artie Matthews and Hart A. Wand were regarded as a “basic repertoire of stock tunes” that jazz writers often adopted.
Artists such as Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and Bessie Smith are noted for connecting rural and country blues to the sophisticated blues that came before them. Along with many other female blues singers, they were a significant part of blues history. Around 1925, the emphasis on blues shifted to rural blues, commonly known as “Downhome Blues” (Hall, 2017). The guitar, banjo, and other domestic things such as washboards were used in this Downhome Blues, prevalent in country music themes. Many jazzes and blues performers suffered during the Great Depression as record sales plummeted; consequently, these musicians began to concentrate their efforts on piano blues and boogie-woogie (Hall, 2017). As a result, the boogie-woogie genre was born, as was the publishing of Lux Lewis’s now-classic piano blues composition Honkey-tonk train blues (Hall, 2017). An example of blue music is “Five Finger Death Punch – Blue On Black (feat. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Brantley Gilbert & Brian May).” Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8NQUbLQGio
Research question 3: the gospel music is considered to have originated from the whites; therefore, what is the major religious Afro-American music since the 19th century?
Beginning with white people’s spiritual songs in the 19th century, gospel music has a long history. While gospel music is mostly associated with black people today, its origins may be traced back to white protestant churches. Spirituals were born in rural regions in the late 19th century, with figures like Dwight Lyman Moody and Ira David Sankey spearheading the trend. While Moody and Sankey are significant figures in gospel history, Homer A. Rodeheaver is crucial when discussing the origins of black gospel music (Mungons & Yeo, 2021). African Americans were interested in Rodeheaver’s songs due to his trips around the nation (Mungons & Yeo, 2021).
African Americans could recreate the elements of the songs that they desired when the gospel spread into black churches and assemblies. The four shape-note singing was a note singing that was only seen in traditional black churches. This Shape-note singing, comparable to lining-out, was derived from W.M. Cooper’s The Sacred Harp. In later years, instruments were introduced to gospel performances, resulting in a new sort of church music (Koking, 2018). While gospel has white origins, black gospel music is said to have originated in Chicago in the 1920s due to black Americans migrating to the city (Koking, 2018). In reality, Thomas Dorsey, the first black to use the word “gospel song” and the only artist to be dubbed the “Father of Gospel,” rose to prominence in the 1920s (Koking, 2018). Charles A. Tindley, Clara Ward, and Mahalia Jackson were among the black Americans who affected the creation of gospel music in Afro-American music.
Homer A. Rodeheaver performing
References
Hall S. (2017, February 24). The painful birth of blues and jazz. Library of Congress Blogs. https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/02/birth-of-blues-and-jazz/
Jerde, C. D. (1990). Black music in New Orleans: A historical overview. Black Music Research Journal, 10(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.2307/779526
Koking N. (2018, March 22). The evolution of African American gospel music. Home. https://cincyplay.com/blog-single-post/cinncinati-blog/2018/03/22/the-evolution-of-african-american-gospel-music
Mungons, K., & Yeo, D. (2021). Homer Rodeheaver and the rise of the gospel music industry. https://doi.org/10.5622/illinois/9780252043840.001.0001
Riis, T. L. (2020). The original blues: The emergence of the blues in African American vaudeville. American Music, 38(1), 102-109. https://doi.org/10.5406/americanmusic.38.1.0102
Robertson, C. C. (2018). New Orleans jazz in the world. The Journal of African American History, 103(4), 664-674. https://doi.org/10.1086/699960
