Let’s Go Disco
Origin The music developed by djs to entertain African Americans, Latinos and gays in underground dance halls in New York city in the 1970s. Originally the word disco only described a certain musical sound it developed into a fashion trend. Dance music formed after 1970 can be categorized as disco or was since derived from […]
Hip Hop Hooray
Hip Hop is a way for artist to creatively express themselves> Originating in Bronx and spreading to other boroughs in the 1970’s a new genre emerged that allowed for African Americans, Afro-Carribeans, and latinos to share new forms of art including dance moves, competitions between disc jockeys, graffiti and lastly rap, the verbal expression of […]
Fantastic Voyage to the Land of Funk
Beginning the Journey Funk music is a mixture of soul, R&B, and a splash of jazz. This music evolved around the late 1960’s with a distinct, complex groove created by a multitude of instruments that create a hypnotic beat that makes one want to dance. This music included elements from previous genres such as narration […]
The O’Jays
The O’Jays In 1958 in Canton, Ohio a new R&B group emerged. This group began with 5 high school males, that include Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and William Powell and they originated as “The Mascots” and later changed to “the Triumphs” producing their first song […]
Tiana Billups Portfolio
Spring 2019 Portfolio Why I should not have to take the final I believe I should be excused from the final because I have done my post and I honestly feel like this class has made me a black music scholar. I can now discuss different genres of musics over a span of time. It […]
Traditional Gospel V. Contemporary Gospel feat. Tasha Cobbs and Rev. James Cleveland
Contemporary Gospel Reverend James Cleveland better known as the king of gospel has a lot of gospel hits. He originally played the piano with a group called the caravans. Cleveland is known as being the backbone for modern day gospel, for he found ways to incorporate jazz and rhythm into gospel music. Most songs sung […]
Black and Blues
All About the Blues Many musics genres were influenced and created during slavery, which later influenced new genres. A few years removed from slavery bloomed the genre of Blues. While African Americans were no longer slaves, segregation was in full effect and sharecropping was their way of getting income, where they were still overworked and […]
Getting Jazzy with Sassy – Sarah Vaughan
All About Sarah Vaughan Growing up with a father who played both the piano and guitar and a mother who sang in the church choir, it would only make sense that Sarah, like her parents, be musically inclined. Her family had placed her in piano lessons at the age of 7, performing for rehearsals and church […]
History of Ragtime
Driving Us to Gospel: The Caravans
Origin Originally known as the background singers for Robert Anderson in 1947, the Caravans grew to become the nation’s most notable female gospel group by the late 1950’s. The member of the group fluctuated throughout the course of the groups career. This group launched many great solo singers including Shirley Caesar, Inez Andrews, Bessie Griffin, […]
Rejoice in Negro Spirituals
Origin Spirituals was the earliest form of religious musics sung by slaves. The lyrics uniquely express their Christian values created by their social, emotional, physical and cultural experience. These spirituals vary tremendously from the hymns and psalms that were taught to them by European missionaries. This music was created during an oral tradition, so there […]
Digging at the Root: African American Folk Music
Origin and Elements of Folk In the early 17th century, Africans were brought over to America as slaves, with them came their custom and traditions, this included music. This music involved different rhythms placed together called polyrhythms, different from the European style of music and rhythm. One of the key elements of […]
