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African and African-American Contributions to World Music

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African and African-American Contributions to World Music Portland Public Schools Geocultural Baseline Essay Series African and African-American Contributions to World Music by John Charshee Lawrence-McIntyre, Ph.D. Reviewed by Hunter Havelin Adams, III Edited by Carolyn M. Leonard Biographical Sketch of the Author Charshee Lawrence-Mcintyre is Associate Professor of Humanities at the State University of New York at Old Westbury in the English Language Studies Program. PPS Geocultural Baseline Essay Series AUTHOR: Lawrence-McIntyre SUBJECT: Music CONTENTS Content Page BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR.............................................................................................. I CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................................................................II INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................1 CLASSICAL AFRICA'S INFLUENCE ON OTHER CIVILIZATIONS ........................................................4 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN INSTRUMENTS .....................................................................................................................4 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUSIC AND FORMS .............................................................................................................8 MIGRATION AND EVOLUTION OF MUSIC THROUGHOUT CONTINENTAL AFRICA ...................12 TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS .............................................................................................................................14 TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND FORMS .....................................................................................................................17 ISLAMIC INFLUENCES.........................................................................................................................................23 AFRICAN MUSIC IN THE AMERICAS .........................................................................................................24 NEO-AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS - THE CARIBBEAN AND SOUTH AMERICA ............................................................25 NEO-AFRICAN DANCE .......................................................................................................................................28 NEO-AFRICAN MUSIC AND FORMS ....................................................................................................................31 MUSIC IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN TRADITION ................................................................................34 WORKSONGS .....................................................................................................................................................38 HOILERS;...........................................................................................................................................................40 SPIRITUALS ........................................................................................................................................................40 Ring Shout........................................................................................................................42 MINSTRELSY......................................................................................................................................................46 EARLY BLUES....................................................................................................................................................51 Boogie Woogie...................................................................................................................54 A NOTE ON "JAZZ" ............................................................................................................................................55 RAGTIME ...........................................................................................................................................................58 Stride.................................................................................................................................59 NEW ORLEANS MUSIC .......................................................................................................................................60 CHICAGO AND DIXIELAND STYLES ....................................................................................................................62 SWING STYLE ....................................................................................................................................................63 Big Bands .........................................................................................................................67 WHITE IMITATORS .............................................................................................................................................68 BEBOP ...............................................................................................................................................................69 EXPROPRIATORS, PROMOTERS, AND CRITICS.....................................................................................................73 JAZZ BLUES .......................................................................................................................................................75 THE COOL SCHOOL............................................................................................................................................77 HARD BOP.........................................................................................................................................................79 FREE SCHOOL ....................................................................................................................................................81 AVANT-GARDE/EXPERIMENTERS ......................................................................................................................81 FUSION ..............................................................................................................................................................83 LATIN TINGE......................................................................................................................................................85 MU-ii AUTHOR: Lawrence-McIntyre SUBJECT: Music REGGAE .............................................................................................................................................................86 GOSPEL MUSIC ..................................................................................................................................................87 RHYTHM AND BLUES .........................................................................................................................................88 DANCE AND MUSIC............................................................................................................................................90 CODA ...................................................................................................................................................................95 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................................97 GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................................................................104 INDEX ................................................................................................................................................................106 MU-iii AUTHOR: Lawrence-McIntyre SUBJECT: Music INTRODUCTION In ancient times, the African people of the Nile Valley (particularly Egyptians) led the world in musical development, and that legacy continued with the African people here in the Americas. Music in the African-American Tradition in less than two centuries became the dominant influence on world music. Today we find the Spirituals, Gospel, Blues, Ragtime, the classical form mistakenly labeled "Jazz" and all aspects of African-American music in the movies, on Broadway, on television, in commercial jingles, in music videos, and in untold contemporary uses by people all over the world. The commercial establishments of the modern world reap unimagi- nable profits from the invention and genius of the transplanted Africans. Through "Soul" music (including Rhythm and Blues/Rock and Roll), Reggae from Jamaica, Salsa from Latin America, and even Highlife from urban African cities, multicorporations exert greater and more powerful social control in the artistic and economic arenas. The acknowledgement of Africa's tremendous contributions to the world from ancient times to the present remains generally unheralded. Children in America, African-American children in particular, grow up believing untruths - that all significant developments in music originated and occur solely in the European world. While these distortions contribute to the intellectual underdevelopment of all, they MU-1 AUTHOR: Lawrence-McIntyre SUBJECT: Music are most detrimental to African-American children. Through this essay we hope to place in perspective the influence of African and African-American music throughout the world. The focus of this study - the universal reality of African music - begins in Egypt and we will trace the patterns to contemporary Music in the African-American Tradition. However, the history of African and African-American
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