A Week of African American Music History, The beginnings
Posted on February 3, 2021
by Kim P
Each week, the Black History Committee will offer books, music, and online media information that provides an outline to the roots of American music. African and African American music come from the same sources, the continent of Africa. The diaspora of African culture brought the richness of vocal harmonies, drum beats and string instruments that melded into vast, creative, and innovative ways to sing, dance, and communicate their spirits.
Week 1
The first week focuses on the actual roots of African music being planted in the New World. From the very beginning of Africans brought to the Colonies, the history sprung up from the desperation and misery of slavery’s oppression. Before Africans could verbally communicate, they could sing, share rhythms, and create harmonious music. This blog contains music CDs, books, and digital media from the early roots until the start of the blues. Africans were transported by ship during the transatlantic slave trade to the New World, but the roots of the African continent never left their hearts and voices.
The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music
Sounding Forms: African Musical Instruments
Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music
DVD | eBook
On Highway 61: Music, Race, and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom
Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music
The History of Gospel Music
The History of Gospel Music
Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895
The Life and Times of Scott Joplin
Black Bottom Stomp: Eight Masters of Ragtime and Early Jazz
Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday
More to come in Week 2, and Jazz Explodes!
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