African-Americans & the Black Experience: Culture

Origins - The blues style developed in the late 19th century from the work songs and Negro spirituals of the southern states of America. Blues music developed to become a way of life and a passion to many people, who used the music as a way to express their feelings. It is characterized by a distinguishable I-IV-V-I chord progression and heavily influenced early Rock 'n' Roll Music.

Muddy Waters - 1913 - 1983, Guitarist, Harmonica Player, Singer Muddy Waters, who was born McKinley Morganfield on April 4, 1915, in Fork, Mississippi, grew up in Clarks-dale on Stovall's Plantation.

Bessie Smith - 1894 -1937, The greatest of all the women who have sung the blues, Bessie Smith brought to the idiom, on material of very variable quality and style, an unmatched intensity of expression, subtlety of inflection and beauty of tone.

Howlin' Wolf -1910 - 1976, The most unswervingly archaic voice of Chicago blues, Howlin' Wolf brought into the rock era the throaty primitivism of pre-war Mississippi blues singers. 

Gospel Music - American religious musical form that owes much of its origin to the Christian conversion of West Africans enslaved in the American South. Gospel music partly evolved from the songs slaves sang on plantations, notably work songs, and from the Protestant hymns they sang in church. Gospel music, more emotional and jubilant, also stemmed from the call-and-response singing between preacher and congregation, which became common in black churches.

The African-American spiritual, characterized by syncopation, polyrhythmic structure, and the pentatonic scale of five whole tones, is, above all, a deeply emotional song. The words are most often related to biblical passages, but the predominant effect is of patient, profound melancholy.

James Cleveland  (1931-1991) - Known as the "King of Gospel", Cleveland was a leader in the addition of soul, pop, and jazz styles to Gospel music. Collaborated with Aretha Franklin on her 1972 Grammy-winning rendition of Amazing Grace.

Thomas A. Dorsey

Mahalia Jackson

Ragtime:

Ragtime Presents sheet music, essays, and video and sound clips related to ragtime. This distinctly American music appeared (in its published form) during the mid-1890s mainly in the South and Midwest, spread across the U.S. and to Europe, and influenced early jazz styles. Learn about Scott Joplin, one of the best known ragtime players. Hear segments of his classic "Maple Leaf Rag," which helped spread the ragtime craze. See more than 100 pieces of sheet music.

One Hundred Years of the Maple Leaf Rag 

[Portrait of Scott Joplin], taken from American Musician (June 17, 1907).

Performing Arts Reading Room, Library of Congress.

John William "Blind" Boone (1864-1927) - Hailing from Warrensburg, Missouri via Miami, MO and Columbia, MO, Blind Boone was a nationally renowned piano player, ragtime artist, and ragtime composer. At the height of his popularity, he and his Blind Boone Concert Company were playing as many as 300 engagements per year. When he recorded piano rolls for the QRS company in 1912 (including his most renown work "The Marshfield Tornado") he became one of the first Black artists to do so. ("'Blind" Boone," n.d.)

R 'n' B - Black American popular music from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. It was predominantly a vocal genre, often used for dancing, that featured lead singers (e.g., Clyde McPhatter, Sam Cooke) who worked independently or as members of a (usually male) vocal quartet or quintet (e.g., the Ravens, the Orioles, the Drifters, the Coasters).

Al Green - born on April 13, 1946, with a career that has ranged from rhythm and blues (R&B) to pop to gospel and a combination. Green’s distinctive falsetto singing style continues to thrill fans old and young.

Sam Cooke (1931-1964) -  was a trailblazing recording artist who helped shape the soul and pop scene with hits like "You Send Me," "Chain Gang" and "Sad Mood."

Izear Luster "Ike" Turner, Jr. (1931-2007) - Born in Mississippi, Ike Turner made a name for himself while living in St Louis, MO through his performances with his band Kings of Rhythm. He was influential in the careers of famous artists such as B. B. King and Howlin' Wolf.

Tina Turner (1939-2023) - A two-time Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Tina Turner built her reputation living in St. Louis and singing for the Kings of Rhythm. She also enjoyed a brief acting career, appearing in films such as Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Last Action Hero, and The Who's Tommy. 

Stevie Wonder (b. 1950) - Stevie Wonder signed his first record deal at the age of 11 and scored his first R&B number 1 hit 2 years later. Across his career he has won 25 Grammy Awards, making him the most awarded male solo artist in the award's history. He is also well-known for his advocacy work, notably helping to establish Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday as a national holiday. 

The Supremes - the Supremes were the most successful and longest-lasting female vocal group of the sixties. As such, they formed the launching pad for Berry Gordy's and Motown's musical assault on the white American market, and later for the solo career of Diana Ross.

The ultimate girl group The Supremes: (from left) Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Diana Ross.

Jazz - is a style of African-American music that developed in the southern United States around the turn of the twentieth century. Its roots lie in other forms of post-Reconstruction vernacular American music: ragtime, fife and drum bands, stringbands, and spirituals.

Charles 'Buddy' Bolden - (1877-1931), US jazz cornet player, Born in New Orleans, he occupies an almost mythical role in jazz history. No recorded examples of his playing exist, but his reputation was high amongst his contemporaries, and he was a famous musician in New Orleans in the early years of the 20th century. 

Coleman "Bean" Hawkins - (1904-1969), American jazz musician who was born in St. Joseph, MO. He is credited with popularizing the tenor saxophone as a jazz instrument and recorded extensively through his career. Widely known for his performances of his signature song "Body and Soul".

Ferdinand 'Jelly Roll' Morton - (1890–1941), American jazz musician, composer, and band leader, originally named Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe, b. Gulfport, La. He began studying piano as a child and in his youth was a pianist in the colorful Storyville district of New Orleans.

Joe 'King' Oliver -  (1885–1938), Cornetist, Joseph Oliver was born on May 11, 1885, in Abend, Louisiana. Oliver started his career playing the trombone but switched to the cornet. He began playing with the Melrose Brass Band in 1907 and played with several other brass bands as he perfected his skills. 

Portrait of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis at Three Deuces, New York, NY. 1947. William P. Gottlieb, photographer. William P. Gottlieb Collection, Library of Congress.

Bennie Moten (1893-1935) - Bennie Moten was an early figure in the Kansas City jazz scene. A pianist, he formed several performing groups before ultimately forming the Bennie Moten Orchestra. Legends in their own right, the Bennie Moten Orchestra would also be the proving ground for other KC jazz legends such as Count Basie. In fact, following Bennie Moten's untimely death in 1935, much of the Bennie Moten Orchestra would become the early backbone of Count Basie and his Orchestra.

Clark Terry (1920-2015) - Born in St. Louis, Clark Terry was a renowned bebop trumpeter. Over his lengthy career, he played with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and played for 10 years in the Tonight Show Band. He spent a good portion of his late career focusing on education of young musicians and philanthropy for underserved communities by providing instruments and education.

Publicity photo of Count Basie from 1955 courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

William James "Count" Basie (1904-1984) - Early in his career, Count Basie played for Bennie Moten in Kansas City. After forming his own orchestra following Moten's death, Basie and his orchestra would rise to national prominence, solidifying and growing the reputation of Kansas City Jazz.