African American Music

What do the Rap, Hip Hop, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues and Gospel all have in common?

They are all popular genres of music considered to be included under the general African American music umbrella having been influenced by the culture of African Americans. Historically, African American genres of music have been very significant in their affect across a broad range of socio-economic groups within the United States and overseas.

From the early influences on mainstream American music in the 19th century to the popularity today of Hip Hop, Rap and RnB, the influence of African Americans on the American music industry continues with a plethora of successful solo artists and groups maintaining a strong presence in the charts.

Although in earlier years of it's history, not all African American musicians achieved mainstream success. During the 1950's Little Richard (Rev. Richard Wayne Penniman) who became an important identity in the transition from rythm and blues to rock and roll received his first accolade and has continued to achieve extraordinary success and acknowledgement throughout his musical career. In 2007 his original hit "Tutti Frutti" took out first place in Mojo magazine's poll of "The Top 100 Records That Changed The World."

Sly and the Family Stone, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, Marvin Gaye, India Arie, Erykah Badu and in particular Destiny's Child who some years ago became known as the highest selling female vocal group of all time are to name a few of the highly successful African American singers and song-writers. In more recent times Alicia Keys was the first woman to log three weeks at number one with her "As I am" hit and she is the first African American woman to remain at number one for has long as she did since 2002 when Ashanti hit the charts with her debut album.

Expressing themselves and celebrating their culture creatively, spiritually, politically and socially, these and many more talented artists have enhanced the reputation and popularity of the myriad of genres of music that claim their roots in African American music.

Ragtime to Rap, Scott Joplin to Curtis James Jackson 111, aka 50 Cent, the genres of Blues, Jazz, Motown, disco, Funk, Rock and Roll, Hip Hop, Techno and Electric Jazz all increased in popularity for their time and during the 1950's and more so during the 1970's African American music was appealing to wider more mainstream audiences including crossover audiences.

Along with the evolution of African American music came the evolution of dance and the introduction of dance, block and rave parties where the Mc's and the DJ's themselves have become celebrities in their own rights.

Over decades if not centuries the rising popularity of African American music has bought more attention to African American culture including the landmark signing of legislation in 2003 for the creation and development of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

John Thomson is webmaster at http://www.africanamericancheck.com where African American Personal Checks are on display for all to see.

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What is the Educational Purpose of Music?

Music is The Solution, Not the Problem - Part 1

How often do we hear about music programs being cut back or eliminated from school programs K-12, public and private? They say we need more math and writing skills. So, the outcome is the same over and over again. As parents, policy makers and the schools themselves urge this trend forward, what are they missing? What are we overlooking? To answer this question we need to think about why music is of any importance at all.

We hear music every day, so frequently and in so many ways. We hear it on television commercials, movies, radio clips, online, everywhere and anywhere. So many of us listen to and hear music daily, that we all sort of take it for granted. Well, we shouldn't. Music is not just a CD, a download or thing that some of us do on our spare time just to have fun, to pass the time (which is not to say that there is anything wrong or inappropriate with having fun or recreation with music.)

By viewing music as a purely recreational activity and a commodity, we continue to downgrade it as an essential and necessary part of primary education. As we continue down that slippery slope, more of us are buying into that kind of perspective.

In turn, our politicians and educational bureaucrats continually purge music education, performance and appreciation from our schools as a superfluous unessential and way to successfully trim budgets. This policy and mindset is having a profoundly negative affect on our kids, our culture and our society.

Please consider the following facts.

1. Music, which must have begun as an attempt by our ancestors to answer their most fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of their very existence, predates "civilization" by some accounts up to 50,000 years.

Just recently a prehistoric flute was found in Germany and identified as being the oldest musical instrument ever discovered. If this is correct (as we have every reason to believe that it is), our predecessors started to make music approximately the same time they began drawing and painting cave art.

What were they making music about? Perhaps we can draw comparison to prehistoric wall art in order to improve our ability to contemplate on what they may have been thinking or "playing." After all, we do not have any remains of their music intact as we have of their instruments but there is one thing we can know for sure. Our predecessors had plenty of time to listen to and reflect upon their world, in between hunting parties, staying warm and just surviving. And this is key: the experience of timelessness and of the eternal just happen to be one of the core elements, qualities and benefits of making music.

Running brooks, the wind, rustling leaves, growling wolves, roaring lions and singing birds were the perpetual backdrop of our predecessors existence. Seen in this perspective, music represents one of the very most profound practices of humanity. Music and cave drawing and painting represents mans first attempt to conceptualize, represent and understand the world.

2. Do writing, reading and mathematics all come from the same part of our brains? That would be a good question to ask a brain researcher. Perhaps what is more important is that writing, reading and mathematics are an outgrowth of music. We know that in ancient Greece, music was a science - a realm of exploration comparable to and as important as astronomy, mathematics and philosophy.

3. We listen to and play music because there are thoughts, feelings and emotions that simply can NOT be put into words or translated into a mathematical formula. The fact that we can comprehend certain realms only through hearing or playing music demonstrates and proves our profound need through music, to answer our most burning questions about our existence.

This is why we have to reconsider the importance and role of music as being a key component to our children' primary education. I will elaborate further in - "Music is The Solution, Not the Problem - Part 2." Suffice to say, if we continue down our current path, our children and their children will suffer an incalculable lose to their ability to think, to be whole and to being human.

Eben Goresko is a Classical, Ragtime and Stride Pianist. Eben studied classical piano at Temple University as a Piano Performance Major and has studied Jazz Piano with several notable Jazz Musicians. He also has extensive experience tuning and servicing pianos and has been qualified for over 29 years as a Registered Piano Technician of The Piano Technicians Guild.

Eben is also the webmaster of several informational websites which include educational and thought provoking articles such as - what is the education purpose of music and piano buying information to help consumers make better choices when shopping for a piano colorado.

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New Orleans Jazz - News and Views - Kid Thomas

Kid Thomas Valentine - Trumpet - Vocals and a bag of tricks! Born Reserve Louisiana 3rd February 1896. Died 16th June 1987 In New Orleans.

Let's get the history out of the way: Kid Thomas was a band leader from 1922 onward and led bands all over Louisiana, but always remained based in New Orleans.

I want to quote from "The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD" by Richard Cook and Brian Morton. Their brilliant words on the subject cannot be bettered. "He approached this awesome career with a Zen-like simplicity, reducing the New Orleans sound to its essentials and creating a lifetime's work from them. A fascinating lead trumpeter - his method, including a strict observance of the melody, a blunt jabbing attack and a vibrato that sounds like an angry trill, managed to create high drama and lyrical depth alike. He seldom took solos, he was such a strong lead voice he tended to dominate every band he played with."

Kid Thomas made the most amazing number of recordings, and many of them are available to you on CD right now! But first a warning: the music and these musicians produce a sound that is like fine wine or great coffee - you may take some time to acquire the taste: but when you do you, like me, will become addicted for life.

Try from 1961 "Kid Thomas - George Lewis Ragtime Stompers" on GHB bcd-5. a true classic. Try "The December Band" from 1965 on GHB BCD - 197 and BCD - 198. Then try "New Orleans, The Living Legends" Kid Thomas and his Algiers Stompers on Riverside OCJCCD - 1833 -2 from 1961.

This is one of the rare occasions when I had the great good fortune to be personally acquainted with Kid Thomas and to count Albert Burbank and Emmanuel Paul as very dear friends. In 1963- 4 I toured with Kid Thomas and Emmanuel Paul all over the U.K. on their tour with the Kid Martyn Ragtime Band. My payment for using my band bus and driving for many miles was the pleasure and yes, honour of playing a session at Studio 51 the Ken Colyer Club with my Gothic Jazz Band and Kid Thomas andn Emmanuel Paul. Much later, back in Australia it was a great joy to renew my friendship with them when they toured in a package show - sharing the stage with Dizzy Gillespie. I always remember one of these non-jazz press reporters at Sydney Airport asking Art Blakey how he felt about playing a concert with these "primitive musicians". Art said "It's a great honour for us to play on the same stage as these gentlemen. Let's face it - without them we would not exist! They are the creators."

Kid Thomas Valentine was an enigma, although I spent many hours with him his conversation was like his trumpet playing: staccato, brief and to the point. Just the melody line sparsely stated. Only one night in an hotel room in Melbourne, Australia with most of his band and some star- struck executives of the Sydney Jazz Club, including me, did he let himself go. He told us wonderful stories of his earliest days as a band leader in New Orleans and of the amazing eccentricities of those long gone musicians on the gigs. I wish that I had had a tape recorder but again thankfully we do have plenty of his music on record.

My first purchase was the Riverside Kid Thomas and his Algiers Stompers I recommended earlier. Apart from the missing Emmanuel Paul, this was a band with a long history of playing together. Put on Panama Rag, it's hotter than a fiery furnace! Gulley House Blues can bring tears to the eyes! Sammy Penn is the true master drummer and I hope to write about him in a future article.

When the band broke into " Smile Darn You Smile" at the St Pancras Town Hall it was ecstasy, just like the record and although Alonzo Stewart was no Sammy Penn the overall effect was electric and we knew we were in the presence of the living legends.

Kid Thomas Valentine was an entertainer, his bag of tricks was with him at all times; slap sticks, maracas, tambourines, bonnets for "Milk Cow Blues" and always the biggest New Orleans grin!

Quotes: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD by Richard Cook Brian Morton (Penguin Press)

New Orleans Jazz specialist Geoff Gilbert, banjo player writer and broadcaster lives in the French Quarter. Born in England in 1932. he formed and led the Gothic Jazz Band in 1962. After moving to Sydney, Australia in 1964, he formed the Harbour City Jazz Band and began his jazz radio show on 2MBS-FM which ran for 30 years. In 2001, Geoff relocated to New Orleans to continue his love affair with the birthplace of jazz.

Want to hear some more? Listen to Geoff's podcast, Video of the Month, record reviews and local news at http://www.geoffgilbertsneworleansjazz.com

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Smashing Ideas For Hosting A Fancy Dress Party

The possibilities are endless if you are hosting a fancy dress party and you are only limited by your imagination. Fancy dress parties can be held to celebrate any occasion or no occasion at all and they promise to be great fun for the guests as well as the host.

Once you've decided to throw a fancy dress party, the first thing you need to think about is whether the party will have a specific theme or will it be a dress-as-you-please fancy dress party.

Come-as-you-please Fancy Dress party

If you are calling a large group of people, a general fancy dress party may be a better idea. Trying to organize a themed party to suit so many different tastes may prove to be too challenging for you and may not sound as exciting to everybody. You can be sure not everyone will be doing cartwheels when they receive your Aliens v/s Predators party invite. Better to give your guests the creative license to dress up or dress down as they please and watch the excitement unfold as you try and guess who is behind each mask.

Themed Fancy Dress Party

Themed fancy dress parties are great if you are inviting a group of people who share an enthusiasm for a particular subject or film. You could choose to throw a Star Wars party, Harry Potter party, Cowboys & Indians party, Speakeasy party or an Arabian Nights party. Themed parties will require a considerably higher level of preparation, but it is well worth the effort.

Arabian Nights Party

Expect your guests to come dressed as Cleopatra, Lawrence of Arabia, snake charmers, Arabian guards or harem girls.

To decorate the room, remove all furniture and replace it with colorful rugs, pillows and low seating arrangements. Drape white fabric all over to make the room look like the inside of a tent. Mood lighting, large pitchers sprayed with gold paint, rubber snakes in baskets and sand and gold glitter sprinkled on the table would give your venue the right atmosphere. Play Middle Eastern music, serve Arabic food and hire a couple of belly dancers to get your Arabian Nights revelers in the right mood.

Speakeasy Fancy Dress Party

Expect a lot of gangsters and molls at this one!

Turn the lights down low, set up a bar area, a music area and a dance floor and see your room get slowly converted into a cocktail lounge. Get a smoke machine for some extra effect. You could hire a jazz band or else just play some cool jazz or ragtime music in the background. Serve beautifully garnished old-fashioned cocktails and finger foods in silver platters. If there is no smoking at this party, offer guests chocolate cigars and candy cigarettes in large well-arranged trays.

Whichever kind of party you choose to have, remember to keep a camera on hand with lots of film. There are sure to be a lot of priceless moments at this party!

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Styles of Piano Music

If you are studying the piano, you'll find that there are many different styles of piano music out there today. Usually it is a great idea to learn as many styles as you can if you want to master the piano, and learning all of them is a great idea. When you are knowledgeably about various styles of music for the piano, you are able to play in a variety of styles yourself and it also helps you learn to improvise. Let's take a look at some of the most popular styles out there that you'll want to study and learn to play.

Classical Piano

The oldest style of piano is the classical style and it is very varied as well. This style of piano has been around for hundreds of years and for many, it is the proper style of music to learn when playing the music. Various other styles of piano music actually come from the classical style as well. This style of piano music takes training that is intense and a lot of practice as well.

Rock Piano

Another style of piano music is rock piano. This style of piano actually came right out of blues piano music, although later it would begin to get a new style of it's own. Some great pianists, such as Billy Joel, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elton John would go on to make rock piano the popular and beautiful style that it is today.

Jazz Piano

Another great style of piano music that is well worth studying and learning is jazz piano. It includes a variety of different styles within it and it difficult to describe. A variety of piano styles today actually borrow jazz ideas like certain chords and even improvisation as well. You'll also find that the emphasis on various forms of chords comes from jazz too.

Gospel Piano

You'll find that the gospel piano style of music is very similar to various other styles, such as R&B, blues, and even jazz. There are some extended chords which gospel piano tends to emphasize, but it has that lilting or swinging feel that you often see in both R&B as well as in jazz. While gospel songs may appear to be quite simple, the musicality of them is usually quite complex. You'll notice that syncopation is often used and provides a very spiritual style overtone to the gospel piano music.

Of course these are just a few of the different styles of piano music that are out there today. You'll find that there are many other styles to listen to, learn, and play. Some of them include new age piano, ragtime piano, rhythm and blues piano, boogie woogie piano, and even cocktail piano.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com - an information site for beginning through to advanced musicians. He has a growing number of learn piano reviews available.

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Instrumental Duets For Guitar

The guitar makes a great accompaniment instrument for instrumental duets with a melody instrument. If you are interested in playing with other musicians like this the collections below will give you a great repertoire for playing with flute, violin, or harmonica. Build your accompaniment skills and repertoire and you will always be in demand by instrumental players.

The guitar and the flute have been musical companions for a long time and in many parts of the world. They make excellent sounding duets that can be played in numerous styles.

* Celtic Music for Flute and Guitar, Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh, ADG Productions

This is a collection of twenty folk pieces originating mainly from Scotland and Ireland. The songs span 400 years of folk music as well as five original pieces written by Allan and Jessica. The learning process is eased by an accompanying CD showing how the pieces should be played.

* World Music for Flute and Guitar, Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh, ADG Productions

This musical journey takes you to the four corners of the globe. There is standard notation and tab for guitar and a separate pull-out performance part for the flute melodies. You can listen to examples of the pieces on the CD that accompanies the book.

* Flute and Guitar Duets for Any Occasion, Mark Hanson, Accent On Music

This is a varied collection of duets in classical, folk, Celtic and jazz styles. The music ranges from easy to challenging playing levels in standard and tab notation. The accompanying CD provides stereo recording with flute and guitar on separate channels so you can practice even when your partner isn't around.

The fiddle is another instrument that works well with the guitar. It has been widely used in many styles of folk music. The song books below give you several styles to try.

* The Latin American Fiddler, Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

The exotic blend of Latin-American music with its Spanish, African and indigenous influences is great fun to play. This intermediate level collection of violin songs includes chords that can be played by guitar or piano.

* Jazz, Blues and Ragtime (Violin Edition), Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

This collection of favourite jazz and blues songs is suitable for all playing levels. It includes easy violin parts and guitar chords, as well as more sophisticated string arrangements for more advanced players. Songs include ever popular hits such as The Entertainer, Take Five, Makin' Whoopee, House Of The Rising Sun.

* The Christmas Fiddler, Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

It's always a good idea to have a few Christmas songs to play. This collection includes seven hundred years of songs from the medieval Song of the Ass, through traditional carols such as Away In A Manger and O Little Town Of Bethlehem through to the modern Sleigh Ride.

The harmonica is an ever popular instrument that has often been associated with the guitar in folk, rock and blues. Give your rock guitar skills a workout with these titles.

* Pop Rock Favourites For Harmonica, Bobby Joe Holman, Hal Leonard

Seventeen pop rock hits arranged for harmonica with guitar chords and tab. Pretty Woman, Blueberry Hill, Yakety Yak and Runaway are among the titles in this collection.

* Beatles Greatest Hits Harmonica Songbook, Hal Leonard

27 Beatles songs arranged with melody line, harmonica notation, guitar chords and lyrics. Performance notes are given for each song. Favourite hits include Eleanor Rigby, Get Back, Help, Let It Be, Michelle.

* Blues Harmonica Collection, Hal Leonard

Practice the classic sound of blues guitar and harmonica with forty classic blues tunes from the likes of Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin' Wolf.

Instrumentalists with melody instruments will be delighted to have an accompaniment to play to. If you want to make yourself a useful and popular guitarist who's always in demand spend some time to learn an accompaniment repertoire. You'll have far more people wanting to play with you than the guy playing flashy guitar leads.

Ismail Mohd is the creator of http://www.virtualrockband.com where musicians can meet bassists, drummers, guitarists and vocalists living near them. They can also upload or download instrumental tracks to jam along to.

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Playing Blues Guitar - The Father of the Blues

Memphis blues band, Fried Glass Onions - Memphis Meets the Beatles has recorded three Beatles tribute albums. The first was released in 2005. Actually, Fried Glass Onions is not a real group, but a cute packaging idea; the album contains all Beatles songs, but is recorded by individual artists - not one band. What is interesting is that blues musicians had a tremendous influence on the Beatles as well as other British rock composers. Elvis, in particular, was a great influence on Lennon, who idolized him. After numerous attempts to meet Elvis in person, the Beatles finally got their chance on August 27, 1965 during their second USA tour. The meeting took place at Elvis' Bel-Air, California estate, where the magical event took place - they spent approximately four delirious hours as they described it with the King.

But, before Elvis or the Beatles burst onto the American music scene, there was W. C. Handy - the Father of the Blues. Music historians state that the man they crowned Father of the Blues, W. C. Handy, technically did not invent the blues. Rather, the blues were played before Handy even learned how to play a musical instrument, but it was he who first wrote down and published the first blues piece of music. In his own words, he describes his introduction to first hearing the blues as "the weirdest music I had ever heard" (Handy, 74). Indeed, as a youngster, Handy was formally trained in the traditional manner, where he studied classical music, music theory, and composition.

Handy was born in 1873, in Alabama, and began his entertainment career in the 1890s. His first gigs were touring with all black musical troupes. After serving as bandleader of the Mahara's Minstrels for four years, in 1903 Handy moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi where he heard the Blues for the first time. It was from then that Handy began his ascent from being a classically trained coronet musician into a beginner blues guitar player. In 1914, Handy composed "St. Louis Blues," considered one of the most popular blues songs ever recorded.

By the turn of the century, Handy was about to establish himself and his Memphis blues band as an institution in history of music. His genius came when he began to experiment in integrating ragtime with the blues - blues as it was interpreted in the late part of the nineteenth century. Listening to early versions of "Memphis Blues," or rather "Mr. Crump," a political song, which would eventually be reworked into "Memphis Blues," is stylistically more like ragtime than blues. "Mr. Crump," was actually published three years prior to "Memphis Blues" in 1909. Early recorded versions of each are available of Handy playing the guitar and as well as accompanying himself in traditional blues style vocals. Later piano renditions in ragtime, followed by jazz and big band versions, offer the listener a unique experience of musical history in the making. Over the decades, Handy's music has been performed and arranged by hundreds of musicians and performers, and happily continues to grab at the musical heartstrings of new generations, whether they are playing blues guitar, piano, or even coronet.

Decades later, the tide has turned and Memphis bands, especially the mega Memphis blues band, Fried Glass Onions: Memphis Meets the Beatles, find themselves gaining insight and inspiration from the Beatles. To date, Fried Glass Onions: Memphis Meets the Beatles has been so successful that within a year of the first album, an additional two volumes have been released. Indeed, not only was W. C. Handy the father of the blues, but very much a man who unknowingly fathered a melting pot of musical geniuses.

Written by, Brenne Meirowitz, B.A., M.S., M.A. This article, Playing Blues Guitar - The Father of the Blues Fathers Inspires Memphis Blues Band, Fried Glass Onions - Memphis Meets the Beatles, was written while researching information for Rooftop Beatles Concert.

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