Student Spotlight: Samson Afolabi Holds Out Hope for the Creedence
In this edition of Student Spotlight, we meet a purveyor of an old familiar bluesy sound, done in a truly pioneering modern way. Enjoy!
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Breaking Down Sonny Rollins’ Catchiest Tune
A personal OpEd on one of Sonny Rollins’ most classic melodies, and a reframed way to improvise within blues-infused modern jazz.
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How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” Takes Beethoven’s Ideas to #1
In this analysis, pop music theorist Ben Morss shows how The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is built from four-note scale segments.
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Making It in Hell: The Lomax Prison Song Recordings from Parchman Farm, 1933–69
We explore in audio, photo, and text, the history of John and Alan Lomax’s multiple visits to Parchman Farm to record prisoners’ work songs between 1933-69.
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Stravinsky & Jazz: Yes, Even Classical Music Is Influenced by Black American Forms
Stravinsky’s music and the music of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane have been compared to Cubism, is jazz the connector? We trace the influences.
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4 Great Nicknames in Blues History
Read the stories of four of our favorite American blues musicians to see how they ended up with some of the best nicknames of all time.
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Shoutin’ Out: A Crash Course on Blues Shouting
A closer look at the tradition of “blues shouting” in the early 1930s and ’40s, which helped inspire the creation of rock ‘n’ roll out of jazz and gospel.
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7 Incredible Forgotten Names in Delta Blues
Get to know some of the forgotten legends of an already-legendary American genre of music, the blues, in this historical deep dive into obscurity.
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That Time Keith Richards Found Muddy Waters Painting the Ceiling at Chess Studios
55 years ago today, the Rolling Stones released their “5×5” EP, the recording session in which they serendipitously met their blues idol, Muddy Waters.
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The Lasting Legacy of the Slave Trade on American Music
Today is the UN International Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade, we honor this day by charting the legacy of African diasporic music in America.
