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    Afro-Muse: The Evolution of African-American Music
    Afro-Muse: The Evolution of African-American Music
    Afro-Muse: The Evolution of African-American Music
    Ebook128 pages1 hour

    Afro-Muse: The Evolution of African-American Music

    By Ian C. Dawkins Moore

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    About this ebook

    The story of music making in early African societies and its importation to America. A review showing the musical influences of Africa onto America. Chapters includes: Africa's history, musicology, instruments,the middle passage, seasoning in the islands, new world Africans arrive with their music,conversion to Christianity, the spirituals, camp meetings,the blues and hip hop's real origins.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIan C. Dawkins Moore
    Release dateDec 25, 2009
    ISBN9781452308999
    Afro-Muse: The Evolution of African-American Music
    Author

    Ian C. Dawkins Moore

    Ian C. Dawkins Moore was born under the sign of Aries in the year of the Tiger. He survived a British boarding school, the jock world of football hooliganism, hitch-hiking across the Sahara desert, and the two-tone culture of American racism. He is the published author of over 20 books, and he can still see the funny side of life- Be Well & Enjoy!

    Read more from Ian C. Dawkins Moore

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      Book preview

      Afro-Muse - Ian C. Dawkins Moore

      PART I – AFRICA

      Historical Background

      Music

      Social Function of Music

      Music in Ritual

      Status of Musicians & Performing Groups

      Instruments:

      Idiophones

      Membranophones

      Aerophones

      Chordophones

      PART II - THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

      The Slave Trade

      African Slavery

      European Imperialism

      Economics of Slavery

      Musical Retention

      PART III – AMERICA

      Colonial Slavery

      The Acculturation of African Music in the New World

      The Arrival of the Africans and Their Music

      Conversion to Christianity

      Afro-American Sacred Music - The Spiritual

      Afro-American Churches

      The Camp Meetings

      Social Significance of the Spiritual

      EPILOGUE

      BIBLIOGRAPHY & RESOURCES

      PREFACE

      This book came out of an idea stimulated by my African-American History professor at Laney College, Oakland, USA. I had only recently arrived in California, from England, and the perspectives by Afro-Americans of Africa struck me as very different from those I was use to. I had come from London, England by way of the West Indies, and had spent two years previously traveling in West Africa. In a Black History class on the slave trade, my professor suggested, somewhat simply and grossly inaccurately, that the Africans who arrived on the shore of the New World had nothing but the skin on their bones, and also came from an environment where there was nothing but servitude and poverty. I argued against this blanket attitude, and was consequently thrown out of the class for being disruptive to the other students.

      This book is my reply to this kind of censorship and the systematic misinformation in the Western World about Africa, which fails to recognize Africa as a center for much learning and achievement, particularly in the field of music.

      I've chosen to use the term Afro-American, as opposed to 'Black' with reference to the African influences in the New World. Firstly, because I want to underlines the importance of Africans in the acculturation process of America. Secondly, the term Black is more political than substantive, referring primarily to the historical struggles of Americans, than to Africans worldwide. It is my intention to offer as factual an account as possible of the making of the Afro-American music without recourse to recriminations or reverse discrimination.

      However, it would be naive of me to pretend that the disruption caused by the suppression of Afro-Americans by white Americans can be glossed over or excused. Therefore, I discuss the facts of this suppression in its context throughout the book; it is the accomplishments and impact of Africans in music making that I intend to emphasize.

      This is not an original work, but rather a compilation and re-presentation of the story of music making by Africans, from Africa to the New World. I have used extensively the original research of a number of writers pre-eminent in the field. Namely; J.H. Kwabena Nketia's African Music; Paul Oliver's Savannah Syncopators; Eileen Southern's, The Music of Black Americans - A History; and Dena J. Epstein's Sinful Tunes and Spirituals. I've done this to highlight their works, and also to coordinate and connect their individual stories into the larger and continuous story of the art of music making, and the particular process that has brought Afro-American music to today’s highly influential form.

      INTRODUCTION

      The history and creation of Afro-American music is built on a number of diverse factors. The traditions developed in Africa; the impact of the European slave trade; and the Afro-American experiences in the New World. The extent of these influences will continued to be debated, but there is sufficient data to establish some common threads.

      In the following pages I intend to demonstrate that there existed a strong network of traditions in Africa, which established a firm foundation for future developments. Secondly, that these African cultural traditions continue to influence Afro-Americans through to the present time. In one sense we can view the phenomena of the Slave trade as one where Africa exported her culture. Thirdly, that the Europeans were conveyors of this cultural transference through their colonization of Africa. Fourthly, that the experiences of slavery in America, by Afro-Americans caused the evolution of a uniquely creative and definitive music which paradoxically has been instrumental in the greatest integration effort of America and her various racial groups.

      In order to make my case I shall discuss in depth the history of Africa, in those regions where it has been determined most Afro-Americans' can trace their heritage. I shall discuss the musical traditions of these peoples and areas, as they were before the coming of the European, and their traditions today; the instruments, musicology, and the many creative cultural expressions indicative of African music. I intend by this method to establish the diversity and sophistication of African musical traditions and show how music was a common thread among all the peoples of Africa. I also will show how these traditions may have been retained and carried to America and beyond.

      Europeans recorded much of the data that covers the transition period from Africa to America. Thus, the data reflects a particular point of view, which often patronized the African traditions. I will re-examine some of this data and offer alternative interpretations where appropriate. The practicalities and limitations of the retention of African traditions by the slaves will also be addressed.

      The transference of Africans as slaves to America spanned a period of over three hundred years. Throughout this time first generation Africans brought with them fragments of their cultural traditions, notwithstanding the brutality of slavery and incarceration. This cultural transference stopped when slavery ended. In effect, as slavery ended there were no new Africans coming to America bringing current ideas of African societies. The development of a uniquely Afro-American culture began to take shape in this period and forms a major part of this story. The experiences of Africans in America gradually eroded their identity with Africa but it was replaced by a new and dynamic phenomenon that was symbolized and nurtured by the Afro-American Church.

      In discussing the development of Afro-American musical traditions, the role of slavery will be chronicled as an essential part of the cultural experience of New World Africans, and went towards creating a unique music in the church, field and concert hall.

      In conclusion I will reiterate the impact of slavery, colonization, and the acculturation process of these, until now, separate stories and discuss and emphasize what the 300 year-old legacy of forced acculturation haS done for America in general, and Afro-Americans in particular. It is my contention that African and European musical traditions, wedded together, under duress, has created an Afro-American music

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