The Evolution of African American Music African American music originated from Africans who were enslaved and brought to America. They were separated by their language and their history. The way they managed to preserve part of their culture is through music, which was limited to voice, rhythm and dance. The type of African music called "sorrow songs," sung because of the hard work and cruelty that slaves faced, was transformed into the blues that became popular in the Deep South. From the blues came jazz, behop, rhythm and blues (R&B), soul and rap. Blues is a style of music that contains themes such as love, sex, betrayal, poverty, drinking, bad luck and the itinerant lifestyle. The first Blues emerged from Texas, Louisiana, the Piedmont region and the Mississippi Delta. Blues was typically played by solo musicians who played acoustic guitar, piano, or harmonica. They played at weekend parties, picnics and juke joints and this type of music was about farm workers. The African American community that created the blues began fleeing the South due to harsh Jim Crow laws. Many began to migrate north. Because of the new environment and not having to remember the hardships of slavery, the sound of the blues began to change. For example, blues artist Muddy Waters went from playing acoustic guitar to electric guitar and the blues sound had a more electrified blues sound and this paved the way for the creation of Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll. Jump Blues is a smooth-paced, singer-oriented type of Blues. It was the first style of “Rhythm and Blues” which is said to have originated in 1949 as “a catch-all te...... middle of paper ......d Rock and Rock, the door was open for African Americans. Chuck Berry, Little Richard and other African American artists were able to achieve success. Because rock and roll originated among the lower classes and a segregated ethnic group, many middle-class whites thought it was in poor taste. Rock and roll records were banned from a large number of radio stations and schools. Jazz is a style that has gone through several phases. At the same time as jazz, there was a style of music called Behop that kind of dominated. Miles Davis “was one of the promoters of the “cool” school, which emphasized melody and “leaned toward a less-is-more aesthetic” (Ethan Goffman). Davis' styles soon evolved into modal jazz that contained complex rhythms. Taking a fast and furious direction came hard bop and cool jazz that emphasized solos. Jazz's popularity soon began to fade.