Reflection Paper On Blues Music

Blues music is very similar to jazz music and is a part of it, although it has a distinctive count, since it is 12 bars usually. The two genres developed around the same time. Blues tunes usually express hardship and their roots can be traced to work songs and spirituals. On Monday February 5th 2018, I was able to attend the “Ain’t I a woman” concert held by the school of music. This program was the 22nd annual African American Heritage Institute Concert. The concert was a chamber music theater which included Shayla Simmon as the actress, Jy Young Lee on the cello, Mikael Darmanie on the piano and Michael Parola on percussion. The concert had a good turn out and it was an educational, empowering experience.

Each performer is a renewed master

Part one was about Zora Neale Hurston, who was an American novelist in the first half of the 20th century. She researched and wrote about the racial struggles of the United States and Haitian Voodoo. The performance also displayed how she was tokenized and discriminated against by the socialist of New York. Within in this part there were varies blues songs including “The Profit” by Max Roach with the arrangement by Charles Floyd, “Blues for Miles” by Diane Monroe.

The concert started with the lively song of “The Profit.” This was a polyphonic melody which had a quick tempo. There was some syncopation throughout the tune. “Blues for Miles,” was another powerful tune in that each instrument reacted and interacted well with each other. It was a seemingly calm song which allowed Simmons to tell the story of Hurston without being overpowering with the music. It was a polyphonic song with each instrument bringing a new element to the

The first was at her home near Indianola, Mississippi in 1962. The second was in a hospital near Atlanta, Georgia in 1963. Fannie Lou Hamer was a political leader, organizer, and famer. She was an essential activist who organized the community for voting rights. Although voting was “legal” for African Americans at this time, various barriers where created to keep them from being able to vote such as reading test, poll taxes etc. Hamer was essential activist who left an enormous legacy. The last moment of her life which was highlighted was again at her home; where she realized the troubles, she faced and the hardships she still had to overcome. During this section the music mirrored her anguish and set the tone for the next portion.

Part three was composed of songs from a variety of genres including classical. “ “Lamentations” by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson was a classical/ folk solo performed by Young. The notes in in “Motherless Child” by Frederick Tillis can be found in other blue song melodies. It is not twelve bars it still shares the lament which other blue songs are rooted in. “Freedom Land” by Charles Floyd was a resonating song which concluded the concert. The song was uplifting and was