Blues Music History and Controversy

Blues is known as a flow of vocal and instrumental music from the United States (U.S.). The music began to grow rapidly in the 19th century AD comes from spiritual music and chanted the usual compliment of black African community in the U.S.. Music that apply blue note and call and response pattern of the U.S. public believed it was popularized by the "Father Blues'-WC Handy (1873-1958).

A writer and a scientist and researcher at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, Sylviane Diouf, managed to convince the public that the Blues have a relationship with a Muslim tradition in West Africa. To prove the relationship between American blues music with Muslim tradition, Diouf plays two recordings. The first playback of the public in attendance at Harvard it is (chanting prayer) calling for Muslims to perform prayers. After that, Diouf Levee Camp Holler play. 

The second recording is the old blues song that first appeared in the Mississippi Delta about 100 years ago. Levee Camp Holler is not a blues song that is fairly common. The song was created by the black community of West African Muslim origin who worked in the post-Civil War America. 

Levee Camp Holler lyrics of the song that is played Diouf it sounded like a voice call to prayer - contains about the majesty of God. Like the prayer chant, song Levee Camp Holler stressed sounding words tremble. According to Diouf, the nasal style between Levee Cam Holler Blues songs that are similar to prayer is also an evidence of a linkage between the two. 

Other influences were given the black community in America against the Muslim religion Blues are musical instruments that they can play. In the era of slavery in America, the white man forbade them drumming, fearing it will encourage the spirit of resistance. 

Prof. Kubik wrote a book about relationships Blues music with Islamic civilization in West Africa entitled, Africa and the Blues, who published the University Press of Mississippi in 1999. "I'm sure many Blues singers today who do not realize that they mimic the patterns of music musical traditions in the Arab Muslims," ​​he said. 

Academically Prof. Kubik has been proved. "Blues singers vocal style mostly using melisma, wavy intonation. Vocal style as it is the heritage of the people in West Africa who have been in contact with the world of Islam since the 7th century, and 8 M," he said. 

Melisma use many tones in one syllable. Meanwhile, a series of wavy intonation are switching from major to minor scale and back again. That said, it is very common for Muslims while chanting prayer and reading scripture.