The Black anthropologist, Vera Mae Green, is featured in this analysis of the concept of soul as applied to African-Americans. Music and dance are used to express soul in cultural context. But soul is also a force, an energy which encompasses the Black experience and makes Black culture persevere. (VM)

Discusses the spirituality and African roots of African-American culture. Defines Africanisms as elements of African culture that permeate both religious and secular African-American life. Defines the phenomenon identified as "soul" among African Americans as the contemporary manifestation of Africanisms. Suggests that soul music is…

The focus of this dissertation is on two central issues: (1) significant aesthetic theories developed by black scholars which treat the music of black Americans, and (2) the implications which these theories suggest for the development of curricula at all educational levels which treat the music of black Americans. The aesthetic theories selected…

Analyzes the social function of spirituals in relation to African culture and the slavemasters' language restrictions. Describes the role of secret meetings in traditional African cultures and slave society, and the Bible as metaphor. Focuses on themes of freedom and escape, redemption and salvation, and judgment and punishment. (KH)

Current research reveals that West African musical concepts provided the foundation for the various musical genres created by Black Americans. The Black musical tradition continues to evolve and mirror new values, attitudes, philosophies, and life-styles without the loss of a West African identity. (RLV)

Will the computer or instruments powered by electrical energy become the most efficient means by which to produce Western music, replacing the live performer? If so, what will be the effects of electronic, mechanical music on society? (Author/RJ)

The perseverance of African musical characteristics among American Blacks is an historic reality. African retentions have been recorded in Black music of the antebellum period. Various African scales and rhythms permeate Black American music today as evidenced in the retentions found in blues and jazz. (RLV)

Discusses African music, how it survived slavery, why it manifests itself in specific forms, why some of these forms are almost purely African today while others are very European, the specific characteristics of African music that permeate all African-American music, and why African derived religions are flourishing in the black communities of…

Establishes a black essentialist aesthetic for jazz rap, showing its relation to an African-derived history and other black traditions. Examines newer lines of argument in aesthetics about contemporary recordings focusing on Theodore Gracyk. Argues that jazz rap is defined by actual, not recorded, performance. (CMK)

Explores use and performance of music in the Black church through examination of (1) the events that led to the conversion of Blacks to Christianity; (2) the formation of independent Black religious groups; and (3) the social and cultural milieu that fostered the development of a unique Black religious music. (Author/ML)

Argues that Afro-American music derives from an African continuum, from a musicology, and from tonal and rhythmic values which were and are distinctly African; and that Afro-American tradition is a folk tradition. (Author/JM)

Outlines the concurrent development of Black music and Black dance in the United States, and describes the interaction of the two genres throughout their mutually dependent evolutions. Traces the histories of the dances of African American culture, known collectively as "jazz dance," in relation to ragtime, jazz, and the blues. (AF)

The articles in this document emphasize the positive, unique aspects of Afro-American folklore. Etta Moten Barnett concentrates on the changes in African music in response to the new geographical and cultural influences in America. Frank Suggs, Jr. describes a strategy for introducing black folklore and black music into the elementary school in an…

This Sourcebook can serve as a much needed resource in strengthening the study of African and Afro-American music, an area of specialization that has been neglected in most traditional study programs. The work is divided into two major parts, and 2 appendices. African Music, Part I, contains a bibliography of books about Africa, music, musical…

This book seeks to raise some of the critical theoretical issues involved in the study of American negro folklore in all its major forms. Along with the presentation of texts, the concern here is for the meaning and significance of the folklore and its interpretations as expressed by a variety of authors. The selections are divided into eight…