BR on Music Theory Print

Brasília hip-hop

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First generation#

This section talks about two of the pioneers of the first generation of rappers in Brasília. DJ Jamaika is one of the main pioneers responsible for elevating and spreading the hip-hop scene in the Distrito Federal (DF) area since 1993. He has participated in various radio and TV programs, such as Transamérica. He is a rapper from Ceilândia, satellite city around Brasília. He was in a hip-hop group called Alibi in 1999. He was also part of the group Câmbio Negro, which was initiated by a Brasiliense rapper called X in 1990. One of his best known CDs is Pá Doido Pirá which is also used as an important reference in Brazilian hip-hop. In 2002, DJ Jamaika became a Christian and started working only with gospel rap CDs. In 2007, he won the “Prêmio Hutúz” national Brazilian award for best beatmaker. GOG is another pioneer of the hip-hop culture in Brasília. He was born in Sobradinho, satellite city around Brasília, and moved to Guará in 1973, another satellite city around Brasília, where he resided until 1991. He is a rapper and began his career as a poet. His first CD was recorded in 1992 with the title Peso Pesado (“Heavy Weight”). In 2007, he won the Prêmio Hútuz award for best artist. His most recent work is DVD Cartão Postal Bomba!, released in 2009.

Brazilian gaucho music

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History#

In the 19th century, in the north of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, the tropeiros, men who led the cattle troops, often created music for fun, to sing while they stumbled, they were songs with simple lyrics, but with time, and the arrival of the accordion in Brazil, these songs gained their own dances. Today, they are gaúcho folkloric songs and dances, as there is no record of the composers of the songs and the creators of the dances. With the emergence of the Farroupilha Revolution, also known as the Farrapos War, these dances ended up being forgotten for years, receiving only a brief revival in late nineteenth century’s parties. In 1940, the folklorist João Carlos D’avila Paixão Cõrtes, better known as Paixão Côrtes, Gathered a group of friends to rescue these songs and dances, and through a lot of work, they got many answers from elderly people. In 1943, the first song from Rio Grande do Sul was recorded: it is called “Adeus Mariana”, performed by singer and composer Pedro Raymundo, and was inspired by country music. In 1948, after further research, Paixão Côrtes and his friends created the first Centro de Tradições Gaúchas (known throughout Brazil through the acronym “CTG”), where people gather for traditional events, involving music and dance. At this point many folk songs were rescued, and in 1950, the first folk music from Rio Grande do Sul was recorded, “Rancheira de Carreirinha”, recorded by Ivan Lessa. Each folk song has its dance, as they were forgotten for years, when they were rescued by Paixão Cõrtes and his friends, many dances needed to receive small modifications to help people memorize the steps. In 1958 with the foundation of CTG Rincão Serrano in Carazinho RS, these customs were already very popular in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and it was already arriving in the state of Santa Catarina, not only music and dance, but also clothing, as well. like the gaucho of Uruguay, the clothing of the gaucho of Brazil is similar, Bombacha (Pants), boots, scarf around the neck, hat and on cold days, the use of the poncho or the visor are two similar garments that are suitable for winter . The songs of the gaucho music present themes from the gaucho folk traditions, such as: countryside, farm, horse, moral values and regional cuisine. Some songs are built in a slow way, others in a more agitated way, always following the familiar rhythms, Xote, Valsa and Milonga are slow rhythms, Chamamé, Vaneira and Bugio are more agitated. Having the influence of folk music, by singer Pedro Raymundo, and the duo Irmãos Bertussi, several gaúcho artists emerged singing their own songs in the same style. Gaucho music follows various rhythms, Waltz, Tango, Rancheira, Vaneira, Chamamé, Xote, and the only rhythm created in Rio Grande do Sul, the Bugio. The folk songs also follow these rhythms, the “Xote Carreirinho” as the title says, is in the rhythm of Xote, the “Pezinho” is in the Ritmo de Valsa and the “Rancheira de Carreirinha” is a Rancheira as the title itself it says. Gaucho music became popular worldwide in 1960 as singer and composer Teixeirinha, born in Rolante, Rio Grande do Sul, Teixeirinha released the song “Coração de Luto” in 1959, the song talks about his childhood, in 1960 it sold 1 million of copies in South America and Portugal, until 1965 it had sold 3 million copies throughout America, Europe and some countries in Africa and Asia. Today Teixeirinha is considered the greatest singer from Rio Grande do Sul and regionalist, with more than 130 million albums sold worldwide. Gaucho music stands out a lot in ballads, where two or more singers get together and sing rhymed verses in the improvisation, attacking each other, a musical fight made to amuse the people, two singers stand out in the gaucho trova, Gildo de Freitas and José Portella Delavy, Gildo de Freitas is considered the King of the Troubadours, and Delavy is considered the Master of the Troubadours. Currently, a great grandson of Delavy named Samuel Delavy is pursuing a career in Rock. In addition to Teixeirinha, Gildo de Freitas and José Portella Delavy, other great artists and bands stand out such as Baitaca, Porca Véia, Os Bertussi (band created by the Bertussi Brothers after their success as a duo), Mano Lima, Mary Terezinha, Berenice Azambuja, Shana Muller and others. Some of the musical instruments used in the genre are accordion, guitar, violin and bombo legüero.

Brazilian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Precursors#

Many believe that even before the consolidation of the American hip hop scene, similar forms of rhythm and poetry were already manifesting in Brazil. The first form of poetic improvisation appeared in the northeast of the country (in the region of Teixeira, Paraíba) in the 19th century. Known as “repente” or “cantoria”, it is a genre of Brazilian folk music practiced by a pair of singers known as repentistas who alternate themselves in the composition of improvised strophes following very strict patterns of metric, rhyme and thematic coherence. Also in 1964, the singer Jair Rodrigues released the samba song “Deixa Isso Pra Lá” (“Never Mind”) which many consider to be the first rap song ever made in the country.

Brazilian rap geek

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Brazilian rock

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1950s#

In 1957, the first original Brazilian rock and roll song, Rock and roll em Copacabana, was penned by Miguel Gustavo. This pioneering track was recorded by the singer Cauby Peixoto and rose to #52 on the charts that year. During this period, several bands performed songs that were rough translations of English lyrics, though several groups chose to focus on instrumental rock instead. This was in part inspired by instrumental bands such as Duane Eddy and The Champs. In 1958, this inspiration led to the release of the first Brazilian instrumental rock song, “Here’s the Blue Jean Rockers” by The Blue Jean Rockers pt . Later the same year, Bolão & His Rockettes went on to record the country’s first purely instrumental LP. These developments were crucial in establishing rock as a popular genre among Brazilian youth. Following these pioneering efforts, a wave of new bands emerged, including The Avalons, The Clevers pt , The Rebels, The Jordans pt , The Jet Blacks, The Pops, Os Populares, The Bells, The Lions, and The Youngs, further solidifying rock’s place in Brazilian music culture. 1958 marked a watershed moment for Brazilian rock, witnessing the meteoric rise of several artists and bands. Notable figures such as Nora Ney, Nick Savoia, Celly Campelo, Tony Campelo (Celly Campelo’s brother), , , Cinderella, Regiane, Ronnie Cord, and Hamilton di Giorgio achieved rapid success, establishing themselves as prominent names in the music scene virtually overnight. Additionally, instrumental groups such as the aforementioned Avalons, Tte Rebels, the Jordans, and Os Incríveis also gained widespread popularity, contributing to the vibrant and diverse landscape of Brazilian rock during this pivotal year.

Brazilian thrash metal

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1980s#

During the early 80s, bands from the United States, Germany and Canada, such as Metallica and Slayer (U.S.), Destruction and Kreator (Germany), and Voivod and Exciter (Canada) appeared. During this time, Brazil experienced a shift from dictatorship to democracy, while also facing economic instability. At the same time, Brazil had a growing metal and rock scene and was influenced by the same music subgenres as their European and North American counterparts: New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and hardcore punk. Brazilian rock has its roots in the 1960s, developing from the movement called Jovem Guarda, which evolved into progressive rock and heavy metal. In 1982, the first Brazilian heavy metal LP was released by the band Stress, who is from the northern city Belém. The European and North American heavy metal and hardcore scenes influenced a majority of Brazilian bands, The first thrash metal (or speed metal) album released officially in Brazil in 1984 was a split album between two bands called Ultimatum, by Dorsal Atlântica and Metalmorphose. The album came out around the same time as Kill ‘Em All by Metallica, War and Pain by Voivod, and Sentence of Death by Destruction. In the late 1980s, Sepultura achieved success outside of Brazil. The last thrash metal albums to represent the “old-school” style of thrash in Brazil were Mass Illusion by Korzus (1991), Arise by Sepultura (1991), Rotten Authorities by Executer (1991), and The Laws of Scourge by Sarcófago (1991).

Break-in record

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Breakbeat

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Etymology#

The origin of the word “breakbeat” is the fact that the drum loops that were sampled occurred during a “break” in the music – for example, the Amen break (a drum solo from “Amen, Brother” by the Winstons) or the Think break (from “Think (About It)” by Lyn Collins).

1970s–1980s: Classic breaks and hip-hop production#

Beginning in 1973 and continuing through the late 1970s and early 1980s, hip-hop turntablists such as DJ Kool Herc began using several funk breaks in a row, using drum breaks from jazz-funk tracks such as James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” and the Winstons’ “Amen, Brother”, to form the rhythmic base for hip-hop songs. DJ Kool Herc’s breaks style involved playing the same record on two turntables and playing the break repeatedly, alternating between the two records. Grandmaster Flash perfected this idea with what he called the “quick-mix theory”: he would mark the points on the record where the break began and ended with a crayon, so that he could easily replay the break by spinning the record and not touching the tone arm. This style was copied and improved upon by early hip-hop DJs Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Wizard Theodore. This style was extremely popular in clubs and dancehalls because the extended breaks compositions provided breakers with more opportunities to showcase their skills. In the late 1970s, breakbeats had attained a large presence in hip-hop. In the 1980s, the evolution of technology began to make sampling breaks easier and more affordable for DJs and producers, which helped nurture the commercialization of hip-hop. Through early techniques such as pausing tapes and then recording the break, by the 1980s, technology allowed anybody with a tape recorder to find the breakbeat.

Breakbeat hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 1990s: origins#

The rave scene expanded rapidly in the early 1990s, both at clubs up and down the country including Labrynth, Shelley’s Laserdome, The Eclipse, and Sanctuary Music Arena, and large raves in Warehouses and in the open air attracting 10–25,000 whether put on legally from promoters such as Fantazia, Dreamscape, and Raindance, or unlicensed by free party sound systems such as Spiral Tribe. These events featured the popular rave DJs such as Fabio and Grooverider, Carl Cox, Top Buzz, and Slipmatt, as well as live PAs from rave acts including Shades of Rhythm and Bizarre Inc. Breakbeat hardcore drew its melting pot of sound from a vast array of influences – from new beat and Belgian techno that had for a short period been prominent in the UK rave scene, to house and acid house, and furthermore drawing on hip hop and reggae culture. Amongst the influences from within the rave scene itself upon which this strain of hardcore drew were such acts as Manix, The Hypnotist, Ravesignal, and T99. From outside of the rave scene, the sped-up breakbeats of UK rap acts such as Hardnoise, MC Duke, Demon Boyz, and Hijack were highly influential, with some of these including Duke, The Criminal Minds, and Liam Howlett (of Cut 2 Kill and who would go on to form the Prodigy), making the transition into hardcore. Pioneering the fusion of sounds from acid house, hip hop, and reggae were late 1980s UK hip house veterans like Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Blapps Posse, and Shut Up and Dance, becoming pivotal contributors to hardcore and its derivative genres like jungle. The huge increase in producers was also driven by the increasing availability of cheap home computer-based studio setups, particularly Cubase for the Atari ST.

Breakcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

As the early days of “hardcore techno” or just “hardcore” began to settle in Europe, breakcore as a genre began to take more concrete forms in other parts of the world. The genre began to split into its own separate scene around 1990–1994. Inspired by new labels such as Addict, from Milwaukee, US; Peace Off from Rennes, France; Sonic Belligeranza from Bologna, Italy; and Planet Mu, from London, it began to take a new shape, adding in more elements of mashup and IDM. to the hardcore sounds. Each of these labels began to draw in aspects of their own social and aesthetic scenes, allowing for an even broader definition of what was possible in the music. In Europe, the breakcore genre was solidified by raves and club events such as Belgium’s Breakcore Gives Me Wood, Other artists such as Shitmat, Sickboy, DJ Scotch Egg, and Drop the Lime take another direction towards mash-up, happy hardcore, and rave to make a lighter, more humorous sound. The rise of Chiptune music has also blended with breakcore with artists such as Tarmvred. The UK free party scene has also expressed a large interest in producing and distributing its own takes on breakcore, with crews and labels such as Life4land, Hekate, Headfuk, and Bad Sekta helping to push the scene and sound forward, as well as bringing over a number of international artists to play at their parties and club nights. Breakcore is steadily gaining in popularity, and aspiring artists are found scattered across the Internet. In a documentary in 2006, Andrew Forrest said that the breakcore scene was “largely based on the internet.” Sociologist Andrew Whelan notes that Venetian Snares, who was influential in popularizing breakcore in the mid-2000s, He adds that breakcore is the best example of a music genre whose development is intrinsically linked to online and peer-to-peer distribution.

Breakup song

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Genres and styles#

Breakup songs can be found in every genre of music. For example, “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette is categorized as alternative rock and post-grunge; “Tainted Love”, originally composed by Ed Cobb and recorded as a soul music track by Gloria Jones in 1964, attained worldwide fame after being covered by Soft Cell in 1981 as a synthpop /new wave song; “I Will Survive”, popularized by Gloria Gaynor, has been described as a “disco anthem”; and “Achy Breaky Heart”, popularized by Billy Ray Cyrus, is a country/rockabilly song. Some musicians are particularly well known for having written or recorded a large number of breakup songs; for example, Taylor Swift, whose penchant for the genre has been the subject of examination. The nature and style of breakup songs also changes over time. One source contends that “1960s charts were full of tragic break-up songs, whereas by the 1990s these were a rarity – which may indicate that, contrary to its in-your-face aerobics’n’attitude bluster, 1990s pop is more emotionally repressed”. In many instances, breakup songs “spring from biographical material”, with songwriters using the medium to record their own feelings about a breakup. Breakup songs can also reflect specific phases of a breakup, including feelings of estrangement between the partners before the actual breakup, describing the breakup itself, and describing feelings in the aftermath of the breakup.

Brega (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

There are several hypotheses regarding the origin of the word brega as a synonym for brothel and, later, for a musical style. According to Houaiss Dictionary of the Portuguese Language, the term means “bad taste,” “tacky,” or “inferior,” possibly derived from esbregue, an expression used in Rio de Janeiro between the 1920s and 1950s to refer to something poorly made, mediocre, or ordinary. Another theory, defended by etymologists such as Sérgio Nogueira and Amaro Quintas, links brega to xumbrega. This word is believed to have originated in Pernambuco in 1666, stemming from the nickname “Xumbergas” given to the Portuguese colonial administrator Jerônimo de Mendonça Furtado, in reference to the German general Schomberg. As he was fond of alcoholic beverages, the term came to mean “drunkenness,” giving rise to the verbs xumbregar (to get drunk or to bother) and the adjective xumbrega (of bad quality). From this meaning, the term is thought to have evolved in the 20th century to designate brothels, as recorded in dictionaries such as those by Aurélio Ferreira, The term “brega” was historically used pejoratively by the middle and upper classes, associating it with low-income individuals and the brothels of the Northeast, where romantic and dramatic music was common. In the North and Northeast regions, the style remained alive and consolidated as a significant musical force, even though it was ignored by major radio stations and record labels. Local artists continued to produce, often with limited resources, maintaining a loyal audience in urban peripheries. According to UN Tourism, Belém do Pará became the main hub for the consolidation of brega as a style. Initially restricted to dances (called bregões) in peripheral nightclubs, the genre gained regional dimension with aparelhagem parties, which emerged in the outskirts of Belém in the 1940s, using powerful sound systems to animate large dance gatherings.

Brega pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Brega was a term used pejoratively to designate popular romantic music of low quality and with dramatic exaggerations (love disappointments) or naivety; with samba-canção, bolero and jovem-guarda linked to it. The musical origin of “brega” is not known for sure, but singer Vicente Celestino (1894-1968) in the 1930s is considered to be one of the precursors of brega as a dramatic musical genre, followed by: Orlando Dias, Carlos Alberto and Cauby Peixoto. During the 1960s, the romantic music of artists was basically from the lower classes and came to be considered tacky and inelegant. movement - inspired by avant-garde artistic currents and national and foreign pop culture and by traditional manifestations of Brazilian culture and radical aesthetic innovations - and the Iê-iê-iê movement - which led the way for foreign rock’n’roll, giving it a national dressing, and became a major behavioral and fashion phenomenon. And it was the Jovem Guarda that paved the way for new artists who challenged the standards of good taste of the Brazilian middle class in the following decade, who led the band The Silver Jets. Belém do Pará became the main reference in the consolidation of “brega” as a musical style in the country. Initially restricted to circuits of dances and concerts - called “bregões” - in nightclubs on the outskirts of Belém, the scene acquired great regional proportions with the “aparelhagens” (large, powerful professional sound systems) of the big popular parties, attended by thousands of people, usually characterized by music typical of the northern region.

Brill Building (genre)

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List of artists#

1960s artists/songwriters Later artists * Roy Wood * Cindy Lee * Jessica Pratt

Brisbane punk rock

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Pioneers (1975–77)#

Brisbane punk rock developed under the state government of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the Premier of Queensland from 1968 to 1987; his administration was investigated by the Fitzgerald Inquiry (1987–89), which found “long-term, systemic political corruption and abuse of power.” Kid Galahad and the Eternals were a garage rock band formed in 1973 in Brisbane by school mates: Chris Bailey on lead vocals, Ivor Hay on piano and Ed Kuepper on guitar. Locally they earned a reputation for their punk attitude after a debut performance at a Returned and Services League venue in the western suburbs. Bailey described the first gig to a United Kingdom fanzine, Sniffin’ Glue, in October 1976, “Then after our second drummer walked out and we almost called it ‘quits’ but we decided to keep playing to the 30 people (from an original 150 patrons) who were still with us. Before the last number the manager of the hall arrived with cops, turned off the power… The cops told us they would confiscate our equipment if we didn’t go, so we went.” By the end of 1975 the band added Kym Bradshaw on bass guitar and moved Hay to drums; soon after they changed their name to the Saints. Jon Savage, UK journalist and punk historian, later wrote that the Saints “had been developing in near isolation for three years, but it took just one review in Sounds magazine to make their career.” The Saints arrived in the UK in 1977 but found that their hair and image did not fit the UK punk dress codes. The locals were sporting spiky hair and brothel creepers, instead the group had appeared similar to street bums with attitude. Kuepper reflected on their reception, “By the time we got here the initial spirit already died out, it was very contrived. There were too many people following slavishly after. We had problems because we didn’t look new wave.” The Saints reached the UK charts with their third single, This Perfect Day (July 1977), after the Sex Pistols had released their second single, God Save the Queen (May). The Saints released (I’m) Stranded (February 1977) and followed with Eternally Yours (May 1978), which included their single, Know Your Product (February). (I’m) Stranded was listed at No. 20 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums (October 2010), with Prehistoric Sounds at No. 41. In 1976 the Leftovers were formed in Sandgate, as “Australia’s first true punks in the Sex Pistols mould” according to music writer, Clinton Walker. They gained local recognition for their existentialist approach. On Behind the Banana Curtain (2000, a CD compilation sponsored by the radio station, 4ZZZ) they were described as “Raw, intoxicated, energetic and antisocial.” The Leftovers experienced “continuous harassment from the local constabulary”; In June 1979 they released their only single, Cigarettes and Alcohol, which McFarlane declared was “one of the classics of the late 1970s Australian punk rock era.” It was included on the Lethal Weapons (May 1978) compilation by various Australian punk bands. During this era Brisbane punk rock venues included the Hamilton Hall and Toowong RSL hall. Hutson and Sawford stated that “Two of the more notorious DIY venues were the Saint’s 76 Club … and the Baroona Road Hall, scene of numerous ‘one-off’ multiple band gigs.” From November 1975 4ZZZ broadcast local punk music; John Stanwell, its original Arts Administrator, explained, in September 2006, that it was “The first (Radio) station in the world to play The Saints.” The era was documented in a fanzine SSuicide Alley, arguably Australia’s second punk fanzine, which was printed in Brisbane in April 1977 by Walker and Andrew McMillan. Walker detailed the late 1970s Brisbane scene through his contemporary work for University of Queensland paper, Semper, and another fanzine, Pulp. His later books include Inner City Sound (1982) and Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music 1977–1991 (1996).

Brit funk

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Name and characteristics#

The term Brit funk evolved from the club DJs and James Hamilton of Record Mirror whose column had a major influence in launching new records. Brit funk was a fusion of R&B, funk, soul music rhythms. Pioneers of this sound, groups Hi-Tension and Light of the World, had a British twist to their instrumentation and vocals, avoiding American accents. The emerging punk rock scene has also been cited as an influence by Brit funk musicians: Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick, guitarist with Light of the World and subsequently leader of Incognito, said that the energy of punk and a lack of musical experience led to his attempts to emulate the “slick funk” of 1970s American soul and jazz-funk acts turning into a sound “somewhere between that and a guy that’s just thrashing a guitar”, whilst John Rocca of Freeez - who were signed by punk label Beggars Banquet Records - also drew parallels between the two scenes. Hi-Tension co-founder Paul McLean has also suggested that the Caribbean roots of many Brit funk musicians also influenced their music, resulting in “a looser rhythm (and) hints of reggae in the sound”.

British Black music

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Awards#

Since 1996, the annual British MOBO awards ceremony has honoured achievements in “music of black origin”.

Genres#

2-step garage
Afroswing
Bassline
Britfunk
British black gospel
British blues
British hip hop
British jazz
British reggae
British soul
Drum and bass
Dubstep
Grime
Lovers rock
Jungle
Ragga jungle
Trip hop
UK garage
UK funky
UK gospel
UK drill
Progressive rap

Organisations and events#

African Society of Literati, Musicians, and Artists (established in 1897)
Music Of Black Origin Awards
Urban Music Seminar
Black Music Awards (BMA)

18th century#

Ignatius Sancho
George Bridgetower
Joseph Emidy

19th century#

Fisk Jubilee Singers

20th century#

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Southern Syncopated Orchestra
Ken “Snakehips” Johnson
Aswad
Loose Ends (band)
Junior Giscombe
Maxi Priest
Five Star
Jaki Graham
Heatwave (band)
The Real Thing (British band)
Imagination
Sade
Billy Ocean
Soul II Soul
Mica Paris
Musical Youth
Gabrielle
Shola Ama
Joan Armatrading
D’Influence
Beverley Knight
The Specials
Amazulu (band)
Labi Siffre
Omar
Lynden David Hall
Skin (Skunk Anansie)
A Guy Called Gerald
Cleopatra
Sonique

Early 21st century#

Wiley
So Solid Crew
Dizzee Rascal
Ghetts
Jammer
Lethal Bizzle
Skepta
Kano
Stormzy
FKA Twigs
Sampha
Michael Kiwanuka
Little Simz
Raleigh Ritchie
Lady Leshurr
Dave
Wretch 32
Krept & Konan
AJ Tracey
Tinie Tempah
J Hus
JME
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Arlo Parks
Shaznay Lewis
MNEK
Labrinth
Rizzle Kicks
Ms Banks
Jorja Smith
Kele Okereke
Jim Legxacy
Knucks

British blues

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Origins#

American blues became known in Britain from the 1930s onwards through a number of routes, including records brought to Britain, particularly by African-American GIs stationed there in the Second World War and Cold War, merchant seamen visiting ports such as London, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne and Belfast, and through a trickle of (illegal) imports. From 1955 major British record labels His Master’s Voice and EMI, the latter, particularly through their subsidiary Decca Records, began to distribute American jazz and increasingly blues records to what was an emerging market. Among these were guitarist and blues harpist Cyril Davies, who ran the London Skiffle Club at the Roundhouse public house in London’s Soho, and guitarist Alexis Korner, both of whom worked for jazz band leader Chris Barber, playing in the R&B segment he introduced to his show. To this point British blues was acoustically played emulating Delta blues and country blues styles and often part of the emerging second British folk revival. Critical in changing this was the visit of Muddy Waters in 1958, who initially shocked British audiences by playing amplified electric blues, but who was soon playing to ecstatic crowds and rave reviews. Davies and Korner, having already split with Barber, now plugged in and began to play high-powered electric blues that became the model for the subgenre, forming the band Blues Incorporated. came with John Mayall, who moved to London in the early 1960s, eventually forming the Bluesbreakers, whose members at various times included, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor.

British dance band

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Notable band leaders#

In the mid-1930s, Lambert & Butler issued a series of cigarette cards depicting dance band leaders. The British leaders included are listed below. * Bert Ambrose * Billy Cotton * Roy Fox * Geraldo * Carroll Gibbons * Nat Gonella * Henry Hall * Jack Hylton * Jack Jackson * Charlie Kunz * Sydney Kyte * Brian Lawrance * Sydney Lipton * Joe Loss * Ray Noble * Jack Payne * Harry Roy * Debroy Somers * Lew Stone * Maurice Winnick * Lou Preager See List of British dance band leaders for a more comprehensive listing.

British folk rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the success of “The House of the Rising Sun” by British band the Animals in 1964 was a catalyst, prompting Bob Dylan to go electric. In the same year, the Beatles began incorporating overt folk influences into their music, most noticeably on the song “I’m a Loser” from their Beatles for Sale album. The Beatles and other British Invasion bands, in turn, influenced the Californian band the Byrds, who began playing folk-influenced material and Bob Dylan compositions with rock instrumentation. The Beatles’ late 1965 album, Rubber Soul, contained a number of songs influenced by the American folk rock boom, such as “Nowhere Man” and “If I Needed Someone”. During this period, a number of electric bands began to play rock versions of folk songs and folk musicians used electric musical instruments to play their own songs, including Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in the summer of 1965. Folk rock became an important genre among emerging English bands, particularly those in the London club scene towards the end of the 1960s. The skiffle movement, to which many English musicians, including the Beatles, owed their origins as performers, meant that they were already familiar with American folk music As they emulated the guitar and drum based format that had crystallised as the norm for rock music, these groups often turned to American folk and folk rock as the focus of their sound and inspiration. Among these groups from 1967 were Fairport Convention, who had enjoyed some modest mainstream success with three albums of material that was largely American in origin or style, before a radical change of direction in 1969 with their album Liege & Lief, which came out of the encounter between American inspired folk rock and the products of the English folk revival. The first English folk music revival had seen a huge effort to record and archive traditional English music by figures such as Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The second revival in the period after the Second World War, built on this work and followed a similar movement in America, to which it was connected by individuals like Alan Lomax, who had fled to England in the era of McCarthyism. Like the American revival, it was often overtly left wing in its politics, but, led by such figures as Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd from the early 1950s, it also attempted to produce a distinctively English music that was an alternative to the American dominance of popular culture, which was, as they saw it, displacing the traditional music of an increasingly urbanised and industrialised working class. Most important among their responses were the foundation of folk clubs in major towns, starting with London where MacColl began the Ballads and Blues Club in 1953. These clubs were usually urban in location, but the songs sung in them often hearkened back to a rural pre-industrial past. In many ways this was the adoption of abandoned popular music by the middle classes. By the mid-1960s there were probably over 300 folk clubs in Britain, providing an important circuit for acts that performed traditional songs and tunes acoustically, where they could sustain a living by playing to a small but committed audience. This meant that there were, by the later 1960s, a group of performers with musical skill and knowledge of a wide variety of traditional songs and tunes. A number of groups who were part of the folk revival experimented with electrification in the mid-1960s. These included the unrecorded efforts of Sweeney’s Men from Ireland, the jazz folk group Pentangle, who moved from purely acoustic instrumentation to introducing electric guitar on their later albums, Eclection, who released one album in 1968, and the Strawbs who developed from a bluegrass band into a “progressive Byrds” band by 1967. However, none provided a sustained or much emulated effort in this direction. Also products of the folk club circuit were Sandy Denny who joined Fairport Convention as a singer in 1968 and Dave Swarbrick, a fiddle player and session musician who reacted positively to the electric music he encountered while working with Fairport in 1969. The result was an extended interpretation of the song “A Sailor’s Life”, which was released on their album Unhalfbricking. This encounter sparked the interest of Ashley Hutchings who began research in the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s library; the result was the band’s seminal Liege & Lief (1969) which combined traditional songs and tunes with some written by members of the band in a similar style, all played on a combination of electric instruments including Swarbrick’s amplified fiddle, setting the template for British folk rock.

British Invasion

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The rebellious tone and image of American rock and roll and blues musicians became popular with British youth in the late 1950s. While early commercial attempts to replicate American rock and roll mostly failed, the trad jazz–inspired skiffle craze, with its do-it-yourself attitude, produced two top-ten hits in the US by Lonnie Donegan. Young British groups started to combine various British and American styles in different parts of the United Kingdom, such as the movement in Liverpool known as Merseybeat or the “beat boom”. While American acts were popular in the United Kingdom, few British acts had achieved any success in the United States prior to 1964. Cliff Richard, who was the best-selling British act in the United Kingdom at the time, had only one Top 40 hit in the US, with “Living Doll” in 1959. Along with Donegan, exceptions to this trend were the US number-one hits “Auf Wiederseh’n, Sweetheart” by Vera Lynn in 1952 (Lynn also had a lower-charting, but more enduring, hit in “We’ll Meet Again”), “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” by Laurie London in 1958, and the instrumentals “Stranger on the Shore” by Acker Bilk and “Telstar” by the Tornados, both in 1962. Also on the Hot 100, “Manhattan Spiritual” by Reg Owen and His Orchestra reached number ten in February 1959, Hayley Mills’ “Let’s Get Together” from The Parent Trap peaked number eight in October 1961, and in 1962, “Midnight in Moscow” by Kenny Ball reached number two in March, the Springfields’ version of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” peaked at number twenty in September, and Frank Ifield’s “I Remember You” reached number five in October. Some observers have noted that American teenagers were growing tired of singles-oriented pop acts like Fabian and the “Bobby"s: Bobby Darin, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee etc. The Mods and Rockers, two youth “gangs” in mid-1960s Britain, also had an impact in British Invasion music. Bands with a Mod aesthetic became the most popular, but bands able to balance both (e.g., the Beatles) were also successful.

British jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 20th century#

Jazz in Britain is usually said to have begun with the British tour of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1919. That stated, British popular music aficionados in the 1920s generally preferred the terms “hot” or “straight” dance music to the term “jazz”. Jazz in Britain also faced a similar difficulty to Brazilian jazz and French jazz, namely it tended to be seen by figures of authority as a bad influence, but in Britain the concern that jazz was from the United States appears to have been less important than in France or Brazil. Instead those who objected to it did so more because they deemed it “riotous” or unnerving. One of the earliest popular jazz dance bands was that of Fred Elizalde, who broadcast on the BBC from 1926 to 1929. By the early 1930s, music journalism in Britain, notably through the Melody Maker, had created an appreciation of the importance of the leading American jazz soloists and was beginning to recognise the improvising talents of some local musicians. During the 1930s, most British jazz musicians made their living in dance bands of various kinds. Jazz became more important, and more separate as its own genre. Louis Armstrong played residencies in London and Glasgow in 1932, followed in subsequent years by the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Coleman Hawkins. But local jazz culture was limited to London where: “jazz was played after hours in a couple of restaurants that encouraged musicians to come in and jam for drinks”. The groups of Nat Gonella and Spike Hughes gained a profile within Britain early in the decade; Hughes was even invited to New York to arrange, compose and lead what, in effect, was Benny Carter’s Orchestra of the time. Carter himself worked in London for the BBC in 1936. West Indian swing band leader Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and Leslie Thompson, a Jamaican trumpeter, influenced jazz in Britain, with the band fronted by Johnson – “The Emperors of Jazz” – being the first large Black band of note. Johnson went on to form one of the top swing bands in the country, known as “The West Indian Orchestra”, which became the resident band at fashionable London venue Café de Paris, and it was here that Johnson was among those killed by a German bomb during the Blitz in the early days of the war.

British pop music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early British popular music#

Early British popular music, in the sense of commercial music enjoyed by the people, arose in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with the arrival of the broadside ballad, which were sold cheaply and in great numbers until the nineteenth century. Further technological, economic and social changes led to new forms of music in the nineteenth century, including parlour music and the brass band, which produced a popular and communal form of classical music. Similarly, the music hall sprang up to cater for the entertainment of new urban societies, adapting existing forms of music to produce popular songs and acts. In the 1930s the influence of American jazz and swing music led to the creation of British dance bands, who provided a social and popular music that began to dominate social occasions and the radio airwaves.

British popular music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early British popular music#

Commercial music enjoyed by the people can be seen to originate in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with the arrival of the broadside ballad, which were sold cheaply and in great numbers until the nineteenth century. Further technological, economic and social changes led to new forms of music in the nineteenth century, including the brass band, which produced a popular and communal form of classical music. Similarly, the music hall sprang up to cater for the entertainment of new urban societies, adapting existing forms of music to produce popular songs and acts. In the 1930s the influence of US jazz led to the creation of British dance bands, who provided a social and popular music that began to dominate social occasions and the radio airwaves.

British rhythm and blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Commentators often distinguish British rhythm and blues bands from beat bands (who were influenced by rock and roll and rockabilly) on the one hand, and, from “purist” British blues (which particularly emulated Chicago electric blues artists), on the other, although there was considerable crossover between the three sets of musicians. However, vocalists such as Van Morrison, Mick Jagger, Eric Burdon and Steve Winwood did not attempt to emulate a particular singer and were seen by critics as able to sing the blues convincingly and with some power. In cover versions of R&B songs, riffs were often simplified or used less frequently. The object of the music was usually to whip up energy, rather than to produce musical finesse. and as a result arrangements tended to be guitar-oriented and at higher tempos than the originals. Amplification of guitars to the highest levels of underpowered amplifiers created the over-driven guitar sound that would become characteristic of rock music.

British rock and roll

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of American troops in the country, and, although not enjoying the same economic prosperity as the US, had many similar social developments, not least of which was the emergence of distinct youth leisure activities and sub-cultures. This was most evident in the rise of the Teddy Boys among working-class youths in London from about 1953, who adopted a version of the Edwardian styles of their grandfathers’ generation. British audiences were accustomed to American popular music and British musicians had already been influenced by American musical styles, particularly in trad jazz, which also exposed some to the precursors of rock and roll, including boogie-woogie and the blues. From this emerged the skiffle craze in 1955, led by Lonnie Donegan, whose version of “Rock Island Line” reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. Skiffle produced an Anglicised and largely amateur form of American folk song, chiefly notable for inspiring many individuals to take up music. These included many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat performers, among them John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who first performed together in the Quarrymen skiffle group in 1957 Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets hit “Rock Around the Clock” and helped it to top the UK chart in 1955 and again in 1956. It also set off a moral panic as young cinema goers ripped up seats to dance, which helped identify rock and roll with delinquency. This led to it being almost banned by TV and radio stations, making it something of an underground youth movement, which was widely adopted by the Teddy Boy sub-culture. In the 1950s, Radio in the UK was almost exclusively in the hands of the BBC. Popular music was only played on the Light Programme, and the playing of records was heavily restricted by “needle time” arrangements. Nevertheless, American rock and roll acts became a major force in the UK chart. Elvis Presley reached number 2 in the UK chart with “Heartbreak Hotel” in 1956 and had nine more singles in the Top 30 that year. His first number 1 was “All Shook Up” in 1957 and there would be more chart-toppers for him and for Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Jerry Lee Lewis in the next two years.

British rock music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early British rock and roll#

In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the Teddy Boys. Trad jazz became popular, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including boogie-woogie and the blues. The skiffle craze, led by Lonnie Donegan, utilised mostly amateurish versions mainly of American folk songs and encouraged many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing. At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Rock Around the Clock (1955). Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets hit “Rock Around the Clock”, which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached the US pop charts – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956, and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency. American rock and roll acts such as Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Buddy Holly thereafter became major forces in the British charts. The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including Wee Willie Harris and Tommy Steele. The bland or wholly imitative form of much British rock and roll in this period meant that the American product remained dominant. However, in 1958 Britain produced its first “authentic” rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard reached number 2 in the charts with “Move It”. British impresario Larry Parnes fashioned young singers to the new trend, giving them corny names such as Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and Vince Eager. At the same time, TV shows such as Six-Five Special and Oh Boy!, both produced by Jack Good, promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde and Adam Faith. Cliff Richard and his backing band The Drifters, who quickly changed their name to The Shadows, were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era. Other leading acts included Joe Brown, and Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, whose 1960 hit song “Shakin’ All Over” became a rock and roll standard. The first American rock and roll artist to hit British stages and appear on television was Charlie Gracie, quickly followed by Gene Vincent in December 1959, soon joined on tour by his friend Eddie Cochran. The producer Joe Meek was the first to produce sizeable rock hits in England, culminating with The Tornados’ instrumental “Telstar”, which went to number one in both the UK and USA.

British soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Widespread British interest in soul music developed after the advent of rock and roll from the mid-1950s and the subsequent interest in American music. In the early 1960s, rhythm and blues, including soul, was particularly popular among some members of the beat music boom, including the Beatles, and among bands of who contributed to the blues rock, British blues boom, including the Spencer Davis Group, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Them and Van Morrison. Most of these were popular with members of the Mod subculture, out of which grew the Northern soul movement, in which northern English youths avidly collected and played rare soul records.

Britpop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style, roots and influences#

Though Britpop has sometimes been viewed as a marketing tool and more of a cultural moment than a distinct musical genre, there are musical conventions and influences the bands grouped under the Britpop term have in common. Britpop bands show elements from the British pop music of the 1960s, glam rock and punk rock of the 1970s, and indie pop of the 1980s in their music, attitude, and clothing. Specific influences vary: Blur drew from the Kinks and early Pink Floyd, Oasis took inspiration from the Beatles, and Elastica had a fondness for arty punk rock, notably Wire and both incarnations of Adam and the Ants. Regardless, Britpop artists project a sense of reverence for British pop sounds of the past. The Kinks’ Ray Davies and XTC’s Andy Partridge are sometimes advanced as the “godfathers” or “grandfathers” of Britpop, though Davies disputes it. Others similarly labelled include Paul Weller and Adam Ant. Alternative rock acts from the indie scene of the 1980s and early 1990s were the direct ancestors of the Britpop movement. The influence of the Smiths is common to the majority of Britpop artists. The Madchester scene, fronted by the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, James and Inspiral Carpets (for whom Oasis’s Noel Gallagher had worked as a roadie during the Madchester years), was an immediate root of Britpop since its emphasis on good times and catchy songs provided an alternative to the British-based shoegazing and American based grunge styles of music. In 1991, James’s song “Sit Down” reached number two in the UK charts, with Flavorwire writing the song “predates the Britpop label, but it presaged the quintessentially British sound that would explode in the ’90s. Entire festival crowds used to sit down during the chorus of this song”. Pre-dating Britpop by four years, Liverpool-based group the La’s hit single “There She Goes” was described by Rolling Stone as a “founding piece of Britpop’s foundation”. Naming it his favourite song from the 1990s (“There She Goes” was originally released in 1988), Noel Gallagher once declared that “Oasis want to finish what The La’s started”. Local identity and regional British accents are common to Britpop groups, as well as references to British places and culture in lyrics and image. Stylistically, Britpop bands use catchy hooks and lyrics that were relevant to young British people of their own generation. In spite of the professed disdain for the genres, some elements of both crept into the more enduring facets of Britpop. Noel Gallagher has since championed Ride and once stated that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was the only songwriter he had respect for in the last ten years, and that he felt their music was similar enough that Cobain could have written “Wonderwall”. By 1996, Oasis’s prominence was such that NME termed a number of Britpop bands (including The Boo Radleys, Ocean Colour Scene and Cast) “Noelrock”, citing Gallagher’s influence on their music. Journalist John Harris described these bands, and Gallagher, as sharing “a dewy-eyed love of the 1960s, a spurning of much beyond rock’s most basic ingredients, and a belief in the supremacy of ‘real music. The imagery associated with Britpop was equally British and working class. A rise in unabashed maleness, exemplified by Loaded magazine, binge drinking and lad culture in general, would be very much part of the Britpop era. The Union Jack became a prominent symbol of the movement (as it had a generation earlier with mod bands such as the Who) and its use as a symbol of pride and nationalism contrasted deeply with the controversy that erupted just a few years before when former Smiths singer Morrissey performed draped in it. The emphasis on British reference points made it difficult for the genre to achieve success in the US.

Bro-country

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Popularity#

Although elements of bro-country had been noted prior, such as in the Trace Adkins hit “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”, the genre began to gather steam in the early 2010s. The song that brought the movement to the attention of music journalists was the 2012 Florida Georgia Line song “Cruise”. with over 7 million copies sold in the US while also holding a then-record 24 weeks as the No. 1 Hot Country Song. According to Jody Rosen: “We may look back on ‘Cruise’ as a turning point, the moment when the balance of power tipped from an older generation of male country stars to the bros.” A number of highly popular albums and songs by singers such as Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton considered to be bro-country appeared in the first half of the 2010s. In 2013, Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party was the third best-selling of all albums in the US, with Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s to the Good Times at sixth and Blake Shelton’s Based on a True Story at ninth. It has also been estimated in research in mid-2010s that about 45 percent of country’s best-selling songs could be considered bro-country, with the top two artists being Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line. While bro-country was popular with country music fans, programmers and those within the industry grew weary of the genre. According to radio programmer R.J. Curtis: “The real fatigue on it has been with radio programmers and the people who have to listen to it a lot and evaluate it—the air personalities and the program directors. The people who aren’t really sick of it are the listeners.” Some thought that the genre had waned by 2015; others, however, felt that the genre remained popular and argued that it had expanded in a positive way. According to radio program director Phathead: “The hip-hop, rock and R&B influence you hear in Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett, Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell and all the others is about to take us to new places, and it’s awesome.”

Broadside ballad

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Development of broadsides#

Ballads developed out of minstrelsy from the fourteenth and fifteenth century. These were narrative poems that had combined with French courtly romances and Germanic legends that were popular at the King’s court, as well as in the halls of lords of the realm. By the seventeenth century, minstrelsy had evolved into ballads whose authors wrote on a variety of topics. The authors could then have their ballads printed and distributed. Printers used a single piece of paper known as a broadside, hence the name broadside ballads. It was common for ballads to have crude woodcuts at the top of a broadside. Historians Fumerton and Gerrini show just how popular broadsides had been in early modern England: the ballads printed numbered in the millions. The ballads did not stay just in London but spread to the English countryside. Owing to the printing press, publishing large amounts of broadsides became easier. Commoners were frequently exposed to ballads, in either song or print, as they were ubiquitous in London. The invention of the printing press helped the broadsides to become so popular. This new technology helped printers to produce these ballads cheaply and in mass quantities. Historian Adrian Johns explains the printing process as well as how and where people of this time bought ballads. The ballads retailed on the streets of London or in village squares for up to a penny, meaning almost everyone could afford this cheap form of entertainment. In the seventeenth century, people called “Stationers” printed and published in the same place. Stationers had great control over what was printed. Protestant or Catholic printers would publish broadsides in favor of their beliefs. This worked the same for political beliefs.

Broken beat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Broken beat first appeared in the late 1990s and was pioneered by Bugz in the Attic, IG Culture, and the release of the 4hero album Two Pages was influential on the emerging sound and scene. John Bush from AllMusic called it “about as fusion-soaked as it gets.” Appearing in the western parts of London, the genre is also referred to as “West London”, mainly because Goya Music’s offices were in London’s Ladbroke Grove, W11, as were most of the participating artists’ studios. Bugz in the Attic’s Neon Phusion, Mark Force, Afronaut and IG Culture are credited with kick-starting the scene with numerous releases under various monikers, and the New Sector Movements releases for People Music. The sound created combined a variety of music styles including funk, soul, and hip-hop. The transition was to a more abstract form of drum and bass. Many artists that started releasing through 4hero’s Reinforced label are now considered pioneers of broken beat. Simultaneously, established techno artists like Carl Craig and Stacey Pullen experimented with the music they were making, trying to add jazz elements and breaks to their sound. As the music is still based on classic Detroit techno and usually has a harder sound, it is sometimes referred to as “broken techno”. This eclectic mixture was picked up by the Detroit and jazz-affiliated UK techno producers Kirk Degiorgio or As One and Ian O’Brien, who tried to form it into a more soulful variation which further influenced the development of the broken beat genre.

Brooklyn drill

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Brooklyn drill music first gained attention with the 2014 single “Hot Nigga” from the rapper Bobby Shmurda. The music became more popular and associated with UK drill production (from producers such as 808Melo, AXL Beats, and Ghosty) with the releases of 22Gz’s “Suburban” in 2016 and Sheff G’s “No Suburban” in 2017. Both songs went viral and were credited for the rise of Brooklyn drill. Brooklyn drill music reached mainstream Billboard Hot 100 success with tracks from Pop Smoke (“Welcome to the Party”, “Dior”, and “Gatti”) and Fivio Foreign (“Big Drip” and “Demons”). Pop Smoke was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award for “Dior.” After Pop Smoke’s 2020 murder in the Hollywood Hills, Brooklyn drill would continue to evolve. With the groundwork Pop Smoke laid, the broader drill scene of Brooklyn began to emerge. One example is Staten Island rapper CJ, whose hit song “Whoopty” is reminiscent of the Brooklyn drill sound.

Brown-eyed soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Critic Ruben Molina said roots of chicano soul music were from the 1950s jazz, blues, doo wop, jump blues, latin jazz, rock, ranchera, norteno, and conjunto music in the West Coast, Texas Latino communities. Latino artists drew inspiration from African American R&B hits, and as a result, Latino soul came out of African American soul music; Latino soul and R & B were further influenced by Afro-Latin American music, including but not limited to Afro-Spanish-Caribbean origin. Early artists owed little to traditional Latino and rarely performed in Spanish. Hispanic rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens, also became one of the first artists to bridge traditional music and rock and roll. Valens recorded “Donna”, " La Bamba", “Come On, Let’s Go”, and “Donna” reached #2 on Billboard pop chart in 1959. 1960s and 1970s bands such as Cannibal & the Headhunters (“Land of a Thousand Dances”) and Thee Midniters played R&B music with a rebellious rock and roll edge. Sunny and the Sunliners were also popular in the 1960s. However, the large Latino population on the West Coast began gradually moving away from energetic R&B to romantic soul, and the results were “some of the sweetest soul music heard during the late ’60s and ’70s.” Latino groups on the West Coast and Texas also drew from the doo wop-influenced Philadelphia soul (“Philly” soul). The West Coast Latin rock scene continued to influence other Latino soul musicians as well.

Brutal death metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Brutal death metal is characterised by its use of death growls deeper than convention death metal vocals (usually referred to as “gutturals” to distinguish from regular growls), tempos that are either groove driven or incredibly high tempo, downtuned guitars and pinch harmonics. The style blends death metal with grindcore. Metal Hammer editor Dom Lawson also cited the influence of New York hardcore as a key part of the sound. Academic Michelle Phillipov defined it as “privileg ing heaviness, speed, and rhythmic complexity over conventional signifiers of melody and tunefulness.”

BR on Music Theory Print

Brasília hip-hop

First generation#

Brazilian gaucho music

History#

Brazilian hip-hop

Precursors#

Brazilian rap geek

Brazilian rock

1950s#

Brazilian thrash metal

1980s#

Break-in record

See also#

Breakbeat

Etymology#

1970s–1980s: Classic breaks and hip-hop production#

Breakbeat hardcore

Early 1990s: origins#

Breakcore

History#

Breakup song

Genres and styles#

Brega (music)

Etymology#

Brega pop

Background#

Brill Building (genre)

List of artists#

Brisbane punk rock

Pioneers (1975–77)#

Brit funk

Name and characteristics#

British Black music

Awards#

Genres#

Organisations and events#

18th century#

19th century#

20th century#

Early 21st century#

See also#

Further reading#

British blues

Origins#

British dance band

Notable band leaders#

British folk rock

Origins#

British Invasion

Background#

British jazz

Early 20th century#

British pop music

Early British popular music#

British popular music

Early British popular music#

British rhythm and blues

Characteristics#

British rock and roll

Origins#

British rock music

Early British rock and roll#

British soul

Origins#

Britpop

Style, roots and influences#

Bro-country

Popularity#

Broadside ballad

Development of broadsides#

Broken beat

History#

Brooklyn drill

History#

Brown-eyed soul

History#

Brutal death metal

Characteristics#