Evolution of Soul

Arielle Ramey
Dr. Body
12th British Lit
18 September 2015
The Evolution of Soul
    A wise philosopher Plato once said music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue. Music and its influence it is no doubt that music has played a vital role in our society. Music provokes emotions like happiness, grief, sadness, and joy for people. The advancement of the heart and soul of jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues (R&B) has made a huge impact since the 1890’s but was really popular in the 1920’s known as the Roaring twenties.  
    In the 1890s ragtime music is what commonly known as jazz today was evolved by African Americans. Ragtime is the syncopated (beats that are not usually accented) melodic line usually played on the piano. New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and some people say that jazz was born in 1895, when Buddy Bolden started his first band.  Buddy Bolden was the earliest jazz musician he played the cornet which is similar to the trumpet. Another famous musician and singer is Louis Armstrong he played the trumpet. He too was also from New Orleans and taught the world how to swing (a popular dance in the 1920s dancer Lindy Charleston). Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone and one of the later jazz vocalists Ray Charles are one of the many legendary singers who led the music culture in America with their powerful voice in what music has become now. Jazz has really grown, in the past jazz was a male dominated art form but today more and more women are studying and performing the jubilant genre. The top female jazz trumpet player today is Ingrid Jensen. Another current entertainer Joshua Redman is a successful crossover musician a saxophonist and composer. The jubilant wild yet sometimes calming peaceful genre has really impacted America for the better.
    Blues is a genre and musical form that originated in the "Deep South" of the United States in the early 1900’s...