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Captive Passage
has been made
possible in part by:
Recognition of
additional sponsors
for this exhibition
can be found by
clicking on
ExhibitionSponsors.
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African music from the time of the diaspora was characterized by complex
rhythms, simple scales, and a call-and-response format. These rhythms, melodies,
and patterns traveled across the Atlantic in the memories of enslaved Africans and
were recreated on foreign shores. As slaves adapted to their new surroundings and
the foreign cultures around them, so did their music. The complex rhythms of the
Africans melded with complex melodies of Europeans, while the flatted notes of the
African scales lent a melancholy feel to songs. White spiritual music mixed with the
call-and-response of African songs to create the rousing gospel music during the
19th century in America. This borrowing and melding would become a
pattern repeated again and again over the next hundred and fifty years. Modern
forms of jazz, blues, r&b, rock, hip-hop, and rap are a result of this process.
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