Blue Bird

tell you that that R&B stands for ‘rhythm and blues,’ but some will still argue that it stands for Ruth Brown. A talented R&B singer throughout the 1950s and later in life a successful theater actress, Ruth Brown reshaped the music industry with her bluesy, storytelling ballads and her signature squeaks. Nicknamed “Miss Rhythm” by “Mr. Rhythm” Frankie Laine and called the original diva, Ruth Brown was influential in bridging the gap between the blues and R&B. Ruth Brown faced segregation and…

album comes off as angry, but it is really all about love and heartbreak. With single songs, picking a favorite is virtually impossible because there are too many. However, one of my favorites is “Darling Baby” by the Elgins. It is a simple rhythm and blues song, but the soulfulness of it gets me. On the other end of the spectrum, I also enjoy rap music with great beats and a ton of curse words. My favorite rappers are Drake and The Game. To me music is all about expression and there is no wrong…

Langham, a faculty member of the Brubeck Institute said that Brubeck “was a very worldly person. Within his travels, he would go and hear other musicians and hear what they were doing, and he would incorporate that into his music.” (qtd. in Lamb.) “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” the song in 9/8 time, is one example of how he merged other styles into his…

Nothing is more iconic of the 1920s than jazz. Jazz made places such Harlem and New Orleans huge national hits. Included with jazz are huge individual names, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald. Not only did it make them famous, it made places such as Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom. (Berg) The smooth music from New Orleans was a big part of why African American culture was “accepted and promoted in the American culture at large by the 1920’s.” (Berg 7). Jazz was one of, if…

although water pollution is something that we see in almost every body of water, looking here it’s calm, and fresh. It is a habitat that is perfect for wildlife to grow and live in. Clean skies make for a healthier and safer life. The photo shows a blue sky with scattered white, puffy clouds resting above snowcapped…

In his book, All Shook Up, Altschuler traces the development of rock ‘n’ roll between 1945 and 1955 carefully noting that it is a “social construction not a musical conception” (23). This definition of rock ‘n’ roll frees him to focus on a time of differing styles, cultures, and social values. The book does this by focusing on these areas by looking at race, sexuality, and generational differences. In Altschuler argument about race, he complicates the traditional view that white artist’s covers…

Evaluation Essay On April 18th, 2008, Taylor Swift released her third single of her album Fearless, “You Belong with Me”. Swift merges pop, country, and 90’s rock which can be seen from the variety of instruments throughout her song. The steady beat consists of banjos, fiddles, guitars, pianos, electric guitars and more. Swift also depicts herself as a hopeless romantic and searching for the love and appreciation from her next-door neighbor, whom she has a crush on. All throughout the song,…

Andy Dwyer Andy Dwyer is a talented musician, aspiring detective, and one of the most honest and genuine friends on television. On the television show Parks and Recreation, the character Andy Dwyer is played by actor Chris Pratt. Andy Dwyer is a happy-go-lucky 20 something year old musician, that dreams of being a cop. Unfortunately, his lack of ambition tends to interfere with bringing that dream into fruition. However, anything that he may lack in ambition he more than makes up for with…

136). While working as a busboy in D.C., he met Vachel Lindsay, an American poet, where he showed her one of his poems (Langston Hughes Biography). She later brought his poem to a wider audience (Langston Hughes Biography). The poem, “The Weary Blues”, was a success and it won first prize in the “Oppurtunity” magazine for literary competition (Langston Hughes Biography). Hughes then went to Lincoln University on a scholarship where he later finished college (Langston Hughes Biography). At…

Considering the recent presidential election, the idea of changing one’s hair to fit the paradigms of society coincides with Muslim women’s struggle with wearing their hijabs in the modern world. Similar to Harris-Perry’s idea that stereotyping makes black women conform to the “crooked room,” the fear of being shipped away has women, Muslim Americans questioning whether they should continue wearing their hijabs. Both, the black women in Harris-Perry’s book and Islamic women are perpetually in a…