The Conservative Christian War on Rock and Roll
Tracing an early front in the culture wars to a trio of evangelical opponents of rock music in the 1950s and '60s.
How Mexican and Cuban Music Influenced the Blues
The pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton once told an ethnomusicologist that real jazz tunes needed "tinges of Spanish."
The Rec Room Party Where Hip-Hop Was Born
Thinking quickly and reading the dance floor, an innovative DJ began playing the funkiest parts of every record.
The First Black Woman to Perform at the Grand Ole Opry
Linda Martell made the switch from R&B to country music in the late 1960s. Her star then shined on country's biggest stage.
The Newport Rebels and Jazz as Protest
In 1960 a group of jazz musicians organized an alternative to the Newport Jazz Festival, which they saw as too pop and too white.
The Gospel According to Kanye West
On the making of gospel music, from Gospel Pearls to Jesus Is King.
Why MLK Believed Jazz Was the Perfect Soundtrack for Civil Rights
Jazz, King declared, was the ability to take the “hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.”