Editing Rhythm and blues (section)

===Afro-Cuban rhythmic influence===
[[African American music]] began incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythmic motifs in the 1800s with the popularity of the Cuban [[contradanza]] (known outside of Cuba as the [[habanera (music)|habanera]]).<ref>"[Afro]-Latin rhythms have been absorbed into black American styles far more consistently than into white popular music, despite Latin music's popularity among whites" (Roberts ''The Latin Tinge'' 1979: 41).</ref> The ''habanera rhythm'' can be thought of as a combination of [[tresillo (rhythm)|tresillo]] and the [[backbeat]].

[[File:Habanera cut-time.jpg|thumb|center|upright=1.15|The habanera rhythm shown as tresillo (lower notes) with the backbeat (upper note).]]

For the more than a quarter-century in which the [[cakewalk]], [[ragtime music|ragtime]] and proto-jazz were forming and developing, the Cuban genre ''habanera'' exerted a constant presence in African American popular music.<ref>Roberts, John Storm (1999: 16) ''Latin Jazz''. New York: Schirmer Books.</ref> Jazz pioneer [[Jelly Roll Morton]] considered the tresillo/habanera rhythm (which he called the [[Spanish tinge]]) to be an essential ingredient of jazz.<ref>Morton, "Jelly Roll" (1938: Library of Congress Recording): "Now in one of my earliest tunes, 'New Orleans Blues', you can notice the Spanish tinge. In fact, if you can't manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz." ''The Complete Recordings By Alan Lomax''.</ref> There are examples of tresillo-like rhythms in some African American folk music such as the hand-clapping and foot-stomping patterns in [[ring shout]], post-Civil War drum and fife music, and [[New Orleans]] [[second line (parades)|second line]] music.<ref>Kubik, Gerhard (1999: 52). ''Africa and the Blues''. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.</ref> [[Wynton Marsalis]] considers tresillo to be the New Orleans "clave" (although technically, the pattern is only half a [[clave (rhythm)|clave]]).<ref>"Wynton Marsalis part 2." ''60 Minutes''. CBS News (June 26, 2011).</ref> Tresillo is the most basic duple-pulse rhythmic [[cell (music)|cell]] in [[Sub-Saharan African music traditions]], and its use in African American music is one of the clearest examples of African rhythmic retention in the United States.<ref>Schuller, Gunther (1968: 19) "It is probably safe to say that by and large the simpler African rhythmic patterns survived in jazz{{nbsp}}... because they could be adapted more readily to European rhythmic conceptions. Some survived, others were discarded as the Europeanization progressed. It may also account for the fact that patterns such as [tresillo have]{{nbsp}}... remained one of the most useful and common syncopated patterns in jazz." ''Early Jazz; Its Roots and Musical Development''. New York: Oxford Press.</ref> The use of tresillo was continuously reinforced by the consecutive waves of Cuban music, which were adopted into North American popular culture. In 1940 Bob Zurke released "Rhumboogie", a boogie-woogie with a tresillo bass line, and lyrics proudly declaring the adoption of Cuban rhythm:

[[File:Dizzy Gillespie01.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Dizzy Gillespie]] was instrumental in blending Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz.]]

{{Blockquote|Harlem's got a new rhythm, man it's burning up the dance floors because it's so hot! They took a little rhumba rhythm and added boogie-woogie and now look what they got! Rhumboogie, it's Harlem's new creation with the Cuban syncopation, it's the killer! Just plant your both feet on each side. Let both your hips and shoulder glide. Then throw your body back and ride. There's nothing like rhumbaoogie, rhumboogie, boogie-woogie. In Harlem or Havana, you can kiss the old Savannah. It's a killer!<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/r/rhumboogie.html|title=RHUMBOOGIE – Lyrics – International Lyrics Playground|website=Lyricsplayground.com|access-date=February 12, 2018|archive-date=February 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212142052/http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/r/rhumboogie.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Although originating in the metropolis at the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleans blues, with its Afro-Caribbean rhythmic traits, is distinct from the sound of the Mississippi Delta blues.<ref>Palmer, Robert (1981: 247). ''Deep Blues''. New York: Penguin Books.</ref> In the late 1940s, New Orleans musicians were especially receptive to Cuban influences precisely at the time when R&B was first forming.<ref>"Rhythm and blues-influenced by Afro-Cuban music first surfaced in New Orleans." Campbell, Michael, and James Brody (2007: 83). ''Rock and Roll: An Introduction''. Schirmer. {{ISBN|0534642950}}</ref> The first use of tresillo in R&B occurred in New Orleans. [[Robert Palmer (American writer)|Robert Palmer]] recalls:

[[File:Fats Domino 1956.png|thumb|left|[[Fats Domino]] in 1956]]
{{Blockquote|New Orleans producer-bandleader [[Dave Bartholomew]] first employed this figure (as a saxophone-section riff) on his own 1949 disc "Country Boy" and subsequently helped make it the most over-used rhythmic pattern in 1950s rock 'n' roll. On numerous recordings by [[Fats Domino]], [[Little Richard]] and others, Bartholomew assigned this repeating three-note pattern not just to the string bass, but also to electric guitars and even baritone sax, making for a very heavy bottom. He recalls first hearing the figure&nbsp;– as a bass pattern on a Cuban disc.{{sfn|Palmer|1995|p=60}}}}

In a 1988 interview with Palmer, Bartholomew (who had the first R&B studio band),{{sfn|Sublette|2007|p=82}} revealed how he initially superimposed tresillo over swing rhythm:
{{Blockquote|I heard the bass playing that part on a 'rumba' record. On 'Country Boy' I had my bass and drums playing a straight swing rhythm and wrote out that 'rumba' bass part for the saxes to play on top of the swing rhythm. Later, especially after rock 'n' roll came along, I made the 'rumba' bass part heavier and heavier. I'd have the string bass, an electric guitar and a baritone all in unison.<ref>Dave Bartholomew quoted by Palmer, Robert (1988: 27) "The Cuban Connection" ''Spin Magazine'' Nov.</ref>}}

Bartholomew referred to the Cuban [[son music|son]] by the misnomer ''rumba'', a common practice of that time. Fats Domino's "[[Blue Monday (1954 song)|Blue Monday]]", produced by Bartholomew, is another example of this now classic use of tresillo in R&B. Bartholomew's 1949 tresillo-based "Oh Cubanas" is an attempt to blend African American and Afro-Cuban music. The word ''mambo'', larger than any of the other text, is placed prominently on the record label. In his composition "Misery", New Orleans pianist [[Professor Longhair]] plays a habanera-like figure in his left hand.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Riggle |first=Emma |date=2022-07-15 |title=Dances with Style! - Habanera |url=https://icanradio.org/blog/dances-with-style-habanera/ |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=ICAN {{!}} International Children's Arts Network |language=en-US}}</ref> The deft use of triplets is a characteristic of Longhair's style.

{{block indent|<score sound="1" override_midi="Misery piano part professor longhair.mid">
    {
      \new PianoStaff <<
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c'' {
                \clef treble \key f \major \time 4/4
                \tuplet 3/2 { r8 f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f }
                r4 r8 <e g> <d f>4 \acciaccatura { c16 d } <c e>8 <bes d>
                \tuplet 3/2 { r8 f' f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f d bes } \tuplet 3/2 { f g gis }
                a
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c, {
                \clef bass \key f \major \time 4/4
                f4 d'8 a c4 d8 a
                bes4. d8 f4 d8 a
                bes4. d8 f4 d8 e,
                f4
                }
            >>
    >> }
</score>}}

[[Gerhard Kubik]] notes that with the exception of New Orleans, early blues lacked complex polyrhythms, and there was a "very specific absence of asymmetric time-line patterns ([[bell pattern|key patterns]]) in virtually all early-twentieth-century African American music{{nbsp}}... only in some New Orleans genres does a hint of simple time line patterns occasionally appear in the form of transient so-called 'stomp' patterns or stop-time chorus. These do not function in the same way as African timelines."<ref>Kubik (1999 p. 51).</ref> In the late 1940s, this changed somewhat when the two-celled timeline structure was brought into the blues. New Orleans musicians such as Bartholomew and Longhair incorporated Cuban instruments, as well as the clave pattern and related two-celled figures in songs such as "Carnival Day", (Bartholomew 1949) and "Mardi Gras In New Orleans" (Longhair 1949). While some of these early experiments were awkward fusions, the Afro-Cuban elements were eventually integrated fully into the New Orleans sound.

Robert Palmer reports that, in the 1940s, Professor Longhair listened to and played with musicians from the islands and "fell under the spell of Perez Prado's [[mambo (music)|mambo]] records."<ref>Palmer, Robert (1979: 14). ''A Tale of Two Cities: Memphis Rock and New Orleans Roll''. Brooklyn.</ref> He was especially enamored with Afro-Cuban music. Michael Campbell states: "Professor Longhair's influence was{{nbsp}}... far-reaching. In several of his early recordings, Professor Longhair blended Afro-Cuban rhythms with rhythm and blues. The most explicit is 'Longhair's Blues Rhumba,' where he overlays a straightforward blues with a clave rhythm."<ref>Campbell, Michael, and James Brody (2007: 83). ''Rock and Roll: An Introduction''. Schirmer. {{ISBN|0534642950}}</ref> Longhair's particular style was known locally as ''rumba-boogie''.<ref>Stewart, Alexander (2000: 298). "Funky Drummer: New Orleans, James Brown and the Rhythmic Transformation of American Popular Music." ''Popular Music'', v. 19, n. 3. October 2000, p. 293-318.</ref> In his "Mardi Gras in New Orleans", the pianist employs the 2–3 clave onbeat/offbeat motif in a rumba boogie "[[guajeo]]".<ref>Kevin Moore: "There are two common ways that the three-side [of clave] is expressed in Cuban popular music. The first to come into regular use, which David Peñalosa calls 'clave motif,' is based on the decorated version of the three-side of the clave rhythm. By the 1940s [there was] a trend toward the use of what Peñalosa calls the 'offbeat/onbeat motif.' Today, the offbeat/onbeat motif method is much more common." Moore (2011). ''Understanding Clave and Clave Changes'' p. 32. Santa Cruz, CA: Moore Music/Timba.com. {{ISBN|1466462302}}</ref>

[[File:Mardi gras in new orleans.tif|thumb|center|upright=1.9|Piano excerpt from the rumba boogie "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1949) by Professor Longhair. 2–3 claves are written above for rhythmic reference.]]

The syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to swung subdivisions) took root in New Orleans R&B during this time. Alexander Stewart states that the popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s," adding: "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in the years after World War II played an important role in the development of funk. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from a triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes.<ref>Stewart (2000 p. 293).</ref> Concerning the various funk motifs, Stewart states that this model "...{{nbsp}}is different from a [[bell pattern|time line]] (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."<ref>Stewart (2000 p. 306).</ref>

[[Johnny Otis]] released the R&B mambo "Mambo Boogie" in January 1951, featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone [[guajeo]]s in a blues progression.<ref>Boggs, Vernon (1993 pp. 30–31). "Johnny Otis R&B/Mambo Pioneer" ''Latin Beat Magazine.'' v. 3 n. 9. Nov.</ref> [[Ike Turner]] recorded "Cubano Jump" (1954) an electric guitar instrumental, which is built around several 2–3 clave figures, adopted from the mambo. [[The Hawketts]], in "[[Mardi Gras Mambo]]" (1955) (featuring the vocals of a young Art Neville), make a clear reference to Perez Prado in their use of his trademark "Unhh!" in the break after the introduction.<ref>Stewart, Alexander (2000 p. 307). "Funky Drummer: New Orleans, James Brown and the Rhythmic Transformation of American Popular Music." ''Popular Music'', v. 19, n. 3. October 2000, pp. 293–318.</ref>

[[Ned Sublette]] states: "The electric blues cats were very well aware of Latin music, and there was definitely such a thing as ''rhumba blues''; you can hear Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf playing it."<ref name="Sublette, Ned 2007 p. 83">{{harvnb|Sublette|2007|p=83}}</ref> He also cites [[Otis Rush]], [[Ike Turner]] and [[Ray Charles]], as R&B artists who employed this feel.<ref name="Sublette, Ned 2007 p. 83"/>

The use of clave in R&B coincided with the growing dominance of the [[Back beat (music)|backbeat]], and the rising popularity of Cuban music in the U.S. In a sense, clave can be distilled down to tresillo (three-side) answered by the backbeat (two-side).<ref>Peñalosa, David (2010 p. 174). ''The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins''. Redway, California: Bembe Inc. {{ISBN|1-886502-80-3}}.</ref>

[[File:Clave in cut-time.tiff|thumb|center|upright=1.8|3–2 clave written in two measures in cut-time]]
[[File:Tresillo and backbeat.tiff|thumb|center|upright=1.8|Tresillo answered by the backbeat, the essence of clave in African American music]]

The "[[Bo Diddley beat]]" (1955) is perhaps the first true fusion of [[clave (rhythm)|3–2 clave]] and R&B/rock 'n' roll. [[Bo Diddley]] has given different accounts of the riff's origins. Sublette asserts: "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets."<ref name="Sublette, Ned 2007 p. 83" /> [[Johnny Otis]]'s "Willie and the Hand Jive" (1958) is another example of this successful blend of 3–2 claves and R&B. Otis used the Cuban instruments claves and maracas on the song.

[[File:Bo-Diddley.jpg|thumb|[[Bo Diddley]]'s "[[Bo Diddley beat]]" is a clave-based motif.]]

Afro-Cuban music was the conduit by which African American music was "re-Africanized", through the adoption of two-celled figures like clave and Afro-Cuban instruments like the [[conga drum]], [[bongos]], [[maracas]] and [[claves]]. According to [[John Storm Roberts]], R&B became the vehicle for the return of Cuban elements into mass popular music.<ref>Roberts, John Storm (1999 p. 136).''The Latin Tinge''. Oxford University Press.</ref> [[Ahmet Ertegun]], producer for [[Atlantic Records]], is reported to have said that "Afro-Cuban rhythms added color and excitement to the basic drive of R&B."<ref>Roberts (1999: 137).</ref> As [[Ned Sublette]] points out though: "By the 1960s, with Cuba the object of a United States embargo that still remains in effect today, the island nation had been forgotten as a source of music. By the time people began to talk about rock and roll as having a history, Cuban music had vanished from North American consciousness."{{sfn|Sublette|2007|p=69}}