Out Of The Borders Music
Celebrating the Outcasts Music edition
by InĂŞs Ribeiro
The celebration of the outcasts and their input in music is inevitable since they were the
ones who brought so many innovations and shifts in the musical paradigm. We ought to, at least, give them some credit for the power and liberation they grant us.
When thinking about the history of music what
pops up in our heads are the names of renowned classical composers, musical arrangements that only nobility and kings were familiar with. However, the history of music is everything but respectable or boring. Innovation came from the outcast, the lower class and provocateurs that looked after the overthrow of the established.
Blues
Blues is one of the examples of musical break-
throughs that come from the lowest of the classes and the most marginalized group, slaves. While it is hard to prove with precision where it originated from, the state of Mississippi is oftentimes referred as the birthplace of Blues due to the widespread poverty, isolation and low rates of literacy and of income that prevailed in this region of the United States. It was a more personal way to express sorrow and melancholy, using day to day episodes as the major source of inspiration.
Jazz
If you still believe that the rise of blues, a genre
that originated within the most marginalized group in the US, and its importance in the entertainment stage was merely a stroke of luck, think again about it. Jazz had a very similar outcome almost simultaneously with blues.
Š Grego
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This is a more urban style, originated from New Orleans, one of the most multicultural cities at that time. Currently, this is a respected music genre, embraced by powerful and recognized institutions, but it wasn’t always like that. Jazz was born on the periphery, inciting violence, provoking riots and even being considered an illegal musical genre.
