SOUL

“When there is music in your soul, there is soul in your music”

Criss Jami

 

During the 50s, Afro- American gospel and Rhythm & Blues roots originated soul music. Why it was called Soul? This is because this music started to emphasize the feeling of being Afro-America. That’s why only a small part of white fans understood and followed this music. Just after the 60s with the influence of Rock & Roll, a bigger amount of white fans got closer to this music.

The Soul is the genre of music born by the fusion of Jazz, R&B and Gospel. It was during the 50s – 60s that artists like Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, leader of Impressions, and Ray Charles changed the world with a unique sound. The artist Bobby Womack about Ray Charles said, “Ray was the genius. He turned the world onto soul music.”

Soul music reflects the Afro-American culture. A new style of music that brag pride in being black.  Just in 1968, many artists decided to go through different styles. Likewise, music went across different genres, giving birth to different styles, just to name a few: Funk, music made with more danceable rhythm emphasizing melody and chords progressions. Then, the intersection between psychedelic Rock and Soul gave birth to Psychedelic Soul. Finally, around 1994 was originated Neo Soul which had a huge impact also thanks to artists as Lauren Hill and Alicia Keys. This need for labelling new artists with neo-soul was just for marketing reasons. But this is not appreciated by many artists that prefer to be called just as soul musicians.

According to Rock and Roll Music Fame, that recognizes the best artists worldwide, affirmed that Soul is “music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying”

Just to name a few artists that made the history of music: Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Aretha Franklin the Queen of Soul, Otis Redding, Curtis Mayfield, Steve Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the list is so long that I can carry on for while.

 

I personally love soul music, I don’t know why but when I listen to it, I just feel it, and transported by it. I might be born in a wrong generation, I might be not black or of the 60s generation, but I do respeact, admire and feel this music indipendentily. I appreciate and value the afro-american music because it rapresents the roots of music, the soul of the music we listen to. Each of the named artist above trasmit something to me. They are legends, pioneers that nowadays is rare to find. True is, the style changed, but the soul, the feeling inside the beat, today it desappeared. We need to thank our roots, our masters for what we have today. And thanks to them we still able to feel the music that slowly is loosing his soul. I will elaborate on this argument next time and I will give the deserved space of recogniziong to the bigger legends of music. R.I.P. to those who we lost but thier music will remain with us forever.

 

I wish you to enjoy my Soul playlist. These are the songs that I love most, the songs that make me fly away, twist, swing, dance, be happy and feel the music. Let the soul play…