Rock 'n' Roll - A musical style born in the late 40's out of jump blues and incorporating the saxophone based rhythms of that form with as varied influences as the electric guitar of blues, the steady beat of swing, the pounding piano of boogie woogie, the fervor of gospel, the intense romantic longing of pop harmony groups and the looseness of country, with songs focusing on the viewpoints and interests of its primarily young audiences and a constant pushing outwards of the accepted moral boundaries of the times.
Its primary practitioners were young black artists appealing to the post-war community's need for excitement, dancing and increasing social freedoms. In the mid-50's, fueled by radio and jukeboxes, white teenagers became equally entranced by the style and became some of its most popular artists. The music however is not restricted to any race, gender, or point of origin either by performers or audience, and its inclusiveness is one of its greatest strengths.
Rock 'n' roll is constantly progressing, adapting and experimenting allowing it to remain relevant to each succeeding generation, but it maintains the same urgency and perspective it had when it was founded more than a half-century ago.
Its primary practitioners were young black artists appealing to the post-war community's need for excitement, dancing and increasing social freedoms. In the mid-50's, fueled by radio and jukeboxes, white teenagers became equally entranced by the style and became some of its most popular artists. The music however is not restricted to any race, gender, or point of origin either by performers or audience, and its inclusiveness is one of its greatest strengths.
Rock 'n' roll is constantly progressing, adapting and experimenting allowing it to remain relevant to each succeeding generation, but it maintains the same urgency and perspective it had when it was founded more than a half-century ago.
