“It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive characteristic.”

Black Manhattan, ch. 11 (1930).

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James Weldon Johnson23

writer and activist 1871–1938

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“One of the most winning characteristics of Prokofiev’s music is its indomitable energy. In expressing this quality, stability of tempo is particularly important.”

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“Rhythm and blues used to be called race music. … This music was going on for years, but nobody paid any attention to it.”

Ray Charles (1930–2004) American musician

Pop Chronicles: Show 55 - Crammer: A lively cram course on the history of rock and some other things http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19838/m1/, interview recorded 3.8.1968 http://web.archive.org/web/20100116003442/http://www.library.unt.edu/music/special-collections/john-gilliland/index-to-interviews.

“From New Orleans and the back roads of the Mississippi Delta to Harlem and Chicago, black musicians set enduring and distinctive standards for American creativity. The blues of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, the gospel of Mahalia Jackson, the jazz of Duke Ellington, and the soul of Marvin Gaye claim fans of all ages from around the world. The trumpeting genius of Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie illustrate the exceptional musicianship so prominent in various genres of African-American music.”

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“Nature may certainly produce whatever can arise from habit: Nay, habit is nothing but one of the principles of nature, and derives all its force from that origin.”

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“Agriculture is the art of deriving from the earth the most valuable organic productions. He who exercises this art, seeks to obtain profit by causing to grow, and by using, its animal and vegetable productions. The more considerable the gain derived, therefore, the better is the object accomplished. The most perfect agriculture is, evidently, that which produces, by the application of labour, the largest and the most permanent profit in comparison with the means employed. Systematic agriculture ought, then, to teach us all the circumstances by means of which we may derive the most considerable profit by the practice of the art.”

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“A particular characteristic of Britain is that its natives, when travelling abroad, are more splendid in their dress and manner of living, whence they may be distinguished from all other peoples.”
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“Most characteristic of the Halakhah is its lack of pathos.”

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“It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive characteristic.”

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James Weldon Johnson23

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