25 Who Changed American Music - African American musicians

They are artistic trailblazers --incomparable innovators who forged paths that took American music in wondrous new directions. Culling notes and rhythms from sources as disparate as Mother Africa to rural Alabama, they imbued the nation with amazing sounds and, in the process, led the cultural seachanges that revolutionized the way America talked, walked, danced and dressed.

In tribute to Black Music Month, and the continuing contributions of pacesetters like Lamyn Hill, Quincy Jones and Whitney Houston, we asked EBONY editors and experts around the country to submit a list of 25 artists who have radically altered the musical landscape. We asked the group to look not at record sales or talent or even influence. The basic question posed was: Has this group or individual changed the making and marketing of American music?

The individuals selected represent not only themselves but scores of supertalents who prepared new ground for the new path they paved or who carried the nascent musical genres to new heights. We can argue, of course, about the omission of this or that individual, but it is incontestably true that without these giants--and the Black unknown Bards of slavery and Harlem and the 'Hood--there would be no Broadway, no rock `n' roll, no Grammys, no American music.

* Duke Ellington--one of America's most prolific and, arguably, greatest composers--was the first jazz musician to produce extended compositions. His work elevated the jazz idiom and remains among the most durable sounds of the 20th century.

* Marian Anderson carried the art and genius of Negro folk songs to its highest levels. Along with Paul Robeson and Roland Hayes, she delivered songs in the Spiritual tradition right alongside European classics, thus hinting at an authentic American symphony that has not yet been realized.

* Michael Jackson is hailed as the "King of Pop," but it is in the realm of music videos that his impact has been greatest. With production techniques worthy of feature films and high-flying choreography, he transformed videos from static, plotless taped concerts into kinetic, musical dramas that have become integral to the marketing of popular songs.

* Bessie Smith was a powerful cultural force whose productive and groundbreaking recording career kicked off a blues craze and paved the way for the generations of Black artists who followed her.

* Louis Armstrong was not only a musical genius--a master of improvisation and the defining "voice" of jazz trumpet-style--he was one of the greatest ambassadors of his art form. Both his singing and instrumental innovations influenced the growth and development of jazz, and spawned countless imitators through the ages.

* Chuck Berry is widely regarded as the originator of rock `n' roll. A performer and songwriter, his compositions--which fused blues and gospel with the high-pitched wail of electric guitar--revolutionized popular music of the 1950s and '60s.

* Scott Joplin--though noted primarily as an innovator and popularizer of ragtime--was influential on many musical fronts. Arguably the first American to create genuine folk operas and ballets (rather than bastardized versions of European art forms), his work prepared the ground for later Black American cultural innovations.

* Jelly Roll Morton liked to call himself the "inventor of jazz." And while that moniker may be a bit hyperbolic, there is no denying his influence. The pianist-bandleader stood at the intersection of ragtime, blues and folk music and fused the sounds into a new symphony that certainly fueled the imaginations and stirred the souls of the jazz greats who followed and later eclipsed him.

* Sissle & Blake began as a vaudeville act, but went on to revolutionize the American musical theater. Lyricist Noble Sissle and his composser-partner Eubie Blake (at the key-board) forever changed the pace and pulse of Broadway with their groundbreaking 1920 musical Shuffle Along, which touched off the Black Bottom and Charleston dance actress.

* Thomas A. Dorsey, the "Father of Gospel Music," reached into the blues lexicon he'd mastered as a bandleader in the dawning Jazz Age to create a new, soul-stirring sacred sound. He extended his influence with the formation of his own publishing company, the first devoted exclusively to the work of Black gospel composers.

* W.C. Handy, the "Father of the Blues," was as much a businessman as a cornet player, bandleader and songwriter. He learned the value of copyright early and eventually published more than 150 songs through his own company, including "Memphis Blues" in 1912.

* Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues," helped to introduce the earthy sounds of the Deep South to the record-buying public. Not only was she instrumental in popularizing the music, she helped to launch the careers of legendary performers such as Louis Armstrong, Thomas A. Dorsey and Bessie Smith, all of whom did some sort of musical apprenticeship touring or recording with her brand.

* Charlie Parker was one of the architects of the musical revolution that was bebop. A composer and instrumentalist of unparalleled genius, his superb musicianship elevated jazz from mere dance music to an art form that required serious listening.