Enslaved people would sing work songs while working the plantations and religious spirituals in church. Combined with the African rhythms, these musical styles were the foundation of blues.

Figgis himself participated, albeit in a minor way, in this period of history, playing in a blues band with Bryan Ferry, a band that was the nucleus for the first Roxy Music. A series of musical ...

David Evans, an ethnomusicologist at the University of Memphis, explain some of the history behind blues music, especially the stripped-down, raw style of music called Delta blues. Mai Cramer ...

The structure of blues music is still heard today in lots of different genres of music. Call and response close call and responseWhere one melody is answered by another. is a feature of work songs ...

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. David Chiu is a freelance music writer based in New York. A still from 'The Blues Society.' Mention the historic music festivals of the ...