Influence on North American music

African American music is widely known and loved, and much popular North American music emerged from it, White American music also has strong African roots. The musical traditions of the Irish and Scottish settlers merged with African African musical elements to become old-time and bluegrass, and many other genres.

African music has been a major factor in the making of what we know today as, the blues and jazz. These styles have all borrowed from African rhythms and sounds, brought over the Atlantic ocean by slaves. African music in Sub-Saharan Africa is mostly upbeat and joyful, whereas the blues is more down beat, resulting from the conditions of slavery in the North America.

Drum patterns that created the Afro-rock sounds in bands such as Ginger Baker's Airforce, The Rolling Stones, and Steve Winwood'sTraffic. He continued to work with Winwood, Paul McCartney, and Mick Jagger throughout the decade.

Ginger Baker

After the civil war, black musicians were employed for playing in military bands. During this time they developed a new style of music which would later be called Jazz. The earliest jazz and blues recordings were made in the 1920s. Later periods saw a drastic change and innovation in these types of music.

Still to this day African themed music and rhythms is used in Popular music, Jazz, Blues, and R&B