Sub-Saharan African music is characterised by a "strong rhythmic interest"[1] that exhibits common characteristics in all regions of this vast territory, so that Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980) has described the many local approaches as constituting one main system.[2] C. K. Ladzekpo also affirms the profound homogeneity of approach.[3] West African rhythmic techniques carried over the Atlantic were fundamental ingredients in various musical styles of the Americas: samba, forró, maracatu and coco in Brazil, Afro-Cuban music and Afro-American musical genres such as blues, jazz, rhythm & blues, funk, soul, reggae, hip hop, and rock and roll were thereby of immense importance in 20th century popular music. [citation needed] The drum is renowned throughout Africa.
- ^ Stapleton C. and May C., African All-Stars, Paladin 1989, page 6
- ^ Jones, A. M. (1959), Studies in African Music, London: Oxford University Press. 1978 edition: ISBN 0-19-713512-9.
- ^ Ladzekpo, C.K. (1996), Cultural Understanding of Polyrhythm http://home.comcast.net/~dzinyaladzekpo/PrinciplesFr.html.